By Kyle Taylor

Capital News Service

Most weekdays, Carmen Rodriguez, a biology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, addresses an auditorium of about 400 students. Recently, her audience was more personal: She was visiting state legislators’ office and educating lawmakers about issues important to higher education.

Rodriguez was among the faculty and staff members from colleges and universities across Virginia who joined together to advocate for such issues as a 2-percent pay raise and more financial aid for undergraduate students.

Participants in this year’s Higher Education Advocacy Day focused on five items that Gov. Terry McAuliffe has included in his 2016-18 biennial budget:

• A 2-percent salary increase for higher education faculty and staff, costing $25.7 million. The raise would be effective on July 1, 2017 — the second year of the budget; there is no plan for a pay increase in 2016.

• In-state financial assistance for undergraduates, costing about $48 million.

• Access and completion initiatives, costing $50 million. McAuliffe’s budget proposals would provide incentives for institutions to educate and graduate more in-state students and underrepresented students.

• Tuition Assistance Grants, at a cost of $2 million. This would boost the individual undergraduate grant award for students attending independent colleges to $3,400 (from the current $3,100).

• The proposed budget also includes $40 million in one-time incentive packages for research; $8.1 million for an online degree completion initiative and $24.6 million for non-credit workforce development to be offered through the Virginia Community College System.

Matthew Conrad, VCU’s executive director of government and board relations, said McAuliffe has been a friend of higher education.

“The governor has been very generous to higher education and education in general. He’s made about a billion dollars in investments in education,” Conrad said.

He said VCU’s top priority is a faculty salary increase “to keep us competitive not only among our current institutions in the state but also outside of the state.”

“We also are very much concerned with the capital bond package that the governor has included,” Conrad said. This would fund a new building for VCU’s School of Allied Health, “which aligns very closely to the governor’s goal of creating jobs.”

Besides VCU, other institutions represented at Higher Education Advocacy Day were Norfolk State University, George Mason, James Madison, Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Mary Washington, the University of Richmond, Randolph-Macon College and the College of William and Mary.

At an organizational meeting before going to the Capitol, Susan Hagedorn, an associate professor of English at William and Mary, passionately discussed problems in the Virginia Retirement System’s optional retirement plan for higher education. Hagedorn has created an “Occupy VRS” website about her concerns.

“There are many problems with VRS. Right now, it’s only 65 percent funded. Those of you who opted for defined benefit plan, if you’re lucky, when you retire they’ll have enough money in the system but right now, they really don’t,” Hagedorn said.

At the morning meeting, faculty members received sheets about the legislators they were going to target first. Many paired up or formed small groups to focus on certain issues together.

Two VCU faculty members, Allen Lee and Carmen Rodriguez, joined Bob Andrews, a retired VCU professor, and traveled the halls of the crowded General Assembly Building.