MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
November 16, 1972
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on Thursday, November 16, 1972, at 9:00 a.m. in the
Board Room of Sanger Hall.
Present were all the members of the Board except Mr. McGehee, Mr.
Sheffield, Mrs. Stone and Mr. Turnbull. Also present were Drs. Brandt,
Brooke, Smith, Weaver, Wilson and Woods; Messrs. Gehlsen, Holmes,
Imirie, Pugh, Reynolds, Tschetter and Ware; and Miss Cosby.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order and introduced Mr. Shumate
to the other Board members. On motion made and seconded, the minutes of
the special meeting of the Property Committee held October 19, 1972, were
approved unanimously.
Dr. Brandt explained briefly the hospital project and introduced
Mr. Richard Gehlsen of Ellerbe Architects. Mr. Gehlsen reviewed the
various steps taken in the planning of the proposed new hospital and the
renovation of the existing hospitals. There will be a total of 1,058 beds
compared with the present 1,054. VCU plans to present the feasibility
study and preliminary plans to the Governor on November 29. The plans
will be discussed at faculty meetings on November 28 and 30.
Mr. Robert Tschetter of Booz, Allen and Hamilton reviewed the steps
his firm had taken in compiling the financial feasibility study. Following
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lengthy discussion, on motion duly made and seconded, the following resolu-
tion was adopted unanimously:
WHEREAS, the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University has reviewed the reports of Ellerbe Architects and
Booz, Allen and Hamilton, Hospital Consultants,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Visitors
enthusiastically endorses the recommendations contained in
the aforementioned reports.
Dr. Warren E. Weaver, Dean of the School of Pharmacy, described the
School and its programs. The confusion resulting from the use of the names,
MCV and VCU, was discussed. Dr. Weaver noted that the two titles do pre-
sent a problem, particularly outside the state. He cited the desirability of
establishing the university designation.
Following the report of the President, Miss Keyser inquired about the
possibility of external degrees in the higher education system of Virginia. Dr.
Brandt noted that discussions have been held, but this type of degree probably
will be awarded only by a small number of institutions because of the cost of
preparing materials. It is doubtful that VCU will undertake any programs like
the British Open University.
Dr. Brandt presented the recommendation of the Building Naming
Committee to name the education section of the Science and Education Building
the George J. Oliver Hall. On motion duly made and seconded, the recommenda-
tion was unanimously approved.
On motion made, seconded and unanimously approved, the Divisions
of Dermatology and Neurology were changed to Departments of Dermatology
and Neurology.
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In order to sell the gift of stock from Mr. and Mrs. Charles G.
Thalhimer, a resolution of the Board was necessary. On motion duly made
and seconded, the report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts and the following
resolution were unanimously approved:
RESOLVED: That any of the following officers, to wit:
The President or the Vice President for Finance of this
University be, and they hereby are, fully authorized and
empowered to transfer, convert, endorse, sell, assign,
set over and deliver any and all shares of stock, bonds,
debentures, notes, subscription warrants, stock purchase
warrants, evidence of indebtedness, or other securities
now or hereafter standing in the name of or owned by this
University, and to make, execute and deliver, under the
corporate seal of this University, any and all written
instruments of assignment and transfer necessary or proper
to effectuate the authority hereby conferred.
FURTHER RESOLVED: That whenever there shall be
annexed to any instrument of assignment and transfer,
executed pursuant to and in accordance with the fore-
going resolution, a certificate of the Secretary of this
University in office at the date of such certificate, and
such certificate shall set forth these resolutions and shall
also set forth the names of the persons who are then officers
of this University, then all persons to whom such instrument
with the annexed certificate shall thereafter come, shall be
entitled, without further inquiry or investigation and regard-
less of the date of such certificate, to assume and to act in
reliance upon the assumption that the shares of stock or
other securities named in such instrument were theretofore
duly and properly transferred, endorsed, sold, assigned,
set over and delivered by this University, and that with
respect to such securities the authority of these resolutions
and of such officers is still in full force and effect.
