 | Board of Visitors minutes July 10, 1829 |  |
At a meeting of the Visitors of the University of Virginia,
held at the University on the 10th day of July 1829; present
Joseph C. Cabell and Thomas J. Randolph. Saturday the 11th,
James Monroe also attended, who made known the inability of the
Rector to attend this meeting in consequence of the feeble state
of his health. A Board not being in attendance, the members
present were engaged in preparing business for the action of the
Board when organised.
Tuesday the 14th, Chapman Johnson attended. The Board
being now organised, proceeded to appoint Mr. Monroe Rector pro
tempore.
On motion, Resolved, that John A. G. Davis be appointed
Secretary of the Board of Visitors of the University, in the
place of Nicholas P. Trist resigned.
The Rector appointed Mr. Cabell and Mr. Randolph to act as
a committee of Inspection; and Mr. Johnson to act as a committee
of Finance, during the present meeting of the Visitors.
The Rector also appointed Mr. Randolph a committee to examine
and settle the Bursar's and Proctor's accounts.
Resolved, That if Mr. Randolph should deem it necessary
and expedient, he shall have authority to employ an accountant,
to aid in the examination and settlement of the Proctor's account.
The accounts of the Bursar and Proctor were handed in. The
Chairman of the Faculty laid before the Board the reports
reports of the Professors.
The Board then adjourned till tomorrow 10 Oclock A. M.
Wednesday July 15th
The Board met according to adjournment.
Resolved unanimously, That Doctor Gessner Harrison be
appointed Professor of Antient Languages, from the expiration
of his present term of service; and that the salary of that
office be continued at one thousand dollars, payable as heretofore.
The Board then adjourned till tomorrow 10 Oclock A. M.
Thursday July 16th
The Board met according to adjournment.
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to examine the
accounts of the Proctor, as patron of the students.
The Rector pro tempore thereupon appointed Mr. Johnson
and Mr. Randolph a committee for that purpose.
Resolved, That Mr. Randolph be added to the Executive Committee.
Resolved, That it is at this time inexpedient to reduce
the salaries of the Professors first appointed; and that the
salaries now enjoyed by them, be continued till the farther
order of the Board.
Resolved, That when the salary of any Professor shall hereafter
be reduced, the reduction shall operate only from the
commencement of the session next after it shall have been enacted;
and that after the commencement of the next session, no
Professor shall be be at liberty to resign his office without
the leave of the Board, unless such resignation be made at the
end of a session, and after at least three months' notice thereof
shall have been given in writing to the Rector.
Resolved, that every student, under the age of 21 years,
shall attend at least three Professors, or two Professors and
the Demonstrator of Anatomy and Surgery, unless, when he matriculates,
his parent or guardian shall have prescribed in writing
the schools which he is required to attend, or unless the Faculty,
for good cause shewn, shall allow him to attend less than
three.
Resolved, That the executive committee be directed, so
soon as the funds of the institution will permit, to have a door
opened in every alternate partition wall of the dormitories,
and every alternate outer door closed by fixed Venetian shutters;
and when so altered, two connected dormitories shall be assigned
to every two students; the inner for a bedroom, and the outer
for a study.
Resolved, That if the number of students shall be such as
to require it, the executive committee are authorised to provide
rooms for their accommodation in the vacant hotels, and to cause
rooms thus provided, shall be assigned to the students by the
Proctor, under the direction of the Chairman, at such reasonable
rent, as the executive committee shall assess upon them.
The Board then adjourned till tomorrow 9 Oclock A. M.
Friday July the 17th.
The Board met according to adjournment.
Resolved, That the appointment of John N. Rose as Hotel
keeper be approved and ratified.
Resolved, as the opinion of the Board, that the arrangement
proposed by the Proctor, for adjusting the claim of the Hotel
keepers for board, during the recess of the schools, occasioned
by the late endemic, is just and reasonable; and that if, in
strictness of law, the hotel keepers might claim board from the
absent students during the whole recess, yet to demand it during
the month of March, the period for which the Proctor has disallowed
it, would, under the circumstances, be so harsh, that
the Board cannot refrain from expressing the hope, that such
demand will not be pressed.
Resolved, That so much of the enactment prescribing uniform
to the students, as requires gaiters to be worn in cold
weather, and prescribes the color of the stockings be repealed;
that the residue thereof be strictly enforced; and that the
prescribed uniform shall be worn on all occasions, both within
and without the precincts, when the student appears out of his
gown or coat within the precincts, as the Chairman may approve.
Resolved, That the Proctor pay to Doctor Emmet the sum of
forty nine dollars and seventy five cents, the amount paid by
him to Metayer and others for appatus, lamps &c, and the sum
of one hundred and fifty nine dollars and eighty eight cents,
with seven per cent interest from the 26th of June 1826, till
paid, being the amount of a bill of articles shipped by Seddlier,
May & Co. for the use of the University, together with such
costs as Dr. Emmet may be compelled to pay in a suit brought
against him on that bill in the State of New York.
