MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS
OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
January 30, 1974
A special meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on Wednesday, January 30, 1974, at 9:00 a.m. in the
Board Room of Sanger Hall.
Present were Drs. Blanton and Gwathmey; Messrs. Dabney, Obenshain,
Scott, Seaborn and Turnbull; Miss Keyser and Mrs. Stone. Messrs. Bradley,
McGehee, Norris, Sheffield and Shumate and Dr. Thornton were absent. Also
present were Drs. Brandt, Brooke, Fleshood, Neal, Willett, Wilson and Woods;
Messrs. Holmes, Imirie, Temple and Ware; and Miss Cosby.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order and asked the members of the
Board for their comments on the Report of the Commission on Higher Education
of the General Assembly.
The report recommends that the State Council of Higher Education be
given substantial additional power to control the missions, enrollments, and
budgetary recommendations of the 39 State institutions of higher education.
This will reduce the control and influence of the Boards of Visitors of these
institutions. The VCU Board, for example, deals with the problems of only
one institution, putting in a great deal of time on only one university. It
would be extremely difficult for one statewide board to cope with the needs
of 39 separate and diverse institutions. It is feared that the State Council
would develop, under the proposed legislation, into an extremely powerful
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bureaucratic agency. The savings proposed by Mr. Shaner in his report
could well be used up in expenses of an expanded State Council.
Mr. Scott proposed a statement to be submitted by the Board to the
Commission on Higher Education disapproving the proposed legislation. Dr.
Blanton and several members of the administration will edit the statement.
Dr. Blanton will talk with the Rectors of other Boards of State institutions
in order to get their opinions on the proposed legislation. The revised state-
ment will be sent to the members of the Board for approval.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
P.S.: Since the meeting, after the action by the Council of Presidents and
discussion with a number of Rectors of other institutions, it was determined
that it was too late to implement any successful action against the proposed
legislation on the State Council of Higher Education and that an appearance
in opposition by VCU alone would likely do more harm than good to VCU and
perhaps other institutions.
