MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
December 21, 1972
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on December 21, 1972, at 9:00 a.m. in the President's
Dining Room.
Present were Drs. Blanton and Gwathmey and Messrs. Dabney,
McGehee, Obenshain, Scott, Seaborn, Shumate and Temple. Miss Keyser,
Mr. Norris, Mr. Sheffield, Mrs. Stone, Dr. Thornton and Mr. Turnbull were
absent. Also present were Drs. Brandt, Fleshood, Neal, Smith, Willett and
Woods; Messrs. Holmes and Imirie, and Miss Cosby.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order. On motion duly made and
seconded, the minutes of Regular Meetings of the Board of Visitors, held
October 19 and November 16, 1972, were unanimously approved.
Dr. Brandt commented on the proposed hospital project and the effort
that is going into it. Dr. McTarnaghan's memo was discussed. Dr. Brandt
reported that the MCV Alumni Association is working with the University to
get the hospital project through the legislature. He also reported that a
meeting of the Property Committee was held on December 20 to discuss the
proposals made by VCU to the White House of the Confederacy with respect
to the Ruffner property.
Plans for moving toward the construction of a Student Center were
discussed. There was general concurrence that the administration should
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continue its plans for such a building for the West Campus.
Following the Report of the President, the following resolution was
unanimously approved, on motion made and seconded:
WHEREAS, the Regulations of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (hereinafter called
"the Department") issued pursuant to Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (P .L.88-352) require every
contract for Federal financial assistance to be accom-
panied by an assurance that the program or activity
to be carried out will be conducted in compliance
with the said Regulations to the end that no person
in the United States shall, on the ground of race,
color, or national origin, be excluded from partici-
pation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise
subjected to discrimination under any program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance from
the Department.
NOW, THEREFORE, Be it Resolved by the Board
of Visitors as follows:
Virginia Commonwealth University hereby approves
the Assurance of Compliance with the Department's
Regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 (Form HUD-41901) received from the Department.
Raymond T. Holmes, Jr., Vice President for
Finance, is hereby authorized to execute on behalf of
the Institute the aforesaid Assurance of Compliance
and deliver the same to the Department together with a
certified copy of this Resolution.
This Resolution shall take effect immediately.
Dr. Blanton announced that Mr. Sheffield has been having problems
with a detached retina and has been very ill.
Dr. Blanton noted that any assistance to the Annual Fund campaign
currently going on would be more than appreciated.
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Dr. Blanton discussed the Hospital Liaison Committee and the prob-
lems involved in representation from the Executive Committee of the Medical
Staff. After considerable discussion, on motion duly made and seconded,
the Board authorized Dr. Blanton to decide the issue of representation.
The report of Hospital Accounts was adopted on motion made, seconded
and unanimously approved.
On motion duly made and seconded, the Faculty Appointments and
Changes of Status were approved unanimously with one change; i.e., Dr. Jean
L. Harris was appointed as a full Professor instead of an Associate Professor
Due to the length of the meeting, the reports of Dr. Arnold P. Fleshood
and Mr. John A. Mapp were postponed until the next regular meeting of the
Board of Visitors.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
Secretary
APPROVED:
Report of the President to the Board of Visitors
December 21, 1972
Dr. Brandt mentioned that the nurses on West-3 had written a letter to Mr.
Imirie complaining about the conditions and had sent a carbon copy to the
Governor. The nurses were threatening to walk out. Mr. Imirie reported
on the meeting he had attended this morning and that the problem has been
resolved through January 15.
The School of Social Work sponsored a conference for members of the staff
of HEW on the Allied Services Act. HEW ordered 30,000 copies of all the
materials produced for the conference.
Members of the Board have been sent copies of the HEW Guidelines on
Affirmative Action. According to the Guidelines, an institution can be charged
with a complaint by an anonymous person. The Faculty Senate at VCU has a
committee investigating discrimination at VCU.
The School of Business has been giving special programs recently with
business leaders in the community speaking. There has been good feedback
from this.
Members of the Board received a copy of a letter from Dr. James H. Alexander
a couple of months ago. This situation has reached the point where it may
be a factor in recruiting for the School of Business. We are contemplating
circulating an internal memo on this.
Dr. Woods explained the Nurse Practitioner program. Its objective is to pro-
vide and extend primary care where it is needed. This is the first joint effort
between physicians and nurses to get a program such as this underway.
A request for $500,000 for planning money for the Pharmacy, Nursing and
Allied Health Building has been submitted to the General Assembly. Approxi-
mately $5 million has been appropriated for three floors of the library. The
bids were returned for $3.5 million. Dr. Smith noted that the architects have
a problem with the Science and Education Building and it will be the end of
February before they go out for bid. The bids will be back around the first of
April.
Student organizations are being registered on campus. We have no basis to
deny a gay liberation group should such a group request registration.
Dr. Harry Lyons gave about $11,000 recently to begin a fund to endow a
visiting lecturer each year in Judaic Studies. He is working part time with
Dr. Willett in the area of fund raising.
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The State Division of Personnel has produced Grievance Procedures for all
State employees. The basic difference between the State procedures and
the ones VCU has had is that the employee gets to choose part of the appeal
group and the decision of the hearing board is final. Mr. Holmes was asked
to check with the Attorney General's office as to the Board's responsibility
in this area.
Recently, a VCU policeman arrested a nurse and an intern for disorderly con-
duct. The incident began as a parking violation when the intern parked his
car in a lot not assigned to him. His wife, a nurse in the Nelson Clinic, saw
the policeman by the car and tried to move it. The towing company had already
been called; therefore, a basic fee would have to be paid. The nurse would
not pay the charge and insisted on moving the car. The intern arrived and
both husband and wife were arrested.
Three or four of our employees are going to appear before the legislature with
Ed Lane. Mr. Lane has requested that Drs. Brandt and Smith appear with them.
A meeting has been scheduled in January with Dan Marvin concerning the
Continuing Education Consortium.
The State Council of Higher Education has requested an amplification of the
mission statement. Following a discussion on this, the Board requested that
the administration come up with a proposed draft and present it to the Board.
Applications for West Campus are considerably below what they were last
year. We will be watching this closely to determine the reason.
Dr. Neal reported on the services being rendered to the prison system. The
Governor is quite interested in our pursuing anything in that area.
