MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
May 17, 1979
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University
was held on Thursday, May 17, 1979, at 9:00 a.m. in the Conference Room at 910 West
Franklin Street.
Present were Drs. Blanton, Gayle, Johnson and Nemuth; Messrs. Dabney, Norris,
Scott, Seaborn, and Shumate; and Mesdames Fewell, Stone and Thalhimer. Absent were
Messrs. Bliley and Grey and Mrs. Satterfield. Also present were Drs. Ackell, Beller,
Brooke, Hall, Wilson and Woods; Messrs. Bruegman, Guerdon 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 Property Committee, held February 27, 1979;
Special Meeting of the Board of Visitors, held March 14, 1979; Regular Meeting of
the Board of Visitors, held March 15, 1979; Special Meeting of the Student Affairs
Committee, held March 27, 1979; Special Meeting of the Executive Committee, held
April 19, 1979; and Special Meeting of the Hospital Committee, held April 26, 1979;
were approved.
During the Report of the President, Dr. Blanton appointed a committee to es-
tablish ground rules for the Board's operation during open meetings which will take
effect on July 1, 1979. The committee membership is composed of Dr. Gayle as Chair-
man, Messrs. Bliley and Dabney and Mrs. Fewell.
Mr. Ross presented the Report of the Legal Advisor.
Dr. Blanton then presented Messrs. Dabney, Norris and Scott and Mrs. Stone with
inscribed brass trays and thanked them for their many years of service on the Board
and to the University.
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Dr. Blanton appointed a Nominating Committee to propose a slate of officers
and an Executive Committee for 1979-80. This committee is composed of Dr. Nemuth
as Chairman, Dr. Johnson and Mr. Seaborn.
The Faculty Appointments and Changes in Status were presented, and Dr. Ackell
indicated that the appointment of J. D. Barnett as Men's Head Basketball Coach and
Dr. William Price as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs were among the
appointments. Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the Faculty
appointments and Changes in Status were approved.
Mr. Guerdon presented the Report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts. Following
a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the Report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts
was approved.
The Contracts signed since the March Board meeting were presented by Mr.
Guerdon. On motion made and seconded, the list of contracts signed since the March
meeting was accepted by the Board.
The Board was requested by the administration to replace Dr. R. B. Young on
the Virginia Hospital Laundry Board with Mr. Myles Lash. The reason for this re-
quest is Dr. Young served on the VHL Board in his capacity as Acting Executive Di-
rector. On motion made and seconded, the appointment of Mr. Myles Lash to the VHL
Board was approved.
At this time, Mr. Lewis Mills, Athletic Director, and Mr. J. D. Barnett, Head
Basketball Coach, joined the meeting for the Board to have an opportunity to meet
the new coach. Coach Barnett reviewed his recruiting efforts, the team in general,
and VCU's prospects in the new Sun Belt Conference. Mr. Mills announced that the
"VCU Basketball Show" would air at 11 a.m. on May 27, and he hoped everyone would
watch. VCU will be having a weekly show next basketball season on either Saturday
or Sunday mornings.
Page 3
Mr. Guerdon presented the proposed schedule of Tuition and Fees for 1979-80.
He indicated that we are increasing tuition by five percent overall. With regard
to the fee schedule, we are combining the student fees and will now have a consoli-
dated student fee. The fees on the MCV Campus are being increased to bring them
more in line with the fees charged on the Academic Campus. In addition, Evening
College students will now pay a per credit hour fee. Following a discussion, on
motion made and seconded, the Schedule of Tuition and Fees for 1979-80 were approved.
Mr. Norris reported on behalf of the Academic Policy Committee which had con-
sidered the Academic Integrity Policy that will apply to all students on the
Academic Campus. Mr. Norris reported that it is necessary to have a detailed docu-
with such occurrences. The purpose of this document is to ensure consistent handling
ment to define cheating and plagiarism and to outline the procedures for dealing
of all such cases. Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, it was
agreed to delay a decision on the document until the entire Board has an opportunity
to review it more carefully.
Mr. Seaborn reported on behalf of the Audit Committee. Dr. Beller reported that
the position of Director of Internal Audit was still vacant. He indicated that we had
been working with the State for about a year in trying to get the salary upgraded so
that we could hire someone with the appropriate qualifications. Dr. Beller also re-
ported that the reorganization for the Internal Audit Department had been submitted.
