 | Board of Visitors minutes March 29, 1974 |  |
III. INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS
In a meeting with Virginia officials on December 13, 1973, Mr. Peter Holmes, Director of the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, indicated that the institutional statements submitted on June 11 should be considered acceptable by Virginia officials with the exception of those matters specifically mentioned in his letter of November 10, 1973, to Governor Linwood Holton. Therefore, the additional material submitted for individual institutions largely relates to the subsections on academic programs and cooperative programs. Additional institutional statements concerning the subsections on students are included for those institutions specifically mentioned in the November 10 letter.
A. Students
On June 11, 1973, comprehensive statements on minority student recruit- ment and retention were submitted to the Office of Civil Rights by each state- supported Institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The statements outlined on-going as well as projected activities in this important area. Additional
information on affirmative action effortsin the area of student recruitment and retention is presented For Christopher Newport College, Madison College and Virginia Military Institute. This additional information, when considered along with that material submitted earlier to the Office of Civil Rights, constitutes institutional planning efforts in this important urea. See Appendix D.
B. Faculty and Staff
On June 11, 1973, in an attachment to Governor Holton's response to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, statements from each state-supported institution of higher education were provided outlining affirmative actions taken or proposed to be taken by the institutions, In addition, a commitment was mode to secure boards of visitors' approval of the Governor's Executive Order No. 29 for use with college faculty members; That commitment has been fulfilled, and on November 5, Governor Holton submitted extensive data to the Office of Civil Rights with reference to faculty affirmative action plans.
Executive Order No. 29 required boards of visitors' approval in order that it would become applicable to college faculties, because college Faculties are exempt from the State's standard personnel policies and procedures. All non- college personnel are subject to the State's personnel *policies and procedures and have been covered by the provisions of Executive Order No. 29 since its issuance by Governor Holton.
Governor Godwin, on January 14, reaffirmed his commitment to equal employment opportunities and issued an Executive Order on February 6, 1974, supplanting and strengthening the provisions of Executive Order No. 29 issued by Governor Holton. On February 7, 1974, Governor Godwin requested the boards of Visitors to approve and implement Executive Order No. 1 for application to faculty members of state-supported institutions. Final approval of the boards of visitors will be reported to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare by July 1, 1974.
C. Academic Programs
The availability of academic programs at a particular institution dramatically
influences students' choices of institutions. Each institution of higher education has a thorough internal procedure, involving Faculty consideration and approval, before a new program is ever proposed to the Council of Higher Education for its consideration. A program is developed and discussed for as long as eighteen months internally before entering the two-year review cycle of the Council of Higher Educating. Statements describing each institution's internal academic program review procedure are attached in Appendix F.
The Council of Higher Education's "Policy and Procedures for Academic Program Approval" is presently being revised by an advisory committee of academic deans, provosts and vice presidents of the state-supported institutions at the direction of the Council. The Council will approve the revised document for use beginning with the next academic program review cycle.
As part of the new "Policy and Procedures for Academic Program Approval", the proposing institution will be required to submit its assessment of the program's potential impact on its equal opportunity efforts. The State Council of Higher Education will notify au State institutions that a letter of intent has been submitted for such a particular program and ask them to express their reactions to the program being proposed. The Council of Higher Education will examine the institution's assessment of the program's impact, consider the responses of other institutions, and make a judgment about the program from a statewide perspective. A copy of the existing Council of Higher Education's "Policy and Procedures For Academic Program Approval" is attached as Appendix G.
D. Cooperative Programs
Cooperative programs currently under way and/or protected by the institutions of higher education were included in institutional statements on students and faculty presented to the Office of Civil Rights on June 11, 1973. Because cooperative programs were not specifically identified in the planning efforts on June 11, a more detailed summary of inter-institutional cooperative efforts currently under way or planned for initiation in the near future is attached to this document
as Appendix H. Such inter-institutional cooperative arrangements for students and faculty increase the opportunities of n4nority students and faculty in Virginia's Institutions of higher education and better facilitate other affirmative actions men- tioned in the plan.
E. Monitoring and Evaluation
Each institution will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of its affirmative action plans. Data concerning students and faculty and staff will be collected and analyzed by each institution. Minority student information will be collected and analyzed for undergraduate, graduate and professional students in the following areas:
a) admissions
b) enrollment: by full time - part time
c) financial
d) retention and graduation.
Minority faculty information will be collected and analyzed for all academic ranks in the following areas:
a) recruitment and selection
b) salary information
c) promotion
d) termination information.
Information will also be collected and analyzed for classified staff in accordance with the policies of Executive Order No. 29, the Virginia Equal Employment Opportunity Plan.
Based on the analysis of the data collected in these and other areas, each institution will evaluate semi-annually the progress of its affirmative action plans and submit such evaluation to the State Council of Higher Education.
| Board of Visitors minutes March 29, 1974 | |