Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) wants more accountability from universities while the University wants more independence and reliable funding from the state. Is there ground for compromise?
The Blue Ribbon Commission was created by Gilmore in 1998 to look into ways to improve the quality, affordability and accountability of public higher education institutions.
The General Assembly just passed bills calling to consider an overhaul to the budgeting process for Virginia state universities.
Under the new proposal, individual universities would work with the state to develop quality-measuring standards which the universities would have to meet in order to receive requested funding. The universities and the government then would agree to a fixed budget to replace the current biannual process.
As schools reach their specified academic goals, they will receive the agreed-upon amount, with possible bonuses or penalties as performance varies from the set goals.
The current budgeting system "lends itself to too much lobbying from universities asking for money," Del. Paul Harris (R-Albermarle) said. The current system has "no accountability," he said.
Currently the budgeting process is an annual ad-hoc procedure in which the University lobbies for funding, leading to headaches for both University officials and legislators.
The state government will work out the plan's final details in the next year and then consider it for final approval in the next legislative session.
The "Individual Performance Agreements" are intended to hold schools more accountable to taxpayers - a theme of Gilmore's administration and Commonwealth Republicans.
The government intends to focus on the quality of education students receive rather than how universities are using resources.
"They're going to start focusing on outputs rather than inputs," said John Padgett, chairman of the State Council of Higher Education.
Performance goals could include graduation rates, student retention rates, alumni job placement or skill advancement, perhaps incorporating tests for graduating students.
University officials foresee no problems in meeting any future performance standards.
"We're certainly not afraid of performance," Bianchetto said.
In fact, the University already uses performance standards internally.
"We have performance goals now that we have no difficulty in reaching," Assoc. Provost Shirley Menaker said. The issue is what kinds of new standards officials agree upon.
"The devil is in the details," Menaker said.
The plan intends for each higher education institution to establish individual performance goals with the state, a criterion Sen. John Edwards (D-Va. Beach) said is important.
Colleges and universities "have different missions and different goals," Edwards said. "They need to consider their own strategies."
In return for meeting these standards, the University would benefit from a longer planning horizon.
"It enables long-term planning - that's one of the real advantages of the consideration," Jon Mikalson, classics professor and member of the Blue Ribbon Commission said.
Schools would be allocated base amounts, which might be adjusted for inflation. The state also would consider extra amounts for special and unexpected needs, officials said.
The set funding amounts also will allow the University to lock in funding amounts for a longer term, making it less susceptible to recession-induced cuts in funding.
The University would benefit from greater independence from the Commonwealth, officials said.
"The goal is to create less regulation from the state government," Mikalson said. "It's intended to give the institutions more freedom in certain areas."
University officials agreed.
"We should get additional decentralization," Bianchetto said.
Menaker said an important issue is whether the amounts established by the state would be adequate for University needs.
"I think there is a real question of how one determines the base," she said.
The proposal has yet to be hammered out. If Gilmore signs the bills, the General Assembly will study the issue over the next year. Final passage of a plan still would be uncertain, however, since a new General Assembly would vote on it in 2001, Harris said.
"Generally Democrats have been disinclined to support standards," he said. The plan "rests with the outcome of the 2001 elections."
Edwards, as a Democrat on the Education and Finance Committees, supports that assumption.
He said any such process should be careful to allow universities to follow their individual mission statements.
"I do question performance goals," Edwards said. "It assumes [universities] don't have their own goals. They know what's best, and their goals are tailored to the different mission statements that the colleges have," he said.
Regardless of future budgeting, members from both sides of the aisle say state higher education schools need more base funding.
Some state schools have to rely on out-of-state tuition to compensate for the lack of state funding, said Del. Phillip Hamilton (R-Newport News).
Edwards said he was worried about a "brain-drain" of faculty leaving the University because of low salaries.
University officials voiced similar concerns.
"Our current budget is not sufficient to cover our needs," Menaker said. Current funding amounts are diminutive compared to the past, she said. "This is different from what we used to get from the state."
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