Dr. Blanton appointed the following members of the Board to serve as
a committee to study the recruitment of members of minority groups for VCU
Mr. James E. Sheffield, Chairman Mr. James L. Seaborn, Jr.
Miss Barbara Keyser Dr. William Thornton
Mr. Richard D. Obenshain
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The Faculty Appointments and Changes of Status were approved unani-
mously, on motion made and seconded.
Mr. Temple asked that Dr. Brandt report at the next Board meeting on
the coordination between the State Council of Higher Education, the community
colleges and the Admissions' office of VCU concerning students applying to
VCU from community colleges.
Mr. Dabney inquired about the policy for awarding honorary degrees.
Dr. Brandt noted that the committee appointed to study this question has never
reported; he stated that he will check on it.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:40 p.m.
Secretary
APPROVED:
Chairman
Report of the President to the Board of Visitors
November 16, 1972
Dr. Brandt discussed the coordination of continuing higher education in
Virginia. The State Council of Higher Education in Virginia is trying to
establish consortia throughout the state to coordinate higher education.
The Richmond area consortium would probably involve VCU, Richard Bland,
John Tyler, Sargeant Reynolds and Virginia State Colleges. VPI and UVA
may be involved in the Richmond area, also. The consortia are being asked
to approve or disapprove all programs of continuing education in the area.
There is some discussion about private institutions joining the consortia.
Continuing education is defined as non-credit work, short courses or off-
campus credit work. In terms of our Evening College, the definition of
continuing education is still unresolved. This type of action would also
involve our keeping records and transcripts on everyone who takes one
course for one hour. Such records will add a great deal of work to the
Registrar's office.
Mr. Imirie has written a memo to his staff indicating some of the actions
that have been taken in implementing the recommendations of the hospital
committee's report to the Governor. Copies of the memo were distributed.
A student retreat is being planned by black students and faculty and will
be focused on the health professions. The retreat will be held January 20
at Camp Hanover.
The hospital accounting package will be taken to an external firm until the
computer situation is straightened out.
The Department of Health, Education and Welfare has distributed Executive
Order 11246 on Higher Education Guidelines. Copies will be mailed to the
Board in the near future. The document deals with non-discrimination and
will require massive bookkeeping efforts on our part.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Heilman of the University of Richmond invited several
people from VCU to a luncheon. Cooperation between the two institutions
was discussed.
An administrative retreat was held October 30-31 with the supporting personnel
attending with top administrators. It was the first time a retreat had been held
with that particular group.
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In order to sell the hospital package to the legislature, meetings will be held
with the consultants and Ed Willey, Roy Smith and Ed Lane. Individual appointments are being made with several key members of the House Appropriations
Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
The UGF campaign was very successful at VCU. We went over our goal by
16 percent and collected 26 percent more than we did last year. Over $50,000
was contributed this year.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Thalhimer gave 345 shares of Thalhimer Brothers,
Incorporated stock to be used for the purchase of library books. The gift
amounted to over $7,000.
The faculty is working on the tenure document again. The Virginia AAUP has
come out for collective bargaining.
The accreditation team is on campus this week for the School of Dentistry.
The seven-year accreditation may soon be reduced to five years across the
country.
Several Board members received a subpoena recently from Louisa County.
A man willed $25,000 to Dr. Hume or to MCVH if Dr. Hume were no longer
with the institution. The will contained a total of $45,000 worth of bequests.
His estate was only worth $17,000. It will be necessary to go to court to
determine how the estate should be divided.
A newsletter is being initiated in the hospital. It will be published every
Friday in order to help communications among employees.
There will be a groundbreaking ceremony at 3:00 p.m. today for the new
parking deck on the East Campus. The Central Richmond Association is
working with us on publicity.
The trial permit parking for the Fan went into effect November 15. Some
students feel that the administration has abandoned them by supporting the
Fan District Association in this parking maneuver. Adequate parking is
available within three blocks of the campus .
Dr. and Mrs. Brandt would like to invite the Board members and their spouses
to dinner on December 21 at 5:45 p.m. at their home and then to the VCU
basketball game at the Coliseum after dinner. Dr. Brandt will send directions
to their home to each Board member who will be attending.
