Public universities are bracing for more budget cuts as the state copes with a $2.4 billion shortfall, but one of those schools is already fighting for its life. Virginia State – one of two historically black universities in the Commonwealth – faces a $19 million shortfall. Students are demanding the president be fired, and Friday the board of visitors will meet to discuss that and other possible changes.
When students arrived for classes this fall, several hundreds of them were short on cash. The federal government had pulled their loans, and rather than accept partial payments, Virginia State sent them home. Other students may have chosen not to return when the school announced sophomores would be required to live on campus.
Now, the school, which last year enrolled nearly 6,000 full and part-time students has fewer than 5,000, forcing administrators to cut programs and services, close dormitories and shorten the school year. During a town hall-style meeting, student Anthony Jackson scolded VSU’s president and his team for failing to anticipate the financial shortfall.
“We have always been in situations where the federal government has been trying to take our financial aid. That’s no new things, and it’s up to our leaders to come up with contingency plans to keep us here. We are students, and we feel the budget cuts, yet we had no say in what the cuts were going to be.”
Student Shaneese Pule complained the campus shuttle buses were not running and was told to be patient.
“They’re in the hiring process for the drivers, but the shuttle buses will be running this year. It hasn’t been running since the first day of school, so if you decide to have the shuttle run the last week of this semester, are we going to be refunded or where’s it going to?”
And a third student, Marlena Brown Woods, lamented the lack of maintenance on campus.
“The overhead projectors either are missing remotes or for whatever reason are inoperable. I realize the university has spent a lot of money to install that equipment, but it’s kind of useless to us as students if it’s not working.”
An administrator explained that the projector bulbs were burning out and urged students to remind their professors to turn the projectors off.
“Believe it or not, the bulb for a projector is anywhere from $500-$700.”
Afterward, President Keith Miller admitted his team did not anticipate this year’s drop in attendance.
“We didn’t predict what the loss would be, and there’s a lot of variables involved in that, so it’s challenging for us.”
He promised stepped up fundraising and recruiting of new students, but outside the auditorium current students Alexis Hitchman, Anthony Jackson and Amity McCloud seemed unwilling to wait.
“Do you feel you want to give him another chance? I actually want him to leave. Our money gives them a job, so if I’m not included in those decisions you’re making, then you don’t care about me basically. He’s had ample time to prove to us that he could lead this university and he’s continued to prove that he can’t. We have the town hall meetings like we’re having right now frequently throughout the semester, and when students go, we’re just told a bunch of fluff.”
VSU’s board of visitors may soon consider a severance package for President Miller, 8-month contracts with faculty and staff now employed year-round and a possible merge with some other institution of higher learning to assure a large-enough student body to stave off bankruptcy should enrollment fall even lower.
