With the state's biannual budget expected to take shape within the week, University officials are talking with members of the General Assembly in hopes of securing some relief for the University from budget cuts.
President John T. Casteen III and Leonard W. Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, traveled to Richmond last week for two days of meetings with members of the conference committee, charged with reconciling the House and Senate budget bills. The pair spoke to legislators about tuition, faculty and staff pay raises as well as other issues.
The conference committee is supposed to submit a compromise bill to the House and Senate on Thursday.
State law prohibits the University, as a state agency, from "lobbying" the General Assembly, said Nancy Rivers, director of state and governmental relations.
However, this does not mean the University administration does not communicate with legislators. University representatives tell legislators what the University's needs and priorities are, Rivers said.
"We are resources for legislators," she said. "The legislators ask for a spokesperson."
For the University, the primary spokesperson is Casteen, who along with Sandridge often speaks to the General Assembly at key times when the legislature is formulating the state budget.
The University also employs two legislative liaisons to work full-time in Richmond and handle day-to-day communications.
In their latest round of meetings, Casteen and Sandridge spoke in favor of the House and Senate bills' proposals to allow the Board of Visitors to increase tuition.
In-state tuition has been frozen since the 1995-1996 school year. Both the House and Senate budget bills would give the Board of Visitors discretion in raising tuition while not requiring them to do so.
Governor Mark R. Warner's budget proposal, in contrast, required Universities to raise tuition, Sandridge said.
"The University has supported the Board's authority in setting tuition," Sandridge said.
Both the Senate and House bills would cancel Warner's "tuition reversion" plan, under which the revenue from a tuition increase would return to the state General Fund rather than being returned to the University.
Sandridge and Casteen also informed legislators that they preferred a base salary raise for University faculty and staff, which the House bill contains, to the yearly bonuses provided for under the Senate version.
A base salary increase, unlike a bonus, would increase employees' retirement benefits, said Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget.
The University administration also is concerned about the House's plan that virtually would eliminate universities' maintenance reserve funds, Casteen and Sandridge told legislators last week. The maintenance reserve fund is used to pay for any maintenance not performed on a routine basis.
The Senate's bill would cut the fund by 50 percent.
Finally, Casteen and Sandridge spoke out about the House's plan to take the interest the University earns on "auxiliary balances," such as money earned from housing and parking fees.
"The estimate is that each dorm resident will have to pay an additional $105 next fall if they take the interest, which actually pays a part of each student's cost for these services," Casteen said.
Although legislators seemed receptive to their concerns, it is difficult to know how much Casteen and Sandridge's meetings influenced the outcome of the budget process, Casteen said.
"They have to listen to many people, and they have very little money," he said.
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