University of Virginia Library

CHARGE FOR THE BOARD OF VISITORS SPECIAL COMMITTEE
ON DEVELOPMENT

RESOLVED that the following charge to the Board of Visitors Special Committee on Development be and it is hereby approved:

While the development programs of the University of Virginia have been relatively successful in the past decade, there has been a problematic development in the last few years. It is the trend toward decentralization. Not only have parts of the University withdrawn from the center in order to conduct fundraising on their own, but some parts are competitive with one another. Even worse, there are some separate initiatives that are inconsistent with the University's own larger, long-term interest.

At President O'Neil's direction, an ad hoc committee of University officers has been working on a plan to restructure all development activity, thereby to assure coordination. It is anticipated that this committee's recommendations will be presented to the Board of Visitors promptly, for it is imperative that all of this be resolved prior to the selection of a new President of the University.

Because these are unusually consequential issues, and also because the proposed changes will, in some significant degree, modify established patterns for conducting fund-raising at UVA, it is desirable that a Special Committee of the Board of Visitors be appointed, in order to:

• Concentrate on these issues on behalf of the Board, thus to help to prepare the Board for the action it must ultimately take;
• Meet with the leaders of various volunteer organizations that participate in fundraising in order to enhance their understanding of the changes, as well as their justification.