University of Virginia Library

A. Students

In the area of recruitment, admission and general student services, the Council of Higher Education will use ifs relationships with professional associations in the State to assist the men and women who are directly responsible for activities in these areas. Council staff members will work with the officers of these associations, attend membership meetings and offer the Council's services in a consultative capacity. They will conduct seminars and workshops as appropriate. Among the associations with which the Council will work are these:

         

Association	Sphere of Activities
Virginia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers	Admissions, Student Records
Virginia College Personnel Association	Housin, Veterans' Affairs, Counseling Activities, General Student Services
Virginia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators	Financial Aid
Virginia Personnel and Guidance Association	Secondary School Guidance Counselors

In addition, the Council staff will work with the respective institutions, assisting in planning, implementing and evaluating equal opportunity programs as they are developed by the institutions.

Although this plan provides both institutional and statewide mechanisms to increase minority students in predominantly white institutions, the plan must also speak to attracting white students to Virginia's predominantly black institutions. The Council staff will make a special effort to work with secondary school guidance counselors and college and university admissions officers as they arrange "College Days:" (which have been an annual part of institutional recruiting efforts) each Fall to introduce high school seniors to the opportunities offered by the various state-supported institutions. The Council will especially seek to emphasize the unique opportunities available at the predominantly black institutions. Predominantly black institutions will be given the same opportunities as predominantly white institutions to meet with white students and guidance counselors. Financial aid opportunities at predominantly black institutions will be made known to all students.

The Council staff will also conduct briefing sessions with college and Uni- versity admissions officers to acquaint them with population trends, demographic distribution of minority group persons, state financial aid programs, and other pertinent matters.

In addition, mindful of the fact that the college-going rate of students from minority groups is not as high as that of white students, the Council staff will contact guidance counselors of secondary schools with significant numbers of minority group students each Fall to offer assistance and information which may encourage applications to Virginia's colleges and universities.

While increased recruiting activity may increase the college-going rate of minority group students, it is clear that a young person's aspiration level is a product of a complex variety of factors; among these factors is the educational experience of the young person from kindergarten through secondary school. Poor experiences cannot be undone by intensive recruiting alone.

Therefore, the Council will undertake, with the cooperation of the Teacher Education Advisory Committee of the State Deportment of Education, a review of all teacher training programs in Virginia's state-supported institutions of higher education. Primary consideration will be given to the quality and amount of training which teachers receive to prepare them to teach minority group students with the greatest possible effectiveness. The need for continuing education offerings that are available to teachers already in the Field will also be given careful attention.

The Council will seek financial support for this review from state and federal sources. The review will begin not later than July 1, 1974, and will be completed not later than June 30, 1975.