MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS
OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
May 16, 1974
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University was held on Thursday, May 16, 1974, at 9:00 a.m. in the Board
Room of Sanger Hall.
Present were Drs. Blanton and Gwathmey; and Messrs. Bradley, Dabney,
Obenshain, Scott, Seaborn and Shumate. Dr. Thornton, Messrs, McGehee,
Norris and Sheffield; Miss Keyser and Mrs. Stone were absent. Also present
were Drs. Andrako, Brandt, Brooke, Neal, Willett, Wilson and Woods; Messrs.
Holmes, Imirie and Temple, and Miss Cosby.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order. On motion made and seconded,
the minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Visitors, held April 18, 1974,
were approved unanimously. The last sentence of the minutes of a Special
Meeting of the Property Committee, held April 25, 1974, was amended to read,
"All agreed that the commitments to proceed, in the absence of alternative sites
and in light of the proper contacts having been made to assure us that there
would be no reasonable objections, were made a long time ago." On motion
made and seconded, the minutes of the Special Meeting of the Property Com-
mittee, held April 25, 1974, were approved unanimously as amended.
Dr. Blanton reported that the Hospital Quality Assurance Committee met
on May 16, 1974, at 7:30 a.m. and approved the minutes of the previous meeting.
The committee also reviewed the recent accreditation visit by the Joint Cam-
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mission on the Accreditation of Hospitals. The JCAH comments were extremely
complimentary in many areas. Formal approval of the accreditation will not be
made for another six to eight weeks.
Dr. Blanton announced that he had appointed a committee on April 18,
1974, composed of Mr. Scott, Chairman, Mr. McGehee and Mr. Turnbull, to
recommend to the Board the information which the Board should regularly re-
ceive from the administration in order to maintain a current view of the financial
status of the institution.
Following the report of the President, Dr. Wilson presented the proposed
Visitation Policy and introduced two students, Ms. Cathy Crandell and Mr.
Walter Gilliam. Two major changes are being proposed. One is the extension of
visitation hours; the other is in the area of enforcing the policy. Following
discussion, on motion made and seconded, the proposed Visitation Policy was
approved unanimously.
The report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts was accepted unanimously, on
motion made and seconded.
Dr. Brooke reviewed the process through which a faculty member is re-
viewed for tenure. An ad hoc committee is formed in order to review a faculty
member's qualifications for receiving tenure. The committee makes a recom-
mendation to the dean. The department chairman also makes his own recom-
mendation to the dean. The decision is made by the dean, who then notifies the
faculty member of the decision. If the decision is negative, the letter from the
dean states that an appeal may be made to the vice-president (either the Vice-
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President for Academic Affairs or to the Vice-President for Health Sciences)
within 15 days of the faculty member's notification.
The Faculty Appointments and Changes in Status show the appointments
of Dr. Wayne C. Hall, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and Dr. John J.
Salley, Associate Vice-President for Research and Graduate Affairs. Drs.
Brooke and Woods reviewed the excellent credentials of these two men. Dr.
Hall's effective date of employment was changed to August 1, 1974, or as
soon thereafter as possible, instead of September 1, 1974. It was proposed
that Dr. Howard L. Sparks should have a title change from Assistant Vice-
President for Continuing Education to Associate Vice-President for Continuing
Education. It was explained that an associate vice-president is one who re-
ports to two vice-presidents as opposed to an assistant vice-president who
reports only to one vice-president. On motion made and seconded, the Faculty
Appointments and Changes in Status, with the two changes listed above, were
approved unanimously.
Dr. Doris Yingling, Dean of the School of Nursing, presented a report
on the varied programs in her School.
Dr. Neal distributed samples of the proposed letterhead.
Dr. Jack Noonan and Dr. Loren Williams joined the meeting to report on
the activities taking place in faculty development at VCU as well as around the
country. Faculty development was described as the process in which faculty
are assisted in recognizing their full potential as leaders and teachers.
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The Board then went into executive session and approved the salaries
of Dr. Wayne C. Hall and Dr. John J. Salley.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.
Report of the President to the Board of Visitors
May 16, 1974
Dr. Brandt reported that 2,700 students will be graduated on Saturday,
May 18, at the Coliseum with Governor Godwin as the commencement
speaker. Dr. Brandt expressed pleasure that so many Board members
will be attending commencement.
A complaint has been filed with the Civil Rights Division of HEW against
VCU by a white male. He taught sociology last year on a one-year appoint-
ment and is being replaced by a white female next year.
