MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
May 17, 1973
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on Thursday, May 17, 1973, at 9:00 a.m. in the Board
Room of Sanger Hall.
Present were Drs. Blanton and Gwathmey, Messrs. Norris, Obenshain,
Scott, Shumate and Temple; Miss Keyser and Mrs. Stone. Also present were
Drs. Brandt, Brooke, Fleshood, Neal, Smith, Willett, Wilson and Woods;
Mr. Imirie and Miss Cosby.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order. On motion duly made and
seconded, the following minutes were approved: Regular Meeting of the Board
of Visitors, held February 15, 1973, and Special Meetings of the Development
Committee, held April 16 and April 24, 1973.
Following the report of the President, on motion made and seconded,
the Compensation Plan for Teaching and Research Staff for 1973-74 was
approved for forwarding.
On motion made and seconded, the agreement to purchase linen
services from the Virginia Hospital Laundry, Inc., was approved, subject
to approval by the Attorney General's office.
Following some discussion, it was moved, seconded and approved
to adopt the Virginia Equal Employment Opportunity Plan.
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There was some discussion about the Faculty Appointments and Changes
of Status, Promotions and Continuing Faculty. Dr. Brandt stated his objection
to promoting a person at the time of his retirement. It was noted that the pro-
motion of Dr. Lynch at the time of his retirement is an exception to a standard
philosophy and will only be done this time. On motion made and seconded,
the Faculty Appointments, Changes of Status, Promotions and Continuing
Faculty were approved with one dissenting vote by Miss Keyser.
Dr. John A. DiBiaggio, Dean of the School of Dentistry, reported on
the progress of the School during the past year and also on the achievement
of the objectives that were defined three years ago. He noted the full approval
for accreditation by the Council on Dental Education of the programs in the
School of Dentistry. Among the innovative and interesting programs is a
dental hygiene program with the Community College System. Dr. Blanton
asked that the four-year program not be used to demean the two-year program
but rather to help lift the two-year program. Dr. DiBiaggio also mentioned a
few problem areas in the School.
Mr. Temple commented that he has heard that Dr. DiBiaggio is getting
good results from the changes that have been made in the School of Dentistry
and that the alumni of the School seem to be truly pleased with his achievements as Dean. Dr. Brandt introduced Mr. Dennis Laing, an intern in the Attorney
. Dr. Brandt introduced Mr. Dennis Laing, an intern in the Attorney
General's office. Mr. Laing noted that the students at VCU contracted to
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get an entertainer, Mr. Jerry Lee Lewis, to perform in Monroe Park on the
evening of May 5, 1973. They arranged through a booking agent to have
Mr. Lewis perform one full show for $9,000. After demanding and receiving
full payment in advance, Mr. Lewis finally went on stage at 8:40 p.m. and
terminated his performance at 9:00 p.m. Following discussion, Mr. Obenshain
moved that the University proceed to sue Mr. Lewis. The motion was seconded
and approved unanimously.
The Board then went into Executive Session, and the meeting was
adjourned at 12:50 p.m.
Secretary
APPROVED:
Report of the President to the Board of Visitors
May 17, 1973
Dr. Brandt mentioned that the bids for the parking deck are due back the last
part of May. The renovations of the Nursing Education Building and Randolph-
Minor are on schedule. The plans for the Science and Education Building are
running about $0.5 million more than was allotted, and we will have to eliminate
that amount from the plans. There is a list of eight possibilities, one of which
is the elevated classroom space across Main Street. Dr. Blanton asked the
administration to be certain that the Division of Engineering and Buildings
understands that the elevated classroom space is an integral part of the facility
and will not be an acceptable possibility for lowering the cost of the building
by $0.5 million.
The Property Committee has approved the schematics for the dormitory across
from Monroe Park. We are in the process of choosing an architect for the
student union. The Property Committee has also approved converting part of
the lobby of Sanger Hall for additional office space.
A change has been approved in the Master Site Plan to allow for the relocation
of the Health Sciences Building to be adjacent to Sanger Hall and also to de-
molish the First Baptist Church building. The Virginia Landmarks Commission
has been alerted of this fact.
VCU has made an offer to the White House of the Confederacy for the Ruffner
property. It has not been accepted so far. VCU has asked the MCV Foundation
to pay for the property if the offer is accepted.
There will be hearings and trials for the two security officers who were suspended recently. This will bring more publicity to the University.
The Faculty Senate will be reporting soon that it does not want a tenure quota
system at VCU. Dr. Brandt feels this is necessary.
A faculty handbook should be in print by the fall semester.
Commencement will be held on May 19 , 1973, at 10:00 a.m. in the Richmond Coliseum and Dr. Brandt is looking forward to having some of the Board members there
The presidents of the State institutions traveled to Washington, D. C., lately
for an interesting meeting with the Congressional delegation from Virginia to discuss the funding problems.
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The Governor's Budget Advisory Board will be visiting the two campuses on
Friday, May 25. VCU has been asked to provide lunch for the group which
will be good. VCU is always the last institution to be visited, and many
people drop out of the tour before getting here.
