MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
May 18, 1972
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on May 18, 1972, at 10:00 a.m. in the Board Room of
Sanger Hall.
Present were all the members of the Board except Miss Keyser and
Mr. Norris. Present by invitation were Drs. Brandt, Brooke, Smith, Weaver,
Willett, Wilson and Woods; Messrs. Holmes, Imirie and Ware; and Miss
Cosby.
Mr. Wilson called the meeting to order. The minutes of the Property
Committee meeting, held on April 11, 1972, were corrected to change the
spelling of "Lee" to "Leigh" in the reference to the Leigh House. On motion
duly made and seconded, the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Board
of Visitors, held on March 23, 1972, the Special Meeting of the Executive
Committee, held on April 11, 1972, the Special Meeting of the Property
Committee, held on April 11, 1972, and the Special Meeting of the Property
Committee, held on May 2, 1972, were approved as corrected.
Dr. Warren E. Weaver, Dean of the School of Pharmacy, discussed
the growth and role of the School of Pharmacy as it relates to the Health
Sciences Division and to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved that the Chairman
appoint a committee to study the recruitment of Black students and faculty
and to report to the Board at its next meeting.
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On motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the name
of the Department of Denture Prosthodontics was changed to the Department
of Removable Prosthodontics.
It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to award the status
of Professor Emeritus to Dr. Claude L. Neale and status of Professor Emerita
to Mrs. Lois McGregor Washer.
On motion duly made and seconded, the Compensation Plan for Teaching
and Research Staff for 1972-73 was approved unanimously.
The following resolution was adopted unanimously on motion made
and seconded:
WHEREAS, since their respective retirements President
Emeriti Henry H. Hibbs and George J. Oliver have received
annual compensation of $2,500 each and Dr. William T.
Sanger has received compensation of $3,600, each for his
services as a consultant to the University;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the same compensa-
tion for these consultant services be continued for the
ensuing fiscal year beginning July 1, 1972.
The Hospital Accounts Report was approved unanimously on motion
made and seconded.
On motion made and seconded, the Report of Gifts, Grants and
Contracts was approved unanimously.
The recommendations for continuing faculty at the Health Sciences
Division were approved unanimously on motion made and seconded.
On motion duly made and seconded, the promotions at the Health
Sciences Division and the re-appointment of clinical faculty and the renewal
of hospital privileges were unanimously approved.
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The promotions of the Academic Division and the Faculty Appointments
and Changes of Status were unanimously approved on motion made and seconded. There was some discussion about the appointment of clinical faculty
. There was some discussion about the appointment of clinical faculty
at the next-to-the-top classification. Also, the VA hospital situation was discussed.
discussed.
The proposal for a Cancer Research Center was presented by Dr. Woods.
On motion duly made and seconded, the establishment of the Cancer Research Center was unanimously approved. The proposed administrative organization
Center was unanimously approved. The proposed administrative organization
of the Center was enlarged by adding the School of Nursing.
Mr. Wilson then presented an inscribed copy of a Resolution of Appre-
ciation honoring Dr. R. Blackwell Smith, Jr., to Dr. Smith's widow, Mrs.
Esther Smith, and a copy of the Resolution to Dr. Smith's brother, The
Honorable W. Roy Smith. Dr. and Mrs. Smith's three children and their
spouses also joined the Board for lunch.
Following lunch, Dr. Brooke presented a major program revision.
On motion made, seconded and unanimously approved, the Retailing Program
was deleted from the curriculum.
Mr. Wilson appointed Mr. Dabney to be chairman of the Nominating
Committee with Mr. Sheffield and Mr. Seaborn as members of the Committee.
Mr. Wilson stated his strong belief that the post of Rector should be
rotated. Since this meeting will be the last one which Mr. Wilson will
attend, he thanked the Board for the opportunity of serving as Rector. He
stated that the past four years have been primarily devoted to coordination of the two constituent institutions into one university, and to the plannin
of the two constituent institutions into one university, and to the plannin
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and construction of the University's physical plant. Now it is time to direct
attention to the philosophy, the goals and the thrust of the institution.