Resolved, that Professor Dunglison be appointed Chairman
of the Faculty, for one year from the end of this session.
The Board adjourned till 1/2 past 5 Oclock A. M.
Saturday July the 18th.
The Board met according to adjournment.
Mr. Randolph, to whom was referred the examination of the
Bursar's account, reports that he has examined the same from
the 15th of December 1827, to the 10th of July 1829, and finds
all the articles of debit supported by proper vouchers, and the
account corresponding therewith, with the exception of one item,
dated March the 10th 1829, undercharged three dollars.
Resolved, That the Secretary of this Board be required to
have made out a fair copy of the record of the proceedings of
with an index thereto, in a well bound book, and that it shall
be hereafter his duty, regularly after every meeting, to record
therein the proceedings of the Board; and that for copying
the record of the proceedings prior to this date, he be
authorized to employ an assistant, to be paid by the Proctor
on the order of the executive committee.
In answer to the Proctor's enquiry, Resolved, that students
entering the University after the commencement of the
session, should pay board only for the time unexpired, at the
yearly rate, but should pay the full fees and rents at whatever
time they enter.
Resolved that the Proctor be authorised to remit to each
hotel keeper, three months' rent on his hotel, in consideration
of his foregoing his claim upon the students for board
during the month of March in the present year, and his claim
for board, during their absence, from those students, who,
having left the University in consequence of the endemic,
did not afterwards return.
The Board adjourned to attend the public exercises &c
in the Rotunda, and to meet again on Monday the 20th at 10
Oclock A. M.
Monday July 20th.
The Board met according to adjournment.
The answer of the Rector & Visitors of the University of
Virginia to the original and amended bills of complaint, exhibited
against them and Arthur S. Brockenbrough their proctor,
in the Superior court of Chancery holden at Staunton, by James
Oldham, having been this day agreed to by the Board, Therefore,
resolved, that the said answer be certified by the signature
of the Rector pro tempore, and by the seal of the University,
and certified to the said Superior court of Chancery, by
the Secretary of the Board.
Resolved, That the Demonstrator of Anatomy and Surgery, be
admitted into the Faculty as a member thereof, and have a vote
in all their deliberations; and that, instead of the fee heretofore
allowed him, he shall be entitled to the same fee, in all
respects, as is allowed to a Professor; and the fee paid to him
shall hereafter be taken into the estimate, in ascertaining the
amount which a Professor shall be entitled to, from a student
attending him.
The committee of Inspection made a report, accompanied
by the following resolutions, which were adopted.
1. Resolved, That the Librarian be required to report to
the Board of Visitors, at the commencement of every stated
annual meeting the names of all such, whether Professors or
others, as may withhold books from the Library in violation
of the enactments.
2. Resolved, That the executive committee be authorised
the benches in that apartment to be fixed to a rising platform,
as in the lecture room of the Professor of Natural Philosophy,
the fire place in the Chemical Laboratory to be altered, so as
to improve the draught, in the mode thought most expedient by
the Professor of Chemistry; and such additions to be made to
the collection of subjects in Materia Medica, as they, upon
conference with the Professor, may consider essential and proper.
3. Resolved, That the executive committee be authorised,
to procure the occasional attendance of a servant, for such
portion of time as they may deem necessary, not exceeding four
hours per day, for three days in every week during the year,
to clean and oil the metallic objects in the Chemical apparatus,
and to aid the Professor of Chemistry in preparing his apparatus
for his lectures, and to clean up the apartments after
lecture.
4. Resolved, That the executive committee be authorised
to cause to be sold the following objects in the Chemical apparatus,
in conformity to the recommendation of the Professor of
Chemistry; viz. twenty feet of leaden pipe, about one inch in
diameter, and a large pair of druggist's scales; and to cause
to be repaired the objects in the same apparatus designated as
out of repair, in the report made on that subject by the said
Professor.
5. Resolved, That the Professor of Natural Philosophy be
person as he may think proper, and to purchase the requisite
tools, to repair the instruments in the Philosophical and Astronomical
apparatus; provided that the expenditure incurred
shall not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars.
6. Resolved, That the executive committee be authorised to
cause new covers to be placed on the benches in the lecture
room of the Professor of Natural Philosophy, and to make such
other changes in regard to them, as they may deem essential.
7. Resolved, That the executive committee cause to be procured,
as an addition to the Philosophical apparatus, a whirling
table and its appendages, and a Daniel's Hygrometer, such as are
described in the report of the Professor of Natural Philosophy.