VCU had a successful suit against Jerry Lee Lewis Enterprises, Inc.
However, that organization is bankrupt so we will not be able to collect
anything.
Dr. Brandt commended the summer theater program, "Fanfare," to the Board.
"Fanfare" has three productions in the summer.
Booz, Allen and Hamilton has made the first half of its report. The Executive
Committee has met once and will meet again on May 29 after receiving the
rest of the Booz, Allen report.
Dr. Brandt recently attended a national conference on Faculty Development
and Evaluation at Kansas State University. Seven people from VCU were
at the conference out of about 300 people. Dr. Jack Noonan was one of the
featured speakers, and Dr. Barbara Fuhrmann was a discussion leader. VCU
is one of the leaders in the country in faculty development.
Dr. Neal reported on two areas dealing with the Richmond Eye Hospital. In
1968 before the merger of RPI and MCV into VCU, the Board of MCV signed
an agreement to purchase the Eye Hospital property for $1,045,000. The
Eye Hospital is now proceeding with its construction plans and would like
from VCU a firm commitment to purchase the property for $1,246,500. How-
ever, they do not plan to vacate the building for at least another two years.
VCU would like to purchase the property, but we have no legal authority to
commit the institution to an agreement to purchase the property without
legislative approval. The Board of the Richmond Eye Hospital may go to the
Governor to try to get approval for a binding contract from VCU. We would
be delighted if they could do this, but in a year when the Governor has
pulled $78 million out of capital outlay projects in the state, it is extremely
doubtful that he would approve a $1 million project for VCU. The Board con-
curred that the Richmond Eye Hospital has a letter of intent from VCU to
purchase the property, but we cannot guarantee any money without legisla-
tive approval.
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Dr. Neal also reported that the Richmond Eye Hospital wants to purchase
steam from VCU when the Eye Hospital moves to its new location on Marshall
Street. We are already using steam at capacity. Without improvement of
our power plant, we will not be able to accommodate our new hospital.
Therefore, we will not be able to supply the Richmond Eye Hospital with
steam for their new building.
Dr. Brandt mentioned that four appeals of tenure decisions have been filed
so far, and there will probably be a few more appeals made. Members of
the Board will probably receive some letters on these appeals. One person
who has been denied tenure is Dr. Jack Schiltz who has worked with young
swimmers from around the eastern part of the state for several years and has
a large following of parents and children.
The presidents of the state institutions and the State Council of Higher
Education have been working very hard on the desegregation plan for HEW.
HEW turned down our latest proposal, and the Governor has to submit a new
plan by the end of May. HEW essentially is being taken to court on the
charge that it has not been enforcing the Civil Rights Act adequately.
Therefore, HEW has applied pressure to 10 southern states to prove that they
are enforcing the Civil Rights Act. The Virginia Plan is the desegregation
plan being submitted, and the Board of Visitors will be asked to approve the
plan after the fact.
Essentially, The Virginia Plan is the report of the Governor to HEW, and the
Plan will have a broad general statement in the beginning followed by separate
reports from each of the State institutions of higher education in order to uphold
the idea that each institution is a separate entity. HEW has made it
very clear that The Virginia Plan will not be approved until it cites some
figures. The presidents of the State institutions finally agreed to submit
figures by January, 1975, but the Governor did not accept that position and
will not submit any figures. It is interesting to note that Virginia will be one
of two states in the Union not proposing numbers. Louisiana has not submitted
any figures, and HEW has taken them to court. Virginia is doing many
good things in the area of desegregation and has made considerable headway.
The only things Virginia will get out of not submitting numbers will be bad
press and more difficulty with HEW.
The Legislative Audit and Review Commission is being established in the
State. It is going to become a very competitive thing with the State Council
of Higher Education. It shows signs of becoming a staffed superboard.
A couple of years ago, a bill established consortia throughout the state.
We met with Dr. Daniel Marvin about 18 months ago to see when VCU
should call the Capitol Area Consortium together, but he has just given
us the authority to proceed in this area. The Capitol Area Consortium
consists of VCU, Virginia State, John Tyler Community College, Richard
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Bland, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Southside Community
College and all private institutions in the area. The purpose of the con-
sortium is to cut down on competitive programs in higher education. UVA
and VPI have numerous duplicative programs in the Richmond area. The
consortium should say which school can offer what programs where.
