The Executive Committee of the Board of Visitors met on Monday, January 13, 1992, at 3:00 p.m., in the Board Room of the New Ad-min-is-tration Building. The following members of the Committee were in attendance:
James K. Hall, Rector
Richard F. Barry III
Gene R. Carter, Sr.
Albert B. Gornto, Jr.
Brenda T. Williams
Absent from the Committee was:
Robert E. Washington
Also present from the Board of Visitors were:
Henry E. Howell, Jr.
Beverley R. Lawler
Hugo A. Owens, Sr.
J. Michael Pitchford
Sybil M. Walker
William C. Wiley
Also present were:
James V. Koch, President
Dana D. Burnett
Paul J. Champagne
Elizabeth M. Clarke
Harry P. Creemers
Stephen P. Daniel
Myron S. Henry
Ruth C. Jones
Patrick B. Kelly
Donna W. Meeks
Emily G. Robertson
Richard A. Staneski
Cecelia Tucker
Philip Walzer
CALL TO ORDER AND MOTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Rector called the meeting to order and recognized Mrs. Williams who made the following motion: "Mr. Rector, I move that this meeting be recessed, and that we reconvene in Executive Session, for the purposes of discussing a personnel matter, specifically the position of Acting Provost, the performance of university departments by the Auditor of Public Accounts, and the use of real property in Virginia Beach, as permitted by Subsection (A), Paragraphs (1) and (3), of Section 2.1-344 of the Code of Virginia.
RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION AND FOIA CERTIFICATION
At the conclusion of Executive Session, the meeting reconvened in open session and the Rector asked if there were any members who, in their judgment, felt that they could not certify that (1) only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements under the Freedom of Information Act were discussed and (2) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the executive session was convened were heard, discussed or considered. If so, he asked such board member(s) to state specifically what he/she felt the departure was. Hearing no dissent, the Rector asked for certification by a vote of Aye. Board members in favor 11; Board members opposed 0. The vote on certification passed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS OF MARCH 11, 1991 AND JULY 11, 1991
Rector Hall asked for approval of the minutes of the Executive Committee meetings of March 11, 1991 and July 11, 1991. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the minutes were approved as distributed.
RECTOR'S REPORT
Mr. Hall reported on the public hearing held Saturday with the Finance and House Appropriations Committees of the General Assembly. He, Bucky Gornto and Arnold McKinnon attended from the Board of Visitors. The public showed up in great force, and it was evident that the public's message is "No more cuts." The hearing began with a 30-minute presentation by Paul Timmreck and Karen Washabau, followed by speeches by the area mayors and then by Bill Spong. Then members of the public were given two minutes each to speak. He commented that it was interesting to see the show of force from the public expressing their feelings about the budget cuts.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Mr. Hall called on President Koch for his report. President Koch reported on the recent NCAA convention which he recently attended. Two important issues resulted from this meeting. First, the NCAA revised the Proposition 48 requirements for freshman athletes as follows: (1) the requirement of 11 core academic high school courses was increased to 13; and (2) the required 2.0 Grade Point Average was raised to 2.5. The 700 requirement on the SAT remained the same; however, provision was made for the possibility of substituting a higher SAT score in lieu of the 2.5 GPA. This passed overwhelmingly in Division I, which is the major division where it applies. This issue, however, has been inaccurately portrayed in the press. The press has portrayed these as admission standards but they are not; they are eligibility requirements. Institutions may continue to admit whichever students they wish, but only those students who meet these criteria will be eligible to compete as freshman athletes. The President commented that when Proposition 48 was first passed, many thought it would have a disparate impact on African-American student-athletes, which it did not. It remains to be seen, however, if the new criteria will have any impact on this group. President Koch commented that he fully supported this issue.
The second major issue, which failed in Convention, was the issue of I-AAA, non-scholarship, football. The issue passed in Divisions I and III, but failed in Division II. Because the fundamental structure would have changed, it had to have passed in all three divisions. Division I-AAA criteria include three coaches instead of eight or ten and no spring training. The only scholarship funds available to the athletes would be those types of scholarships available to all students; that is, need-based scholarships. Presi-dent Koch predicted that this issue will come up again in the future, because it is both academically and financial reasonable. Many existing football programs are already suffering financially and other schools would be interested in starting football programs if it didn't cost so much.