8. Resolved, That the executive committee be authorised
to cause to be sold, or disposed of as they may think best for
the interests of the University the following objects; viz. the
instrument numbered 22 in the catalogue of the Philosophical
apparatus, and described in that catalogue as " A measure composed
of jointed bars, suitable for geodetical operations" -
and the large iron press for stamping metals.
9. Resolved, That the executive committee be required, in
conjunction with the present and late Professors of Natural
Philosophy, to take such steps as they may think best, to ascertain
the cost of the various objects in the Philosophical
and astronomical apparatus.
10. Resolved, That the curiosities and objects of Natural
History, bequeathed to the University by Mr. Jefferson, be removed,
under the superintendence of the Professors of Natural
Philosophy & Chemistry, to the upper gallery of the library;
and that they be disposed of, in such additional presses, to
be furnished by the Proctor, as may be found necessary for that
object.
11. Resolved, That the executive committee be authorised to
cause to be erected one office with two rooms, in the rear of
each of the pavilions occupied by Professors Lomax & Patterson,
and in the rear of each of the hotels occupied by Mrs. Gray &
Mr. Conway: and one room in addition to the kitchen at the
hotel to be occupied by Mr. Rose.
12. Resolved, That the executive committee cause the following
improvements to be made in the pavilion and garden
occupied by the Demonstrator of Anatomy and Surgery; viz. the
floors of the pavilion to be planed, where they require it;
and a partition to be erected across the west end of the large
room on the first floor of that pavilion, so as to extend the
entry of that pavilion to the south side of the house; and
also the garden to be enlarged.
13. Resolved, That the Patrick Henry society be no longer
permitted the use of the large room in the aforesaid pavilion,
and that, in lieu thereof, they be allowed the use of such
apartment, in one of the unoccupied hotels, as may be assigned
for that purpose by the Faculty.
14. Resolved, That the executive committee be charged with
the duty of superintending and directing the laying out, and
planting and inclosing the grounds of the University, in furtherance
of the improvements already commenced in that department
of the institution: and that this duty is assigned to them,
to be executed under a sound discretion, as in regard to the
various other objects of expenditure connected with the prosperity
of the institution.
15. Resolved, That the Faculty be authorised to appropriate
for the accommodation of the Lythographic press and of the Lathe,
now situated in an outer building, two apartments, either in
the dormitories or the unoccupied hotels, as to them may seem
most expedient and proper.
16. Resolved, That the executive be authorised, on consultation
with the Professor of Medicine and the Demonstrator
of Anatomy and Surgery, to make such change in the appropriation
of the apartments in the Anatomical theatre, as they may deem
advisable.
The Board then adjourned till tomorrow 1/2 past Oclock A.M.
Tuesday July the 21st.
The Board met according to adjournment.
The committee of Finance made a report, accompanied by the
following resolutions, which were adopted.
1. Resolved, That there be appropriated to the use of the
a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be applied under
the direction of the executive committee.
2. Resolved, That the executive committee be requested, as
far as practicable to execute the duties confided to them heretofore,
in relation to the books required for the Library, as
suggested by the several Professors, and that to this end, the
sterling fund mentioned in this report, be placed at their
command.
Resolved, That an assistant Proctor be appointed, whose
duty it shall be, under the direction of the chairman, to aid
in the performance of all the duties of police assigned to him
by the enactments.
He shall be appointed by the Board, and shall hold
his office during their pleasure, but may be removed for misconduct,
by the executive committee, during the recess of the
Board. Vacancies in the office, existing in the recess of the
Board, may be supplied by appointment of the executive committee,
subject to the approval or disapproval of the Board.
For the faithful performance of his duties, he shall receive
a salary of three hundred dollars per annum, payable
quarterly, - on the certificate of the Chairman that his services
have been faithfully performed. If the Chairman refuse
such certificate, he shall submit it to the Faculty to say, how
much shall be deducted from the salary of the assistant Proctor,
be conclusive, and payment shall be made accordingly.
The Proctor shall continue to be master of police, have
a general superintendence over the whole department, and shall
have a general control over the duties of his assistant, subordinate
however to the Chairman.
The Proctor, in lieu of his present salary, shall hereafter
receive a salary of five hundred dollars per annum, payable
quarterly, and so much in addition thereto at the end of each
year, as will be necessary, including this salary, and the commission
allowed him as patron of the students, to make his income
twelve hundred dollars per annum.
Resolved, That William Wertenbaker be appointed assistant
Proctor.
To insure a more faithful compliance with the enactments
requiring the students to deposit their funds with the Proctor,
it shall be his duty, upon his final settlement with each student,
about to leave the University or having left it, to take
from him a written declaration to the following effect.
