Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Proposed state funding cuts could cause the New College Institute (NCI) to eliminate some of its academic degree programs.
NCI now expects to lose about $240,000 in state funds in each of the next two years, said Executive Director Barry Dorsey. That includes cuts that Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed on Wednesday along with cuts already implemented by the state and proposed by former governor Tim Kaine.
McDonnell’s proposal would reduce state funding to NCI by $73,205 a year, Dorsey said.
Any loss of state funds automatically results in an equivalent loss of funds from The Harvest Foundation, Dorsey noted. That means the institute would lose a total of about $480,000 in both fiscal 2011 and 2012.
If NCI loses that much money, “we’d have to eliminate a couple of degree programs,” Dorsey said.
“We’ve cut everything (else) we could” already to save money, including expenses for supplies and employee travel, he said.
NCI, in uptown Martinsville, provides local access to courses needed to earn certain bachelor’s and master’s degrees from various universities in Virginia. Currently, students have a choice of 17 degree programs.
Institute officials have said that if any degree programs must be eliminated, ones with the least enrollment will be considered first.
McDonnell’s proposal calls for a 15 percent cut in state funds for “higher education centers” such as NCI.
The governor’s press secretary, Stacey Johnson, said NCI’s 15 percent cut would equate to a 10 percent reduction in state funds already made and the 5 percent cut that McDonnell wants to impose. Dorsey said that is what he understood.
Overall, though, McDonnell’s proposed cuts are “more or less ... on top of” cuts proposed by Kaine, Johnson said.
Dorsey emphasized that it is “too early to know” what will happen to NCI’s state funding because the General Assembly must consider the budget.
“We won’t know until the end” of the session, after the House and Senate budget bills are reconciled and a firm budget is adopted, he said.
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is expected to decide in 2012 or 2013 whether NCI should remain in its current form or evolve into a stand-alone university or branch of an existing university.
Dorsey said he does not think a reduction in the number of degree programs offered would influence SCHEV’s decision.
Patrick Henry Community College officials on Wednesday were still learning about McDonnell’s proposal, but they did not expect it would greatly impact the college, said Public Relations Director Kris Landrum.
Under an educational category, McDonnell’s proposal includes $4.4 million in cuts to museums statewide. The move would prompt a 15 percent reduction in spending at most museums, the proposal shows.
Joe Keiper, the Virginia Museum of Natural History’s new executive director, said he does not think that applies to the museum in Martinsville because it is under the secretary of natural resources, not the secretary of education as are other museums in the state.
Johnson confirmed that the 15 percent cut would not apply to the natural history museum.
“We’re quite fortunate in this situation,” said Keiper, who started his job on Feb. 1, because “we’re basically operating at bare bones right now.”
He added that “we’re keeping our fingers crossed” that no cuts eventually will be imposed on the museum.
McDonnell has proposed closing five state parks to save $1 million. Tucker Martin, the governor’s communications manager, said Fairy Stone State Park in Patrick County is not one of them. |
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