Gov. Mark R. Warner's Tuesday announcement of sweeping statewide budget reductions brought with it news of cuts of 7 to 12 percent at Virginia's public colleges and universities.
The University received the largest percentage cut of any public college or university, with a $14 million reduction totaling 12 percent of this year's budget.
James Madison University, Virginia's most under-funded college according to statistics from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, will suffer a 10.4 percent budget reduction of $5.4 million.
Fred Hilton, director of university relations at JMU, says this cut will lead to the elimination of 275 sections -- equal to 7,000 classroom seats -- if a proposed mid-year tuition increase is not approved.
"A reduction of that magnitude could extend graduation time by a full semester," Hilton said.
Even with the tuition increase, Hilton said some part-time staff would have to be eliminated, and further spending on equipment, supplies and travel reduced.
Rocky said he fears for "retaining the outstanding faculty members" in the college, who have not received raises for two years and are unable to travel.
Although the average student with one major should still be able to graduate on time in the sciences, Rocky said he is not confident this will remain true should more cuts materialize when the General Assembly convenes in January.
George Mason University, which had the highest tuition increase of any public college for in-state students last fall with a 16 percent hike, might have to impose a mid-year surcharge to accommodate its 10.1 percent, $9.5 million cut.
Daniel Walsch, director of media relations at GMU, said although "everybody is feeling pain in all departments," students should "still be able to graduate in four years."
He added that it was likely the school's pool of adjunct faculty will be reduced and some courses dropped or combined.
At Virginia Tech, Virginia's largest research university, there is no truth to rumors of the elimination of entire academic departments, interim media relations director Jean Elliott said.
Now faced with an additional cut of $15.6 million for this academic year, however, a potential 300 jobs, on top of 144 already eliminated, could be lost, according to Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger.
To ameliorate potential cuts to faculty, Virginia Tech Faculty Senate President Ed Fewell predicts that the Tech Board of Visitors will approve a mid-year tuition increase of about $200 in mid-November.
"A major portion of the budget goes to salaries," Fewell said. "We've cut everything else."
Additional layoffs would compound already emaciated departmental faculties, he said, forcing students to remain longer at Tech to complete degrees.
"Certainly if a student is a first or second year, it's very likely that they won't get the courses needed to graduate," Fewell said.
The Agricultural and Applied Economics department exemplifies Tech's staffing woes.
The department already has lost six faculty members -- one quarter of its former size -- and department Prof. Leon Geyer predicts two more could leave this year. His department has had to cut two important courses for senior students, due to the departed faculty.
"The [specialized] courses lost are what you market yourself around as a student," and may affect displaced students job and graduate school prospects, Geyer said.
Many students in Geyer's department and throughout Tech now are forced to substitute lost courses with large classes taught by graduate students.
"It's like your father says he's buying you a Ferrari and then you get there and see a Chevrolet," Geyer said.
Assessing the time required to restore his department to pre-budget cut conditions, he said, "We would be lucky if we did it within 10 years at least."
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