University of Virginia Library

Committee Maze - Where Do Students Participate?

By Chuck Hite
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

In a brief discussion last week an administrator in
Pavilion VIII remarked matter of factly that "...this
University is run at the committee level, you know."
Unfortunately, most students probably do not "know"
and they fail to realize the full implications of this
observation.

Ask any administrator or faculty member where to
voice a complaint and the likely answer will be "Take it
to the proper committee." Sounds simple enough but
most students are sadly ill-informed about the veritable
maze of committees waiting to snatch up their
suggestions.

Basically, the committee structure can be divided into
three groups: Administrative committees, faculty committees
and the committees of the various departments in
the schools of the University. Full student participation in
these areas has never been realized; if it had this would be
a changed University. No longer would Student Council
have to write letters to President Shannon and to the
Board of Visitors asking for changes in parietal rules or
admissions of coeds. With students on the right
committees, these recommendations could have already
been made.

Perhaps the most surprising lack of student participation
can be found on the Administrative Committees
of the University which are appointed by
President Shannon and which very often make reports
and recommendations to the Board of Visitors. There are
55 of these committees (at least that's the number listed
on the fifth page of the University Directory), most of
them provided with only one or two students, some with
none at all. In years gone by most of these students have
not been as active or effective as they could have been;
there have been cases when a student was placed on a
committee he never asked to be on or wasn't even
particularly interested in.

Much of this ineffectiveness can be attributed directly
to students themselves and, more specifically, Student
Council. In late spring President Shannon usually asks the
president of Student Council to submit a list of students
who are interested in serving on Administrative
Committees. At least 60 names are needed; 20 to 30 is the
typical response from council, sometimes only after a
reminder has been sent to the Council president by
President Shannon. More times than not, the list sent
from council consisted primarily of friends of the council
president or members or the members themselves. No
determined effort was made to solicit interested students.

Incomplete Student Representation

Without enough student names, Mr. Shannon then
turns to the academic and association deans from whom
he solicits additional recommendations. Often these
names are of students who the deans know to be active in
extra-curricular activities. The end result was incomplete
student representation of Administrative Committees,
often with students who were unfamiliar or uninterested
in their particular committee assignment or students who
were overburdened with work in other extracurricular
activities.

Hopefully, things will be different this year, for Ron
Hickman, president of Council, recognizes that mistakes
have been made in the past and intends to correct them.
Commenting on student-faculty-administrative committees
in general, Mr. Hickman said "I think the
administration has made a sincere and comprehensive
effort to get students on these committees and that if we
improve our contributions toward student input on these
committees it will make them more useful and
constructive."

One area in which Mr. Hickman plans to affect a
change concerns the list of students he will submit to
President Shannon this spring. Aside from the fact that
lists in the past were very incomplete, Mr. Hickman
pointed out that "in many cases President Shannon was
not familiar with the students or their qualifications." As
a result Mr. Hickman has talked to President Shannon
about a list with as many as 200 names which will contain
a brief background of the students which are "more than
just a list of names and activities."

Suggestions for student committee representatives will
be solicited by Mr. Hickman from other council members
and the presidents of the various schools. Mr. Hickman
would also ask that "anybody desiring appointment to a
committee should get in touch with me." If possible, he
says he would like to meet with President Shannon when
he is making the student selections.

Communication between the students on Administrative
Committees and the Student Council itself has
been a most serious problem in the past. Mr. Hickman
readily agreed with this and suggested that communications
can be approved hopefully by requiring these
students to inform Council of their committees' activities
by written reports or regular appearances before Council
itself.

Committee's Importance

Mr. Hickman believes that most important business is
carried out in committees and feels that student
communication with these committees and other student
organizations has been one of the biggest hang-ups in
obtaining effective student influence. He states that
students can be "more influential in improving on the
channels now available and improving the quality of input
of students on these committees." Thus, he adds, student
input to the Board of Visitors will be more influential. He
believes the most important factor is to determine what
level student participation will have the most influence.

No student representation is found on the Board of
Visitors, long feared and respected as the pinnacle of
authority at the University and the final resting place for
all Administrative Committee decisions (a fact which is
just simply not true). When questioned about Council's
role in this area, Mr. Hickman noted the motion passed by
Council nearly three weeks ago asking that the President
of Student Council be made a full member of the Board
of Visitors.

Most Valuable Area

Personally, Mr. Hickman thinks that the Student
Affairs and Athletics committee of the Board is the most
valuable area in which to have student representation.
"Their committee system is a strong one," he points out,
and indeed it is. Most Board members sit in on the
Student Affairs and Athletics Committee anyway, and all
of the footwork and hearings are done in committees.
When the entire Board meets to consider proposals it is
largely a matter of procedure. Mr. Hickman adds that he
would like to see the Board adopt as a matter of practice
the policy of allowing "the president of Student Council
to sit in on all meetings of the Student Affairs and
Athletics Committee and offer recommendations and
ideas." The problem of learning the ropes that a
transitory member would face might preclude him from
becoming a full voting member, he feels.

Besides the Board of Visitors there is still
another area in which students have no representation -
the Faculty committees. Close examination of these
committees reveals a classic hierarchical mesh. Each of the
eleven school of the University is a separate entity and has
its own faculty organization; each faculty sets up its own
committees for research and administrative duties. All the
faculties combined make up the General Faculty, a body
which is now largely ceremonial and meets only once a
year toward degrees. The real power group if the faculty
Senate, a body formed in 1925 when the general Faculty
awarded all its powers except the right to confer degrees
to the Senate. These powers include: 1) the modification
of degree requirements, especially for baccalaureate
degrees, 2) legislation affecting athletics 3) regulations
concerning student clubs of all characters 4) the creation
of holidays 5) receiving communications and
recommendations from the Student Honor Committee 6)
regulations concerning the conduct of examinations 7)
any legislation affecting all departments of the University
8) any legislation affecting more than one department of
the University. It should also be noted that "as a matter
of judgement, the President may call on the Senate for its
opinion and advice on any matter affecting the welfare of
the University."

Continuing along hierarchical lines, one would have to
mention that the Senate is responsible to the Board of
Visitors. In effect, however, what the Senate says, goes;
any proposal or ruling which has made it through the
various committees and subcommittees of the faculty and
senate is pretty well guaranteed a rubber stamp by the
Board. The Senate consists of a presiding officer
(President of the University), non-voting ex-officio
members (including the Dean of Women and Dean of
Student Affairs), Voting ex-officio members (the deans of
the various schools) and voting elected members. This
latter group consists of one Senate member for each
twenty faculty members of professorial rank elected from
the College and Graduate Schools of Arts and Sciences
and from the various professional schools. There are no
student representatives on the Senate.