HALLOWEEN is tomorrow. However, Virginia will face a much scarier holiday next Tuesday: election day. This day comes as such a fright because alarmingly few voters have a choice to make when casting their ballot. One is left to wonder whether this type of democracy leads legislators to become complacent and disconnected from their constituency when rarely threatened with a substantive challenge for their seat. This is especially clear in the current direction of higher education policy.
Legislators must be made aware that complacency in the face of the crisis facing this university and her peers will force thousands of this nation's best and brightest, including those native to the Commonwealth, to seek their education outside these borders, leaving behind a lesser-prepared workforce and languid economy.
Several weeks ago, a Student Council committee sponsored an event that hosted just over half a dozen Virginia senators and delegates for an evening of discussion and questions regarding higher education policy in Virginia. Most legislators were surprised at the student turnout that nearly filled the Newcomb Hall Theater. Though these lawmakers were gracious enough to take time away from their busy campaign schedules, as all are up for reelection on Tuesday, many showed a shocking disconnect between the challenges facing the University and the critical issues they saw facing higher education. Many claimed that the issue was over the level of tuition paid by taxpayers. Most on the panel agreed the burden should be moved from a subsidy of students' education at taxpayer expense to a user-fee paid by the student in tuition.
Yet, in the same breath, the same legislators were concerned that tuition levels might rise too high, barring the less fortunate from entry to the institution. These guys are completely missing the point.
In fact, the legislature should have no hand in controlling the tuition what-so-ever. In a time when state general funds accounted for upwards of a third of the annual budget, there may have been an argument for some fiscal control by the General Assembly. This is no longer the case, as tax-payer money barely account for one tenth of the annual academic budget. Instead, the power to manage the University's revenue and spending should rest with the managing body of the institution: the Board of Visitors. Appointed by the governor and thus answerable to the state government via the executive branch, this body is best suited to operate just as any other corporate board. The power to audit, plan for facilities, raise tuition, increase admission, etc., should all remain the express domain of the Board. With so little to offer the University in terms of financial support, one would think the General Assembly would appreciate being relieved of these burdens.
However, once the political perks of micro-managing the University's business are considered, it becomes obvious why the General Assembly enjoys taking a more hands-on role. When constituents become frustrated when little Timmy Nova gets rejected from the University with a 1400 SAT and 3.8 GPA, the legislator can put in a bill to increase the amount of in-state students. Sure, this hamstrings the institution by decreasing out-of-state revenues, but the legislator gets reelected. When times are tough and tax revenues are down, the legislature can simply cut support to colleges and universities and demand that they increase tuition, solving their own financial problems on the backs of Virginia's students. The fact is that legislators fear giving schools like the University the autonomy they deserve because playing with the politics of higher education offers wonderful levers to pull, winning them great praise in their districts even as the system of higher education decays before them.
Legislators need to wake up and realize the consequences for Virginia when the University drops from a nation-leading institution with an international reputation to the status she formally enjoyed a half-century before: A regionally prominent institution that offers a moderate education for decently-bright Virginians. Sure, all the superstars will leave high school for foreign destinations, but hey, you get what you pay for, right? It's time Richmond woke up and saw that you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't leave the crown jewel of the higher education system out in the cold to fend for itself and expect the state not to be affected.
The General Assembly has lost touch with what Virginia needs. Comments made during Council's legislative forum indicate that the majority of elected representatives believe that a nationally preeminent institution of learning with a public mandate no longer has a place in the Commonwealth. To paraphrase former Gov. Gerry Baliles, show me a thriving economy, and I will show you a thriving system of education. That system is dying in Virginia. There is neither the money to support a system that accommodates students from all levels of achievement, nor the political will to let the institutions that can, become more self-efficient. The General Assembly has lost touch with Virginia. Perhaps the University of Maryland president's comments last week were more prescient than this publication gives him credit.
(Preston Lloyd's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at plloyd@cavalierdaily.com.)
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