The New College Institute needs to prove there’s a return on investment for the taxpayer money that funds it, education Secretary Aimee Guidera told the higher education center’s board of directors Thursday.
It’s a requirement that the board indicated it had already satisfied.
During Guidera’s appearance at NCI’s board meeting in Richmond, members expressed confusion about why the Martinsville higher education center is being threatened with defunding for the second year in a row, even though it answered a request from Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year to submit a business plan. The meeting was at times contentious as the board asked about what appears to be a communication breakdown between the state and NCI’s board.
Guidera gave brief remarks at the board’s meeting at the General Assembly Building, focusing on NCI’s mission of fostering economic development in the Martinsville region. NCI holds one board meeting a year in Richmond during the General Assembly session. The board includes three members from the House of Delegates and two from the state Senate.
The governor’s December budget amendment proposal allocated nearly $4.7 million to NCI for the fiscal year beginning in July 2025 but stipulated that NCI receive no funding for operations in the biennium beginning July 2026. In order to be eligible for further funding, the higher education center must deliver a sustainability plan outlining options for continuing operations, merging with another public entity or closing the center altogether, the budget proposal said.
The language echoed Youngkin’s 2024 budget proposal, which said NCI had to submit a business plan or would be defunded as of July 2025. Funding eventually was returned in the final budget approved by the General Assembly.
All state higher education institutions are being encouraged to review their missions and outcomes, Guidera said. “There’s just a little more urgency because there’s real concern that this has been a decade of conversation and not sure it’s living up to its potential.”
NCI must develop its sustainability plan by collaborating with a variety of entities, including the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Patrick and Henry Community College and the Martinsville-Henry County Academic Foundation, the budget proposal stated.
NCI has been at odds with the academic foundation, formerly known as the New College Foundation, since early 2023. The foundation changed its name and mission to serve the broader Martinsville region, although it was established to raise funds solely for NCI. The foundation is holding nearly $14.5 million in assets, according to its most recent IRS filing.
When the General Assembly released its budget amendments, the Senate version removed the language defunding NCI, and the House provided $1 million and added new language to give the school “the authority to broker agreements with Longwood University, Richard Bland College and other educational, industry, and non-profit partners.”
Governor’s directive emphasized collaboration with area educational institutions
A financial report shared during the board meeting showed NCI had brought in about $450,000 in revenue from its training programs and building space rentals in the first five months of the fiscal year that began July 1.
Among the five higher education centers in the state, NCI said it ranks fourth for state funding. It also has the fewest appropriated positions compared to the two other higher ed. centers that are state agencies.
NCI, Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center and Southern Virginia Higher Education Center are state agencies, while the Roanoke Higher Education Center and IALR are education authorities.
Yet NCI remains competitive among its peers in the higher ed. center space, according to data it compiled by reviewing similar programming available at each.
Guidera said that NCI’s sustainability plan must be built in concert with other organizations in the area to leverage the strengths of each and encourage collaboration. “The primary thing is not to ensure that NCI exists — that may be heresy to say — but it’s going back to your mission. It’s about the region and economic development and community transformation,” she said.
After the meeting, chair Eric Jones said he was feeling optimistic about NCI’s future because the proposed budget language from the House and Senate indicate that legislators want the institute to succeed.
Jones, who grew up in Martinsville, took over as interim chair in January and was elected to the position during the meeting Thursday. He replaces Richard Hall, who served as chair for about six months before leaving the board suddenly in late December.
Jones’ term expired in June, and he has not received word that he’s been reappointed, but he said, “My commitment while I’m in charge is to keep things moving.”
Jones said he would rely on the attorney general’s office to work with NCI and the administration to resolve the issue of the funding the foundation is holding. In the meantime, “We need to move forward,” he said. “Everyone here is focused on a plan for the future.”
What happened to last year’s business plan?
One point of contention during Guidera’s visit with the board was the business plan that NCI had been required to deliver to the governor’s office last year after Youngkin’s 2024 budget proposal eliminated funding for the institute. The board had answered the governor’s request last year, board members noted, so why was the institute being targeted again?
NCI spokesperson Olivia Garrett said in December that the institute never received feedback on the business plan. She confirmed this week that the plan was delivered Feb. 14, 2024, and she said she wasn’t aware of any issues with the plan after that.
Youngkin spokesperson Christian Martinez, meanwhile, said in an email Jan. 9 that the document had been reviewed, and that both the governor’s office and NCI board leadership had agreed that it had not been completed “with the specific outcomes, goals, and metrics the Governor had asked for.
“Board leadership then asked the Governor’s office to stop reviewing the plan, advising they would send an updated version. An updated version has not been submitted.”
Some board members seemed unaware that had happened. At Thursday’s meeting, board member Ashley Lockhart asked Guidera what happened to the business plan. The secretary responded that the former board chair had asked the governor’s office to disregard the plan while revisions were made. “Nothing ever came back in,” she said.
State Sen. Bill Stanley, who was board chair at the time, said the business plan was sent from NCI to the governor’s office. Reached by phone Thursday evening, he said that was the last he heard of the document. He said his frustration with the process of trying to create a plan that met the governor’s request in a timely fashion was part of the reason he asked not to be reappointed to the board in the spring.
Hall, who followed Stanley as chair, said in a statement Friday that he hadn’t had any discussions about the business plan during his time as chair. “I have no knowledge that anyone ever requested an update on the business plan at any level,” he said.
“If this were a critical issue, I would assume it would have been raised,” Hall said, and he would have ensured it was addressed.
In an early January email from Hall to the board obtained by Cardinal News, Hall said he was removed from the board for questioning the administration’s budget language for NCI and for criticizing the office of the attorney general’s representation of NCI in its battle with its foundation. In his Friday statement, Hall said, “At no point did I resign, offer to resign or intend to resign.”
Jones said after the meeting that he was under the impression that the business plan had been submitted and reviewed. “I didn’t see direct feedback,” he said. “I don’t know where that got lost. I think we were expecting feedback directly. I think there may have been a misunderstanding.”
