Virginia colleges and universities will have to discontinue work on several major construction projects to meet the requirements for the 2001-2002 budget proposed by Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) last Monday.
However, Gilmore pledged last week the budget cuts would not affect university operating costs.
Even so, the plan would affect many construction projects at the University. Most notably, the budget cuts will delay the construction of a new studio arts building and a special collections library.
Nancy Rivers, University director of state and governmental relations, said state funding for these two initiatives would total about $14.8 million.
University officials said they were not pleased about the new budget plans and are particularly upset about delays for construction of the studio arts building.
There is "no question [about the] need for the studio art building and for the eventual renovation of Fayerweather Hall, which bears a lot of marks of having been designed as an old gymnasium, not an art building," said Shirley Menaker, associate provost for academic support and classroom management.
Construction of the new studio arts building was especially important because of the increasing number of students interested in art classes, Menaker said. Art classes are also a part of the College's general education offerings.
Without space to teach more art classes, courses cannot be expanded to meet the growing demand at the University, she added.
She also said too many faculty members and administrators are sharing offices and stuck in trailers at the end of Madison Bowl because there are not enough classrooms.
Drama Department Chairman Robert Chapel said he was disappointed about the probable delay.
He said the new studio arts building was a great beginning to the development of a new arts precinct, but that this delay would slow the development.
We were "looking forward to the first step, and now it looks like it's going to take a long time for [it] to happen," he said.
The budget cuts were "not something [Gilmore] wanted to do," Gilmore spokesman Kevin Sheridan said.
"The governor has been highly committed to higher education, and the University of Virginia especially, and [the cuts] were unfortunate consequences of the Senate's failure to enact a responsible budget," Sheridan said.
"No jobs were lost, and no operating funds are in danger," he added.
Even though the budget should not affect the University's operating budget, Rivers said she anticipates University officials will appeal the cuts.
University officials now are planning proposals for funding increases to submit to the state's Office of Planning and Budget, which will decide if the appeals will be granted.
Under Gilmore's new budget plan, institutions also would have to do without salary increases for faculty and staff members and would not be able to fund proposed state spending increases to cover enrollment growth.
The "faculty at the University has been restrained," because the budget proposal now is in preliminary stages and faculty members are waiting until the proposal is debated and altered to decide how to react, Faculty Senate Chairwoman Patricia H. Werhane said.
"We don't want to waste our fire until we see what exactly turns out," Werhane said.
Sheridan said he thought Gilmore's current budget proposal would go into effect unless the General Assembly decided to reconvene and agree upon a budget. He said he thought the deadline for such action would be next Monday.
The General Assembly refused to approve a budget that included the70 percent car tax reducation Gilmore called for.
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