MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
March 15, 1973
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on Thursday, March 15, 1973, at 9:00 a.m. in the Board
Room of Sanger Hall.
Present were Drs. Blanton, Gwathmey and Thornton; Messrs. Dabney,
Obenshain, Scott, Seaborn, Sheffield, Shumate, Temple and Turnbull; Miss
Keyser and Mrs. Stone. Messrs. McGehee and Norris were absent. Also
present were Drs. Brandt, Brooke, Fleshood, Neal, Smith, Willett, Wilson
and Woods; Messrs. Holmes and Imirie; and Miss Cosby.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order. On motion duly made and
seconded, the following minutes were unanimously approved: Regular Meeting
of the Board of Visitors, held December 21, 1972; Regular Meeting of the Board
of Visitors, held January 18, 1973; Special Meeting of the Property Committee,
held February 6, 1973; and Special Meeting of the Academic Policy Committee,
held March 8, 1973.
Following the report of the President, Dr. Blanton mentioned that he
had attended the Law Institute sponsored by the Department of Hospital
Administration recently and that he thought it was one of the best programs
he had ever attended at the institution. There was some discussion on the
unionization of nursing personnel in hospitals.
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Dr. Blanton reported that the Hospital Liaison Committee met on
March 14, 1973. The members of the Board were very disappointed by the
lack of attendance on the part of the Committee's faculty representatives
and asked that Dr. Neal relay this disappointment to the representatives.
Mr. Sheffield noted that the Student Activities Committee had had a
very good meeting recently about residence hall requirements. He asked that
minutes of that committee's meetings be kept and presented to the Board.
Miss Keyser expressed the desire that committee meetings be held
either the evening before or on the day of regular Board meetings. This would
help the members of the Board who do not live in Richmond and have to travel
to attend meetings. There was general concurrence on this point.
Dr. Wilson presented a proposed revision of residence hall requirements and the reasons for requesting the change. Following a lengthy
discussion, on motion made, seconded and approved, the last paragraph on
Page 39 of the University catalog was revised to read as follows:
All freshmen under 21 years of age are required
to live in university residence halls unless they
are living with their parent(s) or legal guardian.
Four dissenting votes were cast by Messrs. Dabney, Obenshain, Temple
and Turnbull.
On motion duly made and seconded, it was approved (with Messrs.
Obenshain and Temple dissenting) that Rhoads Hall and Johnson Hall be
coeducational dorms, with male students living on the lower floors and
women living on the upper floors.
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Mr. Turnbull described the meeting of the Academic Policy Committee
in which the Amplification of the Statement of Mission of Virginia Commonwealth
University was presented. A list of suggested changes was distributed. It
was agreed that Dr. Brooke would rewrite parts of the statement in order to
make the document easier to read. Following considerable discussion, it was
moved, seconded and unanimously approved that this statement be adopted.
It was recommended that it never be distributed without having the Statement
of Mission attached to the Amplification Statement. The final draft of the
statement will be brought to the Board of Visitors.
Dr. Smith presented a proposed letter to the Valentine Museum. On
motion duly made and seconded, approval was given to Dr. Smith to send
the letter, subject to the advice of legal counsel.
The resolution from the Executive Session of January 18, 1973, was
discussed. It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved that the
resolution be referred to the Executive Committee for further discussion.
On motion duly made and seconded, the report of Gifts, Grants and
Contracts was unanimously approved.
Mr. Sheffield raised a question regarding Dr. David Ames on Page 4
of the Faculty Appointments and Changes of Status. Drs. Brooke and Fleshood
discussed his background.
Dr. Blanton apologized to Mr. Mapp again for not being able to hear
his report due to the length of the meeting.
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The Board then went into Executive Session, with Dr. Brandt remain-
ing. In the Executive Session, the Board approved establishing the position
of Provost, the appointment of Dr. Neal as Provost and his new salary. On
motion duly made and seconded, the Faculty Appointments and Changes of
Status were unanimously approved.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.
APPROVED:
Report of the President to the Board of Visitors
March 15, 1973
Dr. Brandt described the situation in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery.
The Chairman of the Division has resigned, and the residents are con-
cerned about their education and training. Dr. Hume has met with the
residents a couple of times, and Dr. Brandt has met with them once.
On February 16, a banquet was held for employees receiving service award
pins for 20 or more years of service. Dr. Brandt noted that the occasion
was one of warmth and was a good event.
There was a meeting of the Academic Division Alumni lately and several
alumni commented that it was the best alumni meeting in several years.
Applications for admission on the West Campus are still below last year's
applications. We are 14-15 percent behind last year. The enrollment
projections for the next 10 years have been slightly revised because of
this trend. The revised projections will be presented to the Board at its
next meeting.
Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Lewis have been meeting with some people from VCU
concerning a possible gift to the University. Another meeting is scheduled
for next week.
VCU has contracted for a student records' system. An outside firm will be
doing this for student bills, records and registration.
A nursing fair was recently held in the Larrick Center for 1973 graduates
of the School of Nursing and others. Various floors and units of nurses
had booths, and each was trying to sell that particular floor or unit as a
good place to be a nurse. In some cases, the physicians from the unit
were there working with the nurses.
Dr. Blanton and Dr. Brandt went to Chicago for the First Annual Cardwell
Lecture sponsored by the Hospital Administration Alumni. About one-third
of all Hospital Administration Alumni were present.
The site visit for the Self-Study was held last month. Recommendations
and suggestions will be reported to VCU. We must respond in writing to
the recommendations, but the suggestions require no formal response. By
and large, it was a very good session.
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The Governor has signed the hospital bond issue authorization. We are
setting up a committee that will oversee the planning and construction. The
first thing to be done is the renovation of the top floor of the nursing educa-
tion building. Hopefully, removal of Hunton and McFarland Halls will begin
in the late summer or early fall of 1974.
Dr. Brandt reported on the space needed from the White House of the Con-
federacy and the discussions with the Richmond Academy of Medicine. Dr.
Blanton commented that it is going to take some work to get the Academy
building. Mr. Dabney noted that the White House group is going to begin
work on the inside of the present facility instead of trying to do any work
outside the building. Dr. Brandt thanked Mr. Dabney for his efforts in this
and said that it will be a great help.
One topic of discussion on campus is the tenure quota system. The Faculty
Senate has a committee working on this problem. Dr. Brandt described the
need for such a system.
Dr. Brandt has been meeting with Drs. Brooke, Fleshood, Neal and Woods
recently to discuss promotions of individual faculty members. There is
close interaction between Dr. Woods and Dr. Brooke about all the promotions.
A consultant has been on campus lately looking at the payroll situation. The
programs have not yet been completed but will be soon. Long-range plans
and programs are being considered for the future. When this was first brought
up, the State was planning to have a statewide payroll system. Now the
State is trying to build from the agencies.
Dr. Blanton asked that the administration bring the Board up to date on the
recommendations made by the Special Hospital Committee to the Governor
and perhaps a report would then be made to the Governor to let him know
how we are progressing.
Dr. Willett and Dr. Brandt attended a Development Workshop sponsored by
the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Atlanta. Dr.
Lee McLean gave a marvelous presentation.
At the American Association for Higher Education meeting this week, the
impact of the changes in the Federal funding was discussed.
A VCU police officer was recently charged with rape. The case was on the
court docket two times, but neither the young lady nor her lawyer appeared
either time. The judge nol-prossed the case. The officer did resign.
There was a meeting recently with a group of people on the problems in the
area of funding the LEEP program and the effect it is having on the Criminal
Justice Program.
