Following weeks of speculation and debate, the Virginia General Assembly overwhelmingly passed its $50.5 billion budget for 2003-2004 on March 9.
The budget calls for intense cuts to funding for higher education institutions across the state. The University will be particularly affected by the cutbacks.
"We are looking at the largest cuts of any state institution," said Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget.
The budget revokes the 6-year-old tuition freeze on all state schools and will allow the Board of Visitors to set the rates for in and out-of-state tuition. By rescinding this cap, colleges are given an alternative method for counteracting budget cuts.
Each institution's cuts were derived from a formula that took into account both the funding level at which the institution operates and how much revenue it can annually generate from tuition.
The University generates a higher proportion of tuition than other state institutions from its high percentage of out-of-state students and graduate students at the Medical, Law and Darden Schools, Sheehy said.
The state calculated that in-state undergraduate tuition could be raised by 5 percent, while out-of-state undergraduate tuition and all graduate tuition could be raised by 8 percent, Sheehy added.
The administration will make its official tuition proposal to the Board at the April 5 finance committee meeting.
"We believe that we can raise 50 percent of the cut through tuition increase, so the base budget needs to be reduced by the other 50 percent," Sheehy said.
Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner now has 30 days to approve the budget. Warner can exercise amendments or vetoes on the budget, but all changes will be subject to approval during the April 17 veto session.
Warner's press secretary could not be reached for comment.
Despite the bleak outlook, University President John T. Casteen III remains optimistic.
"The budget is a tough one," he said. "It could have been worse, and it reflects encouraging amounts of legislative effort to minimize damage."
The University will have to assess budget cuts to the various schools and reduce expenditures across the board.
Diminished spending will result in the elimination of 80 staff and faculty positions. However, no one will be laid off, Sheehy said.
Currently, vacant positions or those that will be empty due to attrition will not be replaced.
The University will have to reduce equipment purchases, maintenance and custodial services. Individual department heads and deans will make specific decisions for their departments.
In particular, the College will halt many faculty searches, cut faculty travel and curtail operating budgets.
"I think higher education took a pretty big hit," Sheehy said.
The two highlights of the budget are a compensation piece for state employees that will begin with a 2.5 percent bonus the first year of the biennium and the approval of the capital program which will fund the bond bills with the approval of Warner and the voters by referendum in the fall, Sheehy added.
"In the longer view, however, people who object to increases can help by demanding that their elected officials get busy on fixing the disaster that state finance has become," Casteen said.
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