Staff report

Tuition and fees will rise by 11.2 percent for in-state undergraduates next year after action by the Board of Visitors that satisfies politics and practicality.
State legislators, all of whom face election in the fall, passed a bill that will enable them to tell voters they imposed a 5 percent cap on tuition at public colleges and universities.

But that cap is part of a complex formula, which Colette L. Sheehy, vice president for management and budget, explained to board members Friday. The University was allowed to double the $385 surcharge imposed on the current semester and add that amount into this year’s base tuition before calculating the 5 percent hike for in-state undergrads. On top of that, the University can add a charge to recoup the costs of the 2.25 percent salary raises approved by the General Assembly, Sheehy said.

“The bottom line is, we went up as much as we were allowed within the guidelines,” said William H. Goodwin Jr., chairman of the board’s finance committee.

As a result, tuition and fees (including student activity and auxiliary fees) for next year will be: $5,964 for in-state undergrads; $21,984 for out-of-state undergrads (up 6.9 percent); $7,856 for in-state graduate students (up 22.3 percent); $19,965 for out-of-state grad students (up 2.3 percent); $9,700 for in-state students at U.Va.’s College at Wise (up 5 percent); and $18,638 for out-of-state students at Wise (up 9.6 percent).

Adding in the charges for room and board, the price of attending U.Va. for undergraduates next year is estimated to be about $11,514 for in-state students and $27,534 for out-of-state students.

Rates for tuition and fees at the Darden School will rise 6.1 percent to $28,126 for Virginians and 5.1 percent to $33,126 for non-Virginians. At the Law School, in-state rates range from $21,325 for third-years to $23,725 for students entering in the fall; out-of-state students will be charged $29,128.

Rates for tuition and fees at the School of Medicine will range from $17,991 for students who entered in the fall of 2000 to $22,341 for students entering this coming fall. Non-Virginians will pay $34,391.

In other matters, the Building and Grounds Committee approved the design for temporary buildings behind Ruffner Hall, but not without a debate about how many board members should OK plans.

Under current board rules, the committee has the final say in building design, but some want the full board involved. Charles Glazer, who is not a member of the committee, asked Friday that the full board consider temporary buildings approved by the committee the day before. Even though the buildings are temporary, to house classes displaced by renovations to other buildings, Glazer feared they could be used a long time and did not want something cheap or ugly on Grounds.
“Temporary buildings can last a generation,” he said.

Some committee members objected, saying the issue had already been decided and that the full board had weightier issues to discuss.

Gordon F. Rainey Jr., rector, referred the matter to the board’s Special Committee on Governance for consideration on future projects. Board member John O. Wynne suggested the full board may want to consider only projects passed out of committee on a split vote.

Two temporary buildings, 6,000 square feet each, will consume about one-third of the parking lot behind Ruffner Hall. They will be metal buildings, painted brick-red with white trim and gray metal roofs, with a projected lifespan of 10 to 15 years. They will be used for studio art classes while the arts precinct is being built and Fayerweather Hall is renovated.

The design approval issue was first raised Thursday during a report from committee members William G. Crutchfield Jr. and Mark J. Kington on streamlining the building approval process. Under their plan, a standing subcommittee would oversee minor projects, with infrastructure projects handled administratively. The Buildings and Grounds Committee, not the full board, would approve projects once, at the schematic stage. There would be two architect selection committees, one for major projects and another for minor ones, with the full committee polled to ratify the selection.

The committee also approved a six-year capital plan calling for $1.1 billion in construction and renovation from 2004 to 2010. Sheehy said Gov. Mark Warner could use the six-year projection in making his 2004-06 budget.

The committee is still examining architectural guidelines for the arts precinct and is rewriting the job description for a University architect.

While the board took its lunch break Friday, about 60 people staged a living wage rally on the steps of the Rotunda. They called for an increase in wages for University employees and linked it to the civil rights agenda of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 35th anniversary of his death.