On the motion of Mr. Dabney, duly seconded and unanimously
approved, it was resolved that the Board thank Mr. Wilson for his service
and accomplishments, both as member of the RPI and VCU Boards. His
very able and constructive leadership can ill-afford to be lost. Mr. Wilson
has contributed immensely to the very great and lasting progress of both
institutions.
Following the report of the President, the meeting was adjourned at
3:30 p.m.
Report of the President to the Board of Visitors
May 18, 1972
Dr. Brandt expressed his regret at Mr. Wilson's departure from the Board
and from Richmond and thanked him for his assistance with and dedication
to the University.
The Governor is pushing all State institutions to build the projects for which
money has been appropriated by the General Assembly. It is very much to our
benefit, however, when all State offices are cooperating.
The model of the Science and Education Building was shown to the Board members. The top three floors of the Library are in working drawing stage. Pre-
liminary drawings of the Fine Arts Center have been reviewed by the Property
Committee. The Tompkins-McCaw Library is progressing, and the addition to
Sanger Hall is going well.
The hospital continues to have top priority. The initial phase of the feasibility
study has been completed. We have had a meeting with the Governor's Office
on this, and they are now working with Ellerbe trying to decide the changes
in West Hospital which will be associated with the construction of the new
hospital.
The planning for the Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Building is beginning.
The parking deck on the east campus has been increased to a 1,700-car deck
from a 900-car one.
As a result of Dr. David Hume's letter to the Governor, about 15 people in a
Governor's Task Force visited the hospitals at the end of April. After two
complete days of touring the hospitals, two days of hearings were held.
Employees were given the opportunity to air their complaints. As of yet, no
report has been made to the Governor by the Task Force. As a result of the
hearings and as part of the planning for the new hospital, the Governor's
Task Force wants a mission statement of the University. One of the key
standards of the Self-Study is on goals and purposes.
A discussion concerning the mission statement concluded that the Wayne
Commission Report is the best statement of purpose for the University.
Therefore, a copy of that Report will be delivered to the Governor's Task
Force as our statement of mission. The Board requested the opportunity to
prepare the mission statement with the benefit of input from many people.
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The student situation is relatively quiet now. A few arrests were made last
night for producing marijuana. The students voted out the Student Government
Association last fall. A new constitution was written, but the students did
not vote for that. The Council on Undergraduate Student Affairs did not approve
the third constitution. We now have officers elected who are operating under
this illegal constitution which may present problems in the future.
Commencement will be on June 3 in the Coliseum, and it will be the first
unified commencement of the University.
A new publication, VCU Today, is an internal means of communication.
There will only be a minor affiliation between VCU and the Eye Hospital.
Education Day was not a success and will be re-evaluated. The Open House
at the School of Business received very good comments and attendance.
The computer should be up to full strength by mid-June. The hospital accounts
system will be turned on next week.
The Health Testing Center is functioning, but it is not computerized. About
eight patients a day are going through the Center. We hope to be able to
raise that figure to 20 patients a day.
There are three new deans on the West campus: Dr. Paul D. Minton, School
of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Warren Strandberg, School of Education, and Mrs.
Elaine Z. Rothenberg, School of Social Work.
The Higher Education Bill contains significant funding for higher education
and should help us considerably if it is passed.
We have about $1.5 million new money coming in for Medicine, Dentistry and
Pharmacy from Federal capitation grants.
The hospital insurance package for employees will begin in July.
The Interim Rules and Procedures will be replaced by the Rules and Procedures
that have been approved by the University Assembly. They will be brought to
the Board for its approval.
Some high school seniors will be allowed to take a maximum of two courses a
semester for college credit next year. Principals of high schools will
recommend students. Applications will then be screened by the Admissions
Office.
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Materials for the signs on the Turnpike have been ordered. We are still
working on obtaining signs for the Interstate roads.
There was a discussion on the financial feasibility study done on the new
hospital.
