MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS
OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
July 21, 1977
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia
Commonwealth University was held on Thursday, July 21, 1977,
at 9:00 a.m. in the 910 West Franklin Street Conference Room.
Present were Drs. Blanton, Gayle and Gwathmey; Messrs.
Dabney, Grey, Norris, Obenshain and Shumate; and Mesdames
Satterfield, Stone and Thalhimer. Absent were Messrs. Bliley,
McGehee, Scott and Seaborn. Also present were Drs. Beller,
Brooke, Hall, Neal, Willett and Woods; Messrs. Holmes and Ross;
Miss Cosby and Mrs. Price.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order.
On motion made and seconded, the minutes of a Special Meeting of the Executive Committee, held April 21, 1977; Special Meeting of the Property Committee, held May 5, 1977; Special Meeting
g
of the Academic Policy Committee, held May 17, 1977; Special
Meeting of the Board of Visitors, held May 18, 1977; Regular
Meeting of the Board of Visitors, held May 19, 1977; and Special
Meeting of the Executive Committee, held June 16, 1977, were
unanimously approved.
Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the
minutes of Special Meetings of the Student Affairs Committee,
held May 19, 1977; May 27, 1977; June 9, 1977; and July 7, 1977,
were accepted by the. Board,.
Page 2
The Nominating Committee (Mr. Dabney, Mrs, Satterfield
and Mr. Seaborn) submitted the following nominations for officers
of the Board of Visitors for 1977-78: Rector - Dr. Wyndham B.
Blanton, Jr.; Vice Rector - Mr. S. Buford Scott; Secretary - Mr.
Richard D. Obenshain. On motion made and seconded, the officers
so nominated were elected unanimously. The Nominating Committee
then nominated the following members to serve on the Executive
Committee: Dr. Blanton, Mr. Scott, Mr. Obenshain, Mr. Virginius
Dabney, Mr. Robert J. Grey, Dr. Owen Gwathmey, and Mr. Stuart
Shumate. On motion made and seconded, the nominated members of
the Executive Committee were elected unanimously.
Following the Report of the President, Dr. Blanton requested
that members of the Board inform him of their personal views on
committee assignments, size and functions. The Rector also re-
ported that the Ad Hoc Development Committee, consisting of Dr.
Gwathmey and Messrs. McGehee, Scott and Shumate, had been re-
activated to examine the progress of the Cancer Center campaign.
Dr. Blanton also stated that a committee of the Board
had been formed two years ago to consider the question of honorary
degrees and to recommend guidelines for awarding such degrees.
These guidelines call for the establishment of a nine-member committee
consisting of three members of the Board, three members of the
administration and three members of the faculty. Dr. Blanton re-
quested the Board's concurrence to establish this committee which
also be charged with the responsibility of recommending
recipients for the Wayne Medal.
Page 3
Dr. Blanton reported that a meeting of the Council of
Visitors will be held on Monday, September 26, 1977, at James
Madison University. Each member of the VCU Board is a member
of the Council of Visitors and is invited to attend. Governor
Godwin will be the keynote speaker.
The report of the Legal Advisor followed. Cases currently
being handled by the Legal Advisor's Office include:
Cramer v. VCU -- on appeal to Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals;
oral arguments heard 6/8/77; awaiting decision
Oslund v. VCU -- scheduled for trial 12/77
Doe v. Linas -- trial rescheduled for 11/77
Goodall v. VCU --pretrial procedural matters pending
Myers v. VCU -- answer/denial to be filed 7/21/77
Hsu v. VCU -- answer to be filed 7/21/77
Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the
following resolutions were unanimously approved:
WHEREAS, the Board of Visitors of Virginia Common-
Wealth University has created the position of Provost
for Administration and desires that its incumbent be
authorized to execute and sign, on behalf of Virginia
Commonwealth University, any and all contracts, agree-
ments and other related documents; and be similarly
authorized to sign and execute checks, drafts and
other similar documents authorizing the payment of
monies from any accounts, funds, or other similar
sources owned, controlled, or maintained by or en-
trusted to the University such authority having
previously been vested in the University Vice Presi-
dent for Finance; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the said Board of
Visitors that the person occupying the position of
Vice President for Finance retain such authority to
execute contracts, agreements, checks, drafts and
other similar documents;
Page 4
NOW, THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED that the University
Provost for Administration and the incumbent in that
position, Dr. Ronald E. Beller, be and is hereby
authorized to sign, execute and enter into contracts,
agreements and other similar documents on behalf of
the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University, provided such contracts are in furtherance
of the business of the University and are in accord
with the established policies of the Commonwealth
and the University; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the University Provost
for Administration, and the incumbent in that position,
Dr. Ronald E. Beller, be and is hereby authorized to
sign and execute checks, drafts and other similar
documents and otherwise authorize the payment of monies
from any and all accounts, funds or other similar
sources owned, controlled, or maintained by or en-
trusted to the University and its Board; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that all authority previously
granted to Raymond T Holmes as Vice President for
Finance shall continue in full force and effect until
such time as he formally relinquishes the duties of
his present office.
and
WHEREAS, the Board of Visitors of Virginia Common-
wealth University has previously designated and
authorized the University Controller to sign checks,
drafts and other similar orders for the payment of
money from funds owned, controlled, or maintained by
or entrusted to the University; and
WHEREAS, in view of the vacancy in the position of
University Controller created by the death of the late
Walter P. Lossing, the Board of Visitors has confirmed
the appointment of Edward J. Mazur as University Con-
troller and desires that he possess all powers, duties
and responsibilities formerly vested by the Board in
the person occupying the position of University Controller;
NOW, THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors
of Virginia Commonwealth University that the incumbent
University Controller, Edward J. Mazur, be and is hereby
authorized to sign and execute checks, drafts, and other
documents and orders as may be necessary to authorize
the payment of money from funds owned, controlled, or
maintained by or entrusted to the University in further-
ance of the proper business and financial affairs of the
University; and is further vested with such other powers,
duties and responsibilities as were formerly vested in
the University Controller.