I hereby declare that I have deposited with the Proctor
all the funds which have been received by me, or have been
under my control, since I matriculated, according to the obvious
intent and meaning of the enactments on that subject; and
that I have received from him the sum of in full
for the balance in his hands due me.
If the student shall not have deposited all his funds,
then the form of the declaration above required, shall be altered,
by adding an exception of the sum not so deposited; and the
Proctor shall be entitled to the same commission on that sum as
if it had been deposited.
If the student shall refuse to give such written declaration,
the Proctor shall be entitled to demand and receive from him so
much as, together with the commission on the money actually deposited,
will make the sum of twelve dollars.
In all cases in which a student shall fail to make the
written declaration above required, or in which it shall appear
that he has not deposited the whole of his funds with the Proctor,
pursuant to the enactments, the Proctor shall report the fact
to the Chairman, in order that it may be communicated to the
parent or guardian of the student, laid before the Faculty and
Visitors, and otherwise properly animadverted upon.
Resolved, That the Proctor be required, under the direction
of the executive committee, to make an alteration in the Pavilion
now occupied by Professor Tucker, by an addition to the west
front, extending the whole length and elevation of the building,
and about ten feet in width; provided, however, that if, in
the opinion of the committee the funds of the institution will
not now justify the expense, the original cost, with the assent
of Professor Tucker, shall be paid by him, to be refunded with
interest, as soon as convenient.
Resolved, That the Faculty be requested to procure, at
the expense of the University, a well bound blank blankbook,
for the purpose of preserving in a convenient form for their
use, copies of the enactments and resolutions of a general
nature, adopted by the Visitors. There shall be copied into
this book, by the Secretary of this Board, all such enactments
and resolutions adopted since the last printed edition in 1827;
and there shall, in like manner, be copied into it, immediately
after each session of the Board, all such enactments and resolutions
as shall be adopted by them hereafter. This book shall
be indexed, and carefully preserved by the Secretary of the
Faculty.
The Faculty shall also procure for each Professor, & the
Demonstrator of Anatomy and Surgery, a similar book, at the
expense of the institution, into which shall be copied, by the
Secretary of the Faculty, all the enactments and resolutions
aforesaid, with such of the regulations of the Faculty, as
they deem proper. This book, indexed by the Secretary of the
Faculty, shall be carefully preserved by the Professors and
Demonstrator, and delivered over to their successors.
A similar book shall, in like manner, be procured by the
Proctor for the use of his office, and shall be written up
and indexed by the Secretary of this Board, so far as relates
to the acts and resolutions of the Visitors; and written up
and indexed by the the Secretary of the Faculty, so far as
relates to the regulations of the Faculty.
Resolved, That the annual list submitted to the Board of
the absences of the students, with the remarks thereon, shewing
the relative standing of each, be printed, and that the
Secretary of the Faculty be required to send a copy to the
parent or guardian of each student, omitting the names, with
the exception of the son or ward of the particular parent or
guardian to whom such list be sent.
Resolved, That on enquiring into the late endemic that
has afflicted the University, the Board has been unable to
discover anything in the local situation, the construction of
the buildings, or the police of the institution, which can
furnish any plausible solution of its cause; but in reviewing
the measures adopted to arrest its progress, and guard against
its return, they feel it their duty to declare, that the conduct
of the Chairman and Faculty deserves much commendation
and receives their entire approval.
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to enquire & report
to this Board at its next meeting whether any and what
alterations are required in the school of Modern Languages.
Whereupon the Rector pro tempore appointed Mr. Johnson
Mr. Cabell and Mr. Randolph a committee for that purpose.
Resolved, That the executive committee be requested to
provide for the accomodation of the Board at their next
meeting, and to suggest such plan for their future accommodation,
as may be deemed best.
Resolved, That the 14th article of the 4th chapter of
the printed enactments be so construed, as to authorise the
Faculty to dismiss from the institution, in the manner therein
provided, any student, who, in the opinion of the Faculty,
from habitual delinquency in all or any of his classes, or
from habitual idleness and inattention, or from any other bad
habits, shall not be fulfilling the purposes for which he ought
to have come to the institution, and shall not be likely to
fulfill them, if his parent or guardian shall not withdraw
him, after having received timely notice thereof.
Resolved, That the Faculty be authorised to extend the
time in the morning for cleaning the dormitories of the students;
not later, however, than the breakfast hour; it being
enjoined upon them, when the bedroom and study shall be separated,
not to delay the preparation of the study, or the time
of the students' rising.
Resolved, That the iron railings directed by a resolution
of July 1828, to be placed over the gymnasia, shall be located
so as to range with the pillars in front of the adjacent pavilions,
instead of being contiguous to the portico of the Rotunda,
and that the execution of the work be ordered by the
executive committee.
The Board then adjourned without day.
| Board of Visitors minutes July 10, 1829 | |