With the General Assembly's passage of the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act earlier this month -- the legislation once known as the charter initiative -- Virginia institutions of higher education are now set to begin the restructuring process.
Institutions will need to meet standards and perform tasks outlined by the bill before they will be allowed to move up through levels of progressive autonomy, University Spokesperson Carol Wood said.
All Virginia public colleges and universities automatically will be considered level one. According to Wood, schools that want to become level two institutions will need to create a memorandum of understanding. Schools seeking level three autonomy will need to create a financial and academic management plan.
The University, as well as Virginia Tech and William & Mary, will be seeking level three status.
"At the June Board meeting, the Board of Visitors will give official approval to move forward" with creating a level three management plan, Wood said.
Virginia Tech officials officially will request permission from their Board in their next meeting as well, said Larry Hincker, Virginia Tech associate vice president of university relations.
"We will then go on record to become a covered university, which is the term used in the bill," Hincker said.
The University's management agreement will outline requests for academic and financial autonomy as well as a plan to manage the responsibilities that come with that freedom, Wood said.
"We want to request as much autonomy as the legislation will allow," said Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget.
Though the management agreement is not due to the governor's office until Nov. 15, University officials will begin preparing a draft of the management agreement this summer in hopes of having it completed and evaluated before the governor's office becomes too busy.
In the fall, the governor's office will be in the midst of an election, staff changes and a bi-annual budget, Sheehy said.
"We want to make sure they have appropriate time to evaluate it," she said. "We hope to do some intensive work this summer with the staff down there."
After submission, the governor's office will review the management agreement. Following the evaluation, the University and the governor will engage in discussion and negotiations. The General Assembly then will review the draft of the management agreement during its 2006 session.
Schools will receive official notification of their level three designations in July 2006, Hincker said.
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