University of Virginia Library

Faculty Opens Meetings
To 'Approved' Students

By Bill Fryer
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Before a meager turnout yesterday the
College Faculty approved limited student
presence at their plenary monthly meetings.
The question of opening the
meetings to all College students will not
be considered until a special meeting next
week.

In addition to the press representation
now allowed in the meetings, student
members of both standing faculty committees
and special faculty committees
plus two College Student Council representatives
will be entitled to attend.

The faculty members voted down a
resolution which would have allowed the
College caucus of Student Council to select
student members of the faculty committees.
The College representatives will, however, be
allowed to submit recommendations for the
posts to the general College Faculty much like
the present Committee on Nominations does
for faculty members.

The Chairman of the Committee on the
Presence of Students at Faculty Meetings,
Ralph Eisenberg of the Government and
Foreign Affairs Department, introduced the
resolutions to the faculty.

He noted that the Committee in their
Report tried to keep the character of the
faculty body and attempted to maximize
student effectiveness in aiding the faculty by
supplying pertinent information. He noted that
the recommendations of the Committee were
of substance and not merely symbolic or token
gestures.

The Committee felt that student presence
on faculty committees would become much
more effective as a result of their attending the
meetings of the faculty. By permitting them to
speak, they could more ably represent the views
of the students to the College Faculty.

Mr. Eisenberg then moved the first
resolution which entitled students on standing
faculty committees to attend and speak
without vote. Rouhollah Ramazani of the
Government Department introduced an
amendment which dealt with the semantics of
the resolution.

There was concern by some faculty
members about whether the students should be
"entitled" or "invited" to attend. Paul Gaston
of the History Department argued against the
change by noting that in his experience the
students on his committee worked the hardest
and were often the most knowledgeable.

During the discussion the former Dean of
the Faculty, Robert J. Harris, observed that the
Report of the committee had stated that the
faculty meetings could be an educational
experience for students attending. He
confessed, "I have attended faculty meetings
for 35 years and I have learned nothing."

Mr. Ramanzani's amendment failed by three
votes. The resolution then passed in addition to
a similar resolution to allow students serving on
special committees and one which encouraged
faculty committees to hold open meetings on
matters which concerned students.

The fourth resolution of the committee
would have given the College caucus of Student
Council the power of appointing the student
members of faculty committees. Arthur
Stocker of the Department of Classics
introduced a successful amendment which gave
the College caucus only recommendation
power.

Mr. Stocker felt that some students
contribute more than others on committees. It
should be the duty of the faculty to decide who
these students are, according to Mr. Stocker. He
argued that by his amendment the faculty
could retain its right to name the members of
the committees and could "forward a great deal
of initiative to the students."

Lester Beaurline of the Department of
English stated that the amendment was "simply
a piece of mechanism" to disguise "pure
nonsense." According to Mr. Beaurline, all that
could be achieved would be "a bad smell" and
the appearance that the College Faculty does
not trust Student Council.

The Romance Language Department's
Raymond Cormier was disturbed that Student
Council is not a representative body. He also
referred to "various procedures in voting that
seem lackadaisical at times." Despite the
protestations of Mr. Eisenberg that the
Committee had considered all of those
arguments as not decisive, Mr. Stocker's
amendment passed 53-35.