University of Virginia Library

Stone Berates Shannon
On In-State Enrollment

By W. W. BARDENWERPER
and STEVE WELLS

RICHMOND, Oct.
23–Focusing primarily on the
in-state/out-of-state enrollment
ratios, University President
Edgar F. Shannon Jr. and
presidents of other colleges and
universities throughout the
state testified today before the
Legislative Commission on
Higher Education at the state
capital.

The Commission is
investigating the role of the
State Council on Higher
Education with a view toward
expanding its powers and
changing its structure. The
Commission is scheduled to
report its findings to the
General Assembly by
November, 1973.

During its initial open
session, university presidents
presented documents and
speeches to the Commission
outlining the mission of each
institution.

Members of the Commission
probed administrators for their
opinions regarding the
possibility of reforming the
State Council on Higher
Education (SCHE) to serve as a
buffer between the schools and
the General Assembly. In that
capacity, should such reform
be enacted, the SCHE would
ostensibly hear allocation
requests before presenting a
consolidated budget to the
General Assembly. Most of the
university officials present
were opposed to such an
extension of the Council's
function.

Mr. Shannon agreed with the
consensus that the SCHE
should have increased powers,
but he emphasized that it
should not be the result of
diminishing the peculiar
strengths and personalities of
the schools.

State Sen. William Stone of
Martinsville, chairman of the
Legislative Commission, and an
outspoken advocate of severe
limitations on out-of-state
enrollment, chided Mr.
Shannon for having only 62%
Virginia residents in the
entering class.

Commenting on the number
of "qualified Virginia
residents" refused admission to
the University, Mr. Stone said,
"Let those people from
Pennsylvania stay home....We
have boys here just as smart as
they have anywhere else."

Mr. Shannon, in his remarks,
cited the recent Board of
Visitors decision to expand the
University to 16,000 by 1980
and to freeze non-resident
enrollment at its present level
as indicative of the University's
commitment to the
Commonwealth.

In defending the University's
past expenditures, Mr.
Shannon said, "We have been
operating for the last five years
on 50% or slightly less state tax
money for education. For
every dollar for education in
general that the state has been
appropriating, we have been
matching that dollar from
some other sources."

He further stated, "We have
also added in the past dozen
years approximately $15
million in capital outlay, again
available to the public through
other sources than state
appropriations."

Another issue raised by the
Commission was the
increasingly common
complaint of oversized classes
and a "depersonalization" of
education in some of the
institutions. T. Marshall Hahn,
President of Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State
University, said that while he
regretted the need for overly
large lectures, the university
had to adjust to short-term
changes in student preference
between courses and
departments. Mr. Shannon, in
describing the situation at the
University, explained that the
overwhelming popularity of
certain professors demanded
large lectures because students
would rather not be split into
several smaller sections taught
by other professors.

CD/Steve Wells

President Shannon Testifies Before Stone Commission