University of Virginia Library

Faculty Opens Meetings
To Student News Media

By Bill Fryer
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

By a "substantial margin" the Faculty
of the College of Arts and Sciences passed
a minority report which opened faculty
meetings to individual members of the
student press. The successful report also
called for the formation of a special
committee to be appointed by the Dean
of the Faculty to study the possibilities
of opening the meetings to all members
of the student body.

Dean Shannon characterized the debate
over issues at the meeting as
"cogent, heated, but by no means
vicious." The Committee on the Presence
of Students at Faculty Meetings presented
the defeated majority report which
would have waived any decision on press
representation or open meetings.

The successful minority report reads:

"We resolve that the Faculty of Arts
and Sciences authorize the Dean of the
Faculty, in consultation with the Committee
on Nominations, to establish a
committee of the Faculty to study the
September 23rd resolution of the Student
Council referring to open Faculty meetings and
to report its findings and recommendations to
this body.

News Media Allowed

"And we further resolve that the Faculty of
Arts and Sciences at once permit one
representative of each of the following
University news organs to attend its meetings
for the purpose of observing and reporting the
proceedings, without the aid of cameras or tape
recorders: namely, The Cavalier Daily, The
Virginia Weekly, and radio stations WUVA and
WTJU-FM."

Presenting the recommendations of the
Student Council at the opening of the meeting
were Council President Bud Ogle and Councilman
Tom Gardner who both passed out leaflets
to faculty members as they entered the
meeting. The recommendations stated that the
"Council's primary interest is to expedite
faculty adoption of an open meetings policy.
Token representation (press and student
government) is better than no representation if
it is only an interim measure."

The Councilmen also reiterated their proposal
for a student review board of faculty
legislation which affected students. The board
would be made up of the College members of
the Student Council who would "advise and
consent" on the proposals of the faculty. They
also advised the passage of the successful
minority report which opened the meetings to
the press.

In other action Harold Kolb of the English
Department presented the Interim Report of
the Curriculum Committee to the faculty. The
final report will be presented to the general
faculty of the College at the next meeting on
November 8.

Compromise On Education

The proposals outlined were termed "a
compromise between an education dictated by
the faculty and one chosen entirely by the
students, but we have provided many new
options and opportunities for student choice."

Among the changes embodied in the report
is the creation of a University major "for
students who do not wish to specialize in a
single department. Also the proposal offers the
student a choice between foreign language and
foreign culture."

"The new curriculum recommends the
institution of a pass/fail grade, the use of
fractions of grade-points for plus and minus
grades, the limitation of hours taken for degree
credit in ROTC, the recommendation (but not
the requirement) of physical education courses,
the elimination of required related courses, and
the option to declare a major any time in the
first two years. Our faith is finally with our
students. Given the opportunity to choose, we
believe they will choose wisely," the report
stated.

The Interim Report was presented to the
faculty by the committee without dissent.
Members of the committee plan to talk with
members of The Cavalier Daily and the
Curriculum Committee of the Student Council
before the final proposals are drawn up.

The Curriculum Committee has also scheduled
an open hearing on the proposals on
November 11 when it hopes to hear any
student or faculty criticism of the group's plan.
The Committee indicated a willingness to hold
further hearings if they were necessary. All of
the information gathered would be used to
make "alterations which are appropriate,"
according to Dean Shannon. The Cavalier Daily
will publish the entire Interim Report to better
inform students on the subjects.

In further action the faculty nominated 22
of their members for seven positions open on
the University-wide Faculty Senate. The voting
will be by mail so the results will not be made
known until the faculty meeting next month.