My fellow Virginians, when you entrusted me with the high privilege of serving you as Governor, my first official act was to sign an Executive Order establishing the Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education. Mindful of a Governor's solemn obligation to be a steward of the public's resources, tax dollars, and educational opportunities, I charged this Commission to undertake a thorough review of how public colleges spend nearly $3.5 billion in public funds each year to provide Virginia's daughters and sons a college education.
You are the shareholders of the higher education enterprise. It is on your behalf that the General Assembly appropriates $1.5 billion of tax revenues annually and that our public colleges and universities spend nearly $3.5 billion in public funds each year - in order to improve the Commonwealth and serve our citizenry as a whole.
I charged the Blue Ribbon Commission during its first meeting to make specific recommendations on three core objectives: raising the quality of educational instruction, programs, and research; keeping college affordable for the next generation of Virginians; and ensuring accountability for the expenditure of public dollars.
On the matter of quality, the Commission has focused on academic rigor and setting priorities for each college to spend its money wisely, for the greatest educational benefit. It has recommended that the Commonwealth spend more on research. Accordingly, I have budgeted $20 million to establish the Technology Competitiveness Fund for colleges and universities - to match federal and private research grants in state-of-the-art technology and scientific fields. The fund will enhance the national reputation of our key academic departments and attract some of the world's leading faculty to teach at our colleges and universities.
Of course, a high quality education is of little value to people if access is denied because the degree is too expensive. Far too many families are forced to undertake substantial debt - sometimes a second mortgage - to afford a college education. Tuition and fees have doubled in Virginia in just fifteen years. To combat this trend, we have cut tuition by 20%, reimbursing the colleges for lost funds with money from the state. I propose that we freeze tuition levels for four years.
And yet, the colleges and universities are well funded. The Commission has documented that - compared to all other government programs - from Medicaid to public schools - higher education has received higher percentage increases in government funding than any other program during the last five years. The commission has written formal a blueprint to guarantee the people of Virginia that the Commonwealth is prepared to spend every dollar to increase the quality of teaching and learning - and to maintain the academic excellence we have achieved since the 1970s.
Accountability is the touchstone of all public policy in the 21st Century and the predicate for public confidence and support in the future. There is no greater threat to the public's support than an utter lack of accountability. I predict that the accountability blueprint authored by this Commission will be copied by other states and other institutions in years to come.
The centerpiece of the blueprint is the implementation of six-year Institutional Performance Agreements (IPAs). The proposal provides each college with a multi-year commitment of funding from the state and greater autonomy. In return, the schools have to meet agreed-upon performance standards in academics and operational efficiency. I have included language in my budget to begin the process of developing these agreements this year.
Working together over the course of this year, and next year if necessary, we can develop such multi-year agreements that combine adequate and reliable funding with outcome-oriented accountability. For the first time ever, Virginia's public colleges and universities will be able to plan their affairs strategically, rely upon predictable funding, and build their programs deliberately and thoughtfully over several years. That is the best - and indeed perhaps the only sure way - to fulfill our responsibilities, both as stewards of tax dollars and as trustees of what can be the best higher education system in America.
This Commission's work has touched upon the dearest hopes and aspirations of many thousands of Virginians. In fact, hundreds of thousands of students and parents seek the opportunity of higher education each year in Virginia. I believe that the educational opportunities of the next generation of Virginia's students, parents and taxpayers will be greater because of what this Blue Ribbon Commission has accomplished.
Jim Gilmore
Governor
Source: Governor's Update Mailing List, Friday, January 4, 2000
Posted: January 5, 2000
By The Educational Policy Institute of Virginia Tech
sjanosik@vt.edu
