University of Virginia Library

Shannon Claims University
Faces Student Ratio Dilemma

'Political Realities'
Present Problems

Faculty Suggests
Pass-Fail Extension

By MARGARET ALFORD

The University is torn
between "political realities and
a desire to have as large a
proportion of out-of-state
students as possible" in its
admission policies, Vice
President and Provost David A.
Shannon told Arts and
Sciences faculty members
yesterday.

"We have been told to
decrease, but no one has
suggested a way of arriving at a
realistic level," he said.

An Oct. 26 student census
listed a total of 12,907 students
enrolled here, he said,
including 4,810 or 37.26 per
cent out-of-state students.

Mr. Shannon spoke to the
faculty on the Future of the
University Committee's
projections and subsequent
Board of Visitors
recommendations for
enrollment and growth.

Pass-Fail Deadline Extended

In other action, faculty
unanimously approved a
recommendation allowing
College students to change
semester course credit from
letter grade to pass-fail or vice
versa anytime until the end of
the period for dropping
courses.

The faculty Committee on
Curriculum and Educational
Policy suggested the pass-fail
change from the present
regulation, which deems that
students must decide to take a
course on a pass-fail basis by
the end of the one-week add
period.

Semester-End Quizzes Banned

Faculty members also voted
to ban "quizzes, make-up
quizzes and final
examinations" on the last class
meeting day of each semester
and to require that "all class
and laboratory exercises be due
before these days."

The 'early start' calendar,
adopted last spring and
effective in 1973-74, includes
fewer days than the present
calendar and no reading days.
Under the adopted proposal,
instructors may treat the last
days of the semester as normal
class time or as review sessions.

Admissions Discussed

A recent Board of Visitors
statement recommended
limitation of yearly
out-of-state admissions for
"the next several years" to the
preliminary estimate of 1,465
students entering this fall.
Out-of-state students
comprised 36.08 per cent of all
new students this year.

Mr. Shannon said the
number of entering students
has been revised to 1,575 since
the earlier estimate.

"The General Assembly
might not take action to
restrict out-of-state
enrollment," Mr. Shannon
said yesterday.

"The admissions issue is
clouded right now by pending
court decisions on out-of-state
tuition requirements."

Several faculty members
criticized affixing a
non-resident student limit to
both undergraduate and
graduate schools, saying, "We'd
be dead if we had only 15 per
cent non-resident graduate
students. We couldn't defend
our Ph.D. program."

The faculty adopted a
memorial resolution on English
Prof. Emeritus Arthur K. Davis
Jr., who died in September. He
was a widely known collector
of Virginia folk songs and an
expert on poet-critic Matthew
Arnold.

Faculty Dean Robert D.
Cross commended to the
faculty Pres. Shannon's
recommendation that faculty
members "facilitate and
encourage student
participation" in election
processes and "carefully
consider possibilities of
absenteeism when scheduling
exercises on Election Day,
Nov. 7."

Mr. Cross announced his
proposal to department
chairmen for renumbering Arts
and Sciences courses
uniformly. He also criticized
"overcrowding of classrooms at
peak hours, and emptiness of
rooms at other times."