Both houses of the Virginia General Assembly amended Gov. James S. Gilmore III's (R) budget bill Sunday, which included a proposal to fund Virginia colleges based on "performance agreements."
One major change to the bill stipulates the performance agreement proposal will not be considered until next year so the General Assembly can have more time to develop the program. The Virginia Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee proposed the amendments.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education - a commission Gilmore formed in June 1998 to improve the state higher educational system in 18 months - created the proposal.
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Under this bill, each school would be assured a steady flow of funding from the state for six years if it reached its defined goals stipulated by each individual college or university.
The performance agreements now await the joint decisions of the House and Senate on the final language of the proposal, which will not be concluded until mid-April, University Director of Budget Melody Bianchetto said. The governor then will decide whether to continue negotiations.
Jon D. Mikalson, Commission member and professor of classics, said even if the proposal does not pass, "it's not a one-shot deal. I think it may come up another year."
He said the proposal would be a group effort between the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia, the Governor's office, the General Assembly and the colleges and universities.
The performance goals "will be rather straightforward and statistical" to evaluate the success of the schools, Mikalson said. In addition, they may include goals concerning how students progress after graduation. "The focus is on outputs - how well students actually do after four years," Commission Chairman Edward L. Flippen said.
Faculty said the University would gain from the proposal. The University "support[s] the concept ... and feel[s] that all of the models so far proposed would benefit the University," University President John T. Casteen III said.
Larry J. Sabato, government and foreign affairs professor, said he agrees because "it provides some additional stability in funding in exchange for the governor's preference for accountability"
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