University President John T. Casteen III is calling for increased funding to bring the University up to par with its peer institutions.
At his annual State of the University address in Old Cabell Hall May 3, Casteen said many of the University's peer institutions receive more state funding to spend on in-state students.
For example, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill receives $23,089 per in-state student while the University gets only $11,149 per in-state student.
Casteen said the University has suffered since the General Assembly withdrew 10 percent of the University's operating budget in 1990. Although the University has since reorganized its budget and raised over $1 billion in its Capital Campaign, the University is "still playing catch-up," he said.
Instead of depending primarily on state funding like other schools, the University must draw most of its funding from tuition, he added.
Out-of-state students now pay about 134 percent of the actual cost of a University education and 35 percent of in-state students' financial aid comes from out-of-state students' tuition.
Because of the school's dependency on out-of-state students' tuition, it is important for the University to maintain its current 65 to 35 ratio of in-state to out-of-state students, Casteen said. The General Assembly will vote on a bill next session that would limit out-of-state students to 33 percent of the University's undergraduate population.
Casteen also said the University is moving from planning phase to action phase in the Virginia 2020 initiative. Casteen appointed the Virginia 2020 planning commissions in 1998 as a long-term planning process focused on four areas: fine and performing arts, international activities, public service and outreach and science and technology.
He said Pat Lampkin, associate vice president for student affairs, will become the liaison between undergraduate students and Virginia 2020 so the initiative remains aware of undergraduates' needs.
Casteen also discussed plans for physical expansion and showed numerous maps depicting where new art and architecture buildings will be built.
He displayed plans for the David A. Harrison Center, the future site of the Special Collections Library, now housed in Alderman Library. The David A. Harrison Center will be built where the Office of Admissions now stands, and the Office of Admissions will move to Peabody Hall, which now is being renovated.
Casteen also honored faculty as the University's most valuable asset. He commended faculty for remaining loyal to the school after the state readjusted faculty salaries recently.
Casteen went on to praise the diversity of the student body, but he said the demographic makeup of the faculty has yet to match it. Caucasian males make up 82 percent of the faculty, while 71.6 percent of undergraduate students are white.
Casteen also addressed the Inter-Fraternity Council rush debate.
Former Dean of Students Robert T. Canevari decided in April 1998 to move formal Inter-Fraternity Council rush from fall to spring semester despite fraternity leaders' protests.
The IFC's claim that deferred rush causes financial problems for fraternities has been discredited by a recent study conducted by Darden students, Casteen said. Dean of Students Penny Rue is heading a committee to help fraternities adjust to spring rush and aid the few houses that have severe financial troubles, he said.
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