It was requested that a chronology of events be prepared regarding our fruitless
efforts to hire an Internal Audit Manager. On motion made and seconded, the report
of the Audit Committee was accepted.
Dr. Blanton reported for the Executive Committee. He indicated that this com-
mittee had met on April 19 to discuss the budget plan for VCU. This plan was subse-
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quently approved by the Committee. Dr. Blanton reported that the Executive Com-
mittee had also reviewed three resolutions, one of which dealt with the acceptance
of the gift of stock by Mr. and Mrs. E. Claiborne Robins. Following a discussion,
on motion made and seconded, the report of the Executive Committee was accepted.
Dr. Gayle reported on behalf of the Hospital Committee. He reported that some
changes are being made in the emergency room procedures. The decision on whether to
admit a patient to the hospital will be made by a faculty member. He also reported
that patient days are up but the length of stay is a little longer than normal. Dr.
Gayle also reported that the nursing recruitment brochure won two awards. With re-
gard to the HIS system, Dr. Gayle reported that we had a period of time when no hos-
pital bills were sent out. The system seems to be functioning somewhat better now.
On motion made and seconded, the report of the Hospital Committee was accepted by the
Board.
The Property Committee report was given by Mr. Scott. He stated that this com-
mittee had reviewed the schematics for the Physical Education Building and the Pharmacy/
Pharmacology Building as well as the preliminaries for the Cary Street Gym and the
Putney Houses. In addition, the working drawings for the Life Sciences Building were
discussed. Also reviewed was the land acquisition budget and the proposed purchase of
the F&M Bank Building. Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the report
of the Property Committee was accepted.
Mr. Norris reported for the Student Affairs Committee. This committee met on
May 14 and received a student government update and report. They also discussed
the management of student fees and reviewed statistical data relative to VCU's stu-
dent body. Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the report of the
Student Affairs Committee was accepted.
On majority vote of the Board, an Executive Session was held. The meeting was
adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
Approved:Page 5
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
May 17, 1979
1.
Commencement - Dr. Ackell reported that he felt commencement had gone well,
and we have received a lot of compliments on Mr. Rogers' address. Dr. Ackell
stated that he did feel we would need to look for a more suitable place to hold
the luncheon in future years. He also expressed appreciation to Drs. Andrako
and Fleshood and Miss Cosby for all their hard work.
2.
MCV Alumni Association - Dr. Ackell reported that we are continuing to work
with this group and hope that a decision will be reached in the near future.
We want very much to bring this group closer to the University.
3.
Property Acquisition - We have just this week received from the City of Richmond
the deeds to the two Mosque Parking Lots. We will be constructing a 926-car
deck on one of the lots.
4.
Capital Outlay Tour - Dr. Ackell reported that the Governor and his party toured
the facilities on both campuses of the University last week. The Governor made a
point of the large number of historic landmarks located on both campuses of the
University. Also a number of questions were answered concerning the Oregon Hill
land acquisition program.
5.
Positions - Dr. Ackell reported that we have had a lot of problems with State
government in obtaining positions. Because VCU was so far behind in this category,
the General Assembly authorized additional positions as catch up. However, due
to the Governor's Manpower Utilization directive, we have been unable to secure
these positions. It may become necessary for VCU to contact some legislators
and the Governor concerning this problem.
6.
Honors and Awards - Mrs. Stone did a fine job as speaker at the Honors and Awards
convocation. Mr. Norris received an outstanding service award at this same func-
tion.
7.
Social Work Accreditation - Dr. Ackell reported that the preliminary report by
the site visit team was highly complimentary of our social work program.
8.
University of Richmond - Dr. Ackell reported that he and a number of his staff
had met with Dr. Bruce Heilman and a number of his staff to discuss items of
mutual interest. Dr. Ackell plans to have the University of Richmond people
on campus in early fall.
9.
Open Board Meetings - Dr. Ackell reported that we have been investigating suit-
able sites to hold the Board meetings beginning in July. It appears that the
School of Business Auditorium will be the most suitable for our needs at the
present time.