Dr. Brandt expressed his appreciation to the Board for holding a special meeting
on May 11 as it will help him with some questions.
Dr. Howard Sparks will be appointed Assistant Vice President for Continuing
Education in the near future.
Three faculty members are contesting tenure and salary decisions. We hope
these problems will soon be resolved.
Dr. Brandt invited Mr. Harold E. Boling, Registrar, to attend the meeting of
the Board to describe the SCT program. SCT stands for Systems and Computer
Technology Corporation which is providing the software for a student data base
program. The demand for information has grown so large that VCU cannot pre-
pare reports requested by HEW, SCHEV and others. When the SCT program is
initiated in about a year, we will be ahead of all other state institutions.
Mr. Boling described the many advantages of the system. SCT Corporation
has done about 40 major installations, including MIT and Cornell.
Dr. Brandt asked Dr. Neal to report on the changes that have been made since
the Board submitted its letter to the Governor last September regarding the
MCV Hospitals. Dr. Neal reported that the salaries and wage scales have
been improved, but many areas are still not competitive. An in-road was made
in the area of buildings and grounds, but the City of Richmond is getting ready
to give a raise so we will be back where we were before in terms of being
competitive. The central State government had said it would try to arrange
a pay differential for shift work and regional scales. This has not been done.
Two major problems have occurred with the pay raises. In the unit manage-
ment area, there is a unit aide and a unit clerk, with the clerk position being
the higher of the two. However, a four-step increase was given for the unit
aide position and a one-step increase for the unit clerk. If someone is pro-
moted to the position of unit clerk, he will make less money than as an aide.
The second problem is in the LPN area because they received no increase.
About 200 nurses have been recruited to come in this summer. The nurse
recruiting team has done a terrific job. About 70 new positions will have
to be created for nurses.
The second area of the Board's letter to the Governor concerned the facilities
not being adequate for modern health care. The new hospital has been planned,
and action is taking place on many renovations. A schedule is published
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every two weeks showing the work that is being done. If a project is delayed
for any reason, the employees know why it has been delayed and the length
of time.
Inadequate administrative communications was the third area in the letter.
The position of Provost has been created, and another position, Director of
Clinical Services, is in the process of being created. Dr. Neal distributed
a job description for the Director of Clinical Services and noted that the
faculty voted on the job description. This position will be filled by Dr. John
Jones when it is approved. Another change has been made in that unit manage-
ment has been transferred from nursing service to the hospitals.
The fourth area concerned the failure to recognize input at all levels between
the medical staff and the hospitals. The By-Laws of the Medical Staff will be
rewritten in order to allow for the proposed position of Director of Clinical
Services. PSRO (Professional Standards Review Organization) will allow more
effective use of the housestaff. The TAP conferences will be meeting in the
next several months, and Dr. Neal will be calling on Board members to attend
some of these institutes.
In response to the fifth area, important deficiencies in the second-line
organizational structure, Dr. Neal reported the proposed position of an on-
line executive officer for the hospitals who would report to Mr. Imirie.
Decisions will be more consistent and more effective with such a position
which would have five assistant directors.
Work has been done in the area of inadequate and expensive purchasing pro-
cedures. VCU's purchasing department has moved into better facilities, and
the supply center in the new hospital will be a large improvement. However,
there are still some problems with the State purchasing department.
Improvement has occurred in maintenance. Painting has been done and some
lighting has been improved. The pay scales have been upgraded, but the City
will be giving a raise to their workers so there will not be much of an improve-
ment in that area. One problem is that people do not know who is supposed
to report a maintenance problem. Mr. Shumate asked about the possibility of
contracting maintenance work, and Dr. Blanton requested that this possibility
be investigated, including the production factor as well as the cost. It was
noted that the Governor's Budget Advisory tour will be seeing the facilities
and some of the improvements in this area.
The socio-economic patient mix relates to the overall patient load. Dr.
Blanton has asked that a committee study this area and make recommendations.
Defects in the organizational structure should be improved through the rewriting
of the By-Laws of the Medical Staff and the appointment of a Director of Clinical
Services.
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There is a definite list of priorities, and a group reviews this list. A report
has been filed concerning problems in surgery and in the emergency room.
The Director of Clinical Services will be given the report and hopefully will
implement improvements with a person who will be in charge of the operating
room.
It was agreed that a draft of a report to the Governor be prepared for the June
meeting of the Board of Visitors to be submitted to the Governor in July. That
report will address itself to the problems outlined in the Temple Report.
Dr. Brandt continued his report by discussing the meeting held with Mr. Claiborne
Robins, Dr. Blanton, Mr. Carl Bain, Mr. Shumate, Dr. Neal, Dr. Willett and
Dr. Brandt to discuss the possibility of Mr. Robins giving a large donation to
the University for the Health Sciences Building. He has not said whether or
not he will contribute to the building.
Mr. Temple stated that he is glad that there are several faculty members up-
set about not being granted tenure because it means that each person is being
carefully scrutinized before being awarded tenure. Dr. Brandt noted that the
list of faculty members being awarded tenure will appear in the next agenda
of the Board of Visitors.