The President then turned to the Governor's budget recommendations for Old Dominion University. He distributed a table comparing 1990-91 general fund appropriations per full-time student for Old Dominion University with its peer institutions. In 1990-91, Old Dominion received an appropriation of $3,633 per student. However, since these figures were compiled, Old Dominion's general fund appropriation has fallen to the point where Old Dominion University's appropriation per student is approximately $2,900. Although our peer institutions may also be suffering from the same kinds of budget cuts, Old Dominion University is clearly near the bottom of this list now, if not the bottom.
In addition, President Koch noted that Virginia is a high tuition state. At the beginning of the year, Virginia was the fourth highest state in the United States in terms of the average tuition paid by public university students. Given a 12-14 percent tuition increase for two years in a row, Virginia could become second or even the most expensive tuition state. In the past, the Commonwealth provided approximately 70 percent of the educational costs per student at ODU. That figure will have decreased to 47 percent by the end of this biennium if the Governor's budget prevails.
President Koch asked Vice President Staneski to review the Governor's specific budget recommendations for Old Dominion University. Mr. Staneski distributed a handout summarizing the current operating and capital budget recommendations and highlighted significant items. The E&G budget will increase by 4.2% in the first year of the biennium and 4.5% in the second year, but this increase will be in the form of non-general funds, principally from tuition and fees. The general fund portion of the budget will, in fact, reduce by 5% over the biennium. Tuition authority was granted for $4.6 million for the first year of the biennium and $8.5 million for the second year to support the Tri-cities Center, initiatives in engineering management and engineering technology, and to add faculty positions. Library acquisitions are funded at 75% of state guidelines for the first year of the biennium, and at 90% for the second year.
Mr. Staneski pointed out that the initiatives listed above will not be funded with general funds until the second year of the biennium; all funds in the first year are non-general funds. The universities have been given a great deal of flexibility in terms of how tuition is raised and for which projects those tuition dollars are used. The universities, however, must charge out-of-state students 100% of the average cost of instruction. This shift of support from general funds to non-general funds will require tuition increases in the range of 12-14 percent.
Faculty and Staff salary increases were not funded for the biennium. However, funds have been allocated to offset anticipated increases in medical benefits. The majority of the colleges and universities have salary increases as the top priority should funds become available.
The tuition waiver program for military personnel and their spouses and dependents will be eliminated from the Code of Virginia and therefore Old Dominion University will lose the support it has received for that program. This program has allowed members of the military and their spouses and dependents to attend public colleges and universities at the in-state rate. The institutions, in turn, receive the difference between the in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.
The University will receive a $2 million allocation for the bien-nium from the higher education equipment trust fund. The University, however, will be required to continue paying the current lease payments on trust fund equipment of about $468,000 which the University had hoped the Commonwealth would pay. The University also will receive an increase of student financial aid appropriations of $600,000 for the first year of the biennium and $1.1 million for the second. Funding for the University's Commonwealth Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography will remain intact during the biennium, while all other statewide Commonwealth Centers are being phased out over a three-year period.
The budget for the Center for Innovative Technology will take a large cut in the first year of the biennium and will receive no funding in the second year. However, there is language in the Appropriations Act which suggests that the Department of Planning and Budget should review the Center's activities to determine its cost benefit. As a result of this study, funding may be restored, but it is unclear at this time. The Center for Innovative Technology, although not part of the University, has been involved in projects with Old Dominion's Technology Applications Center and the Entrepreneurial Center.
The $200,000 funding that the Eastern Virginia Medical School would have received to support the Psy.D. program will be eliminated. The Psy.D. program is a doctoral program in clinical psychology that is run jointly with Old Dominion University, the College of William and Mary, Norfolk State University, and the Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Mr. Staneski commented that the state institutions have until January 24th to submit amendments to their budgets.
The Governor's capital budget includes a maintenance reserve appropriation for deferred maintenance of $982,000 for E&G facilities and $2.4 million for auxiliaries. These funds have essentially remained level from the current biennium. There is also the stipulation that the University may only spend 25% of the appropriation in the first year of the biennium. The University was granted authority to use its own funds to do the planning and site work for the Child Study Center addition, with the actual construction to be funded during the 1994-96 biennium.
The Governor will introduce a general obligation bond issue this week. The $600 million bond will include approximately $400 million in higher education capital funding. A six-year plan will be presented to the General Assembly for capital projects in higher education. Likely inclusion for Old Dominion University will be the Library addition, Phase I of Oceanography and Physical Sciences, and the H & PE building renovation. Once it is approved by the General Assembly, the bond will also be subject to voter approval.
CALL FOR NEW BUSINESS AND ADJOURNMENT
The Rector asked if there was any new business to come before the Committee. Hearing none, the meeting was adjourned.
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