University of Virginia Library

ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL POLICY STUDIES AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

The following resolution was adopted:

• RESOLVED by The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia that, effective June 2, 1973, the Institute of National Policy Studies be and it is hereby established at the University of Virginia, the purpose of this Institute to be to conduct studies and investigations of problems at the national level of a political, legal, economic, or social nature, this Institute to be supported by endowment funds previously received from anonymous donors and by additional endowment funds and annual grants as received;
• RESOLVED FURTHER that the Institute will become operative when the Board of Visitors shall determine, upon the recommendation of the President of the University and the Council of the Institute designated below, that sufficient additional endowment or annual grants or both have been received to support a continuing program consistent with the standards and purposes of the University;
• RESOLVED FURTHER that the organization and program of the Institute shall be supervised by a Council composed initially of the following members, Linwood Holton, Joseph H. McConnell, Edgar F. Shannon, Jr., Colgate W. Darden, Jr., Frank W. Rogers, Sr., and Burkett Miller, who are hereby elected in their personal capacity without limitation as to terms;
• RESOLVED FURTHER that additional members, including the incumbent Rector and President, shall be elected from time to time by the Board of Visitors on the nomination of the Council for terms of 8 years each, so arranged as to provide for the termination of their terms on a staggered basis;
• RESOLVED FURTHER that it shall be the responsibility of the Council to appoint a Director on the nomination of the President of the University with the concurrence of the Board of Visitors and to determine the studies to be undertaken by the Institute on the recommendation of the Director; and
• PROVIDED FURTHER that the Director of the Institute shall make on behalf of the Council an annual report to the President of the University upon the work of the Institute including a summary of the income and expenditures of the Institute for the year and the proposed budget for the ensuing year.
• (End of Resolution)
• In connection with the provisions in the resolution for the selection of the Director, the President asked that the minutes show the understanding of the Board of Visitors that the Council of the Institute is not obliged to appoint the nominee of the President of the University but may accept or reject a nominee.
• In further amplification of the resolution, the President also requested that the following conceptions as to the general nature of the Institute be shown in the minutes:
• An Institute of National Policies
  Studies at the University of Virginia
• The function of the Institute will be to contribute to the solution of major problems at the national level of a political, legal, economic or social nature. It will engage in comprehensive and intensive research into problems such as the Role of the Presidency within the federal system and the Administration of Justice. Research projects of this nature should be limited in number and should be long-range. Short-term and transitory projects should be avoided. Projects undertaken should be brought into relationship to the on-going educational process at the University through participation of University faculty and students. It should be a major objective of each project to engage the attention of the public and the national government and thereby to strengthen the possibility of contributing to solution of the particular problem involved.
• With these objectives in mind, the Institute should be an integral part of the University but should enjoy the maximum degree of autonomy within the University system. The present Council of the Institute should constitute a permanent Council to oversee its policies and operations. The present Council should be augmented to achieve wider geographical representation. It should be the responsibility of the Council to appoint a Director on the nomination of the President of the University with the concurrence of the Board of Visitors. The Council should be responsible for determining the projects to be undertaken by the Center on the recommendation of the Director.
• A small group of Senior Fellows with scholarly distinction in separate disciplines should constitute an advisory group to the Director. There should be no tenure in the Institute, but where appropriate the Director and Senior Fellows might hold joint appointments in University departments.
• A Project Director of outstanding competence in the field should be appointed for each project on a contract basis.
• Depending upon the nature and extent of the project, Research Fellows in a range of disciplines appropriate to the project should be appointed for each project also on a contract basis. Graduate students from the various departments of the University should be employed where appropriate as Research Assistants, and their research should be given recognition within the departments of the University to which they are attached. The Institute itself would not have a curriculum as such and would not grant degrees.
• A group of distinguished individuals from public, professional, and business life should be appointed for each project as Fellows of the Institute to participate in the work of a particular project from time to time throughout the project's life and to engage in appropriate public consideration of its results and its conclusion.
• The Institute should be the focal point for public policy research and debate of the southeastern region of the United States and should, wherever possible, enter into relationships with other regional institutions. It should not, however, be limited in its institutional relationships to the region of the southeast but should engage in exchanges of personnel, information, and the results of its work, with institutions throughout the nation.
• Situated so close to Washington, it should have as a major objective providing the government of the United States and particularly the Congress, with the results of its research and, without becoming an adjunct to the government or party-affiliated, it should seek to engage members of the three branches of the national government in its work. (Summary of the substance of Part II, conclusions and recommendations of a Report by James W. Barco, October 25, 1972.)