Page 5
Dr. Wayne Hall presented a report on behalf of the Presidential Search Assistance Committee. Dr. Hall reported that the
Presidential Search Assistance Committee will be meeting with
the Executive Committee of the Board to discuss presidential
candidates on July 29, 1977,
Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the
Faculty Appointments and Changes in Status were unanimously
approved.
The Continuing Faculty - Academic Campus, on motion made
and seconded, were unanimously approved.
On motion made and seconded, the Continuing Faculty - MCV
Campus were unanimously approved.
Following discussion, on motion made and seconded, the
Continuing Clinical Faculty on the MCV Campus were unanimously
approved.
The Faculty Salary Scales for the School of Medicine, on
motion made and seconded, were unanimously approved.
Following several questions, on motion made and seconded,
the Report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts was unanimously approved.
Mr. Holmes presented a list of those contracts signed since
the May meeting of the Board which, following a discussion and
on motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously affirmed.
For informational purposes, Drs. Hall and Woods presented
statistical tenure reports for their faculties.
On motion made and seconded, the Financial Statements were
accepted by the Board.
Page 6
Mr. Norris, on behalf of Mr. Seaborn, presented the report
of the Academic Policy Committee. Mr. Norris reported that the
Committee had again reviewed the question of VCU's tenure system
and the area of faculty evaluation. The Committee recommended
that the policies in both of these areas remain as they are for
the present time. On motion made and seconded, the report of
the Academic Policy Committee was unanimously accepted.
Dr. Gwathmey presented the Hospital Committee report. The
areas of hospital finance, quality assurance and medical staff
relationships were discussed and the role of the hospital com-
mittee in each area was outlined. The audit on Myocardial
Infarction was presented and accepted by the Hospital Committee.
A brief review of some financial data from the hospital was made.
Dr. Blanton presented the report of the Executive Committee.
He reported that at its June meeting the appointment of Mr.
Edward J. Mazur as University Controller was confirmed. This
committee also acted on several recommendations of the Property
Committee including selection of architects for the renovation
of the Hibbs basement and cafeteria. On motion made and seconded,
the report of the Executive Committee was unanimously accepted.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.
Richard D. Obenshain, Secretary
Approved:
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
July 21, 1977
1. Health Sciences Building
Dr. Willett reported that the Council of Higher Education
had ranked MCV/VCU's Health Sciences Building in the first
priority group of capital projects. This will certainly
be helpful in trying to obtain funding from the General
Assembly in 1978.
Alcohol Program Article
An article appeared recently in the newspapers which in-
dicated that the program is sponsored by MCV/VCU. How-
ever, the program is in the Department of Mental Health
and Mental Retardation and is only housed at MCV/VCU.
A rebuttal did appear in the newspaper.
3. Handicapped
Dr. Willett reported that he has a committee working on a
report for the Board of Visitors dealing with VCU's com-
pliance with the recent legislation for the handicapped.
It is hoped that this will be ready for the September
Board meeting.
Annual Fund
The Annual Fund has collected approximately $187,000 or
$100,000 more than last year's fund. We are very pleased
with the success of this program.
5. Grants and Contracts
Dr. Willett. stated that we had over $16 million in grants
this year. This is approximately $1 million more than we
had last year.
Overhead Funds
Dr. Willett reported that it is necessary for each insti-
tution to file a plan with the State as to how they will
expend their grant overhead funds. Mr. Holmes followed
with a detailed report on how we plan to spend our pool of
funds during the coming year.
Page 2
7. Budget
Dr. Beller reported that the University has had some
trouble in obtaining answers to a few problems which
had been encountered in formulating the budget. We
have had some concession from the State on salary
authorizations. The budget will be presented to the
Board at its special meeting in August.
8. Audit Study
Dr. Beller reported that he had distributed copies of the
Executive Summary of the Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Com-
pany audit study to the Ad Hoc Audit Committee and to Dr.
Blanton. He outlined the major recommendations of this
study.
9. Construction on the MCV Campus
Dr. Neal reported that the contract for the Physical Plant
shop will be awarded in 1978. The swimming pool and gym
contract will be let in 1978 with construction to begin
a year later. The fire alarm system is 70 percent complete
and the West Hospital sprinkler system is running three
months ahead of schedule. The footings have been started
for the Nelson-Sanger bridge.
10. Construction on the Academic Campus
Dr. Brooke reported that demolition had begun on the site
for the new dormitory. The contract has been let for
demolition of properties on the 900 and 1000 block of
Floyd Avenue. The OSHA renovations are continuing.
11. Valentine Museum
Dr. Willett reported that there have been several articles
in the newspapers concerning the Valentine Museum's master
plan and fund raising and the cooperation of MCV/VCU in
giving them certain pieces of property. Dr. Neal reported
that, although an agreement had been drawn up in 1973, it
has never been signed by all parties. The attorneys are
working on this, and then Dr. Willett will be meeting with
Mr. Henry Wickham.
12. Charles P. Cardwell, Jr.
Dr. Willett reported that Mr. Cardwell had died and will
be buried today at 11:00 a.m.
