 | Board of Visitors minutes March 29, 1974 |  |
IV. STATEWIDE ACTIONS
The Council's role in the Plan for Equal Opportunity in Virginia's Institutions of Higher Education is to assist the institutions in their equal opportunity efforts, to coordinate the activities of the institutions so as to achieve the greatest possible efficiency and effectiveness, and to regulate the development of new academic programs so they will have a positive impact on equal opportunity in the institutions. The Council has authorization to augment its staff in order that work in this important area can be increased.
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.
B. Faculty and Staff
In the areas of faculty and administrative staff recruitment and development, the Council will prepare and maintain a comprehensive history of positions which the institutions of higher education ore attempting to fill. Each Fall, the Council will make this listing available to professional associations which have expressed a commitment to assist women and persons from minority groups in their search for faculty or administrative positions. The Council staff will also distribute recruiting materials about opportunities in Virginia's institutions of higher education to graduate schools throughout the nation and will circulate resume's which ore received through contacts with minority group persons or organizations.
One of the major problems facing colleges and universities as they seek to increase the number of minority group persons employed as faculty and staff is the shortage of such per5ons in an extremely competitive market. In order to assist Virginia's state-supported institutions of higher education in their recruitment efforts, the Council will design and seek funding for two specific programs which could increase the number of minority group men and women who ore qualified for faculty and staff positions. Obviously, these programs will be designed in close cooperation with the institutions themselves and will have their support. Funding will be sought from state and federal sources as well as from foundations.
The first program will enable minority group persons who presently hold faculty or staff positions but who have not earned terminal degrees to pursue these degrees at one of Virginia's doctoral degree granting institutions. Faculty and staff members will be selected for participation in this program on the basis of their qualifications and will be admitted to one of Virginia's doctoral degree granting institutions which offers appropriate graduate programs. They will receive cost of living stipends which will enable them to work on their degrees during the summer months. In addition, where possible to do so, the doctoral degree granting institutions will arrange programs of study that place heavy emphasis on independent work. This will enable participants in the program to work toward their degrees during the regular academic year.
In planning this program, and in determining the Fields of study which will be included within it, the State Council of Higher Education and participating institutions will survey those employed at Virginia's institutions to determine the potential number of participants and will project Faculty and staff personnel requirements in Virginia's institutions. It is anticipated that planning for this program will be completed by September 30, 1974, after which time funding proposals will be submitted to appropriate government agencies and foundations.
The second program will seek to identify promising students who are at least interested in looking seriously at the possibility of graduate work and academic careers.
Beginning at the end of their junior year in college, it will offer these students an intensive summer program designed to enrich their undergraduate educations and to give them an experience similar to that of graduate study. At the same time, the program will seek to introduce these students to the possibility of academic careers.
The doctoral degree granting institutions will offer the intensive summer programs. It is possible that participating students may also be permitted to spend one or more terms of the regular school year at a doctoral degree granting institution. Minority group students from all of Virginia's state-supported colleges and universities will be eligible to participate in this program.
The program will be designed to assist students who participate in this program to determine whether they ore interested in academic careers. In addition, Faculty members at the doctoral degree granting institutions at which they study will evaluate the students and advise them candidly about their potential. In addition, students participating in the program will receive valuable information which could assist them in gaining admission to graduate school. All of Virginia's state-supported institutions will cooperate closely with the Council in the design of this program. It is anticipated that planning For this program will be completed by September 30, 1974, after which funding proposals will be submitted to appropriate government agencies and foundations.
Faculty and staff development is an important aspect of equal opportunity. Again, because faculty personnel policies are the statutory responsibility of institutional boards of visitors, the Council's role will be mainly advisory. The Council will monitor efforts in this area and will distribute information about promising approaches to all the institutions of higher education in the State.
C. Academic Programs
The Council of Higher Education will review each academic program proposed for initiation by Virginia's institutions of higher education and will assess the proposed programs' impact on equal opportunity efforts throughout the commonwealth The Council will pay particular attention to the unnecessary duplication of academic programs between predominantly black and predominantly white institutions.
As stated earlier, the Council will approve by July 1, 1974, a revised "Policy and Procedures for Academic Program Approval" to be used in the next cycle of academic program proposal review. A new criterion in this document will be that the proposed academic program will be evaluated to determine its impact of equal opportunity efforts.
The availability of specific academic programs influences a student's decision about the institution he or she will attend. The program planning staff of the Council of
Higher Education will work directly with the predominantly block institutions to assist them in program planning and development. The unique academic programs in these institutions will be emphasized and promoted to attract additional white students to these institutions. In addition to assisting the predominantly block institutions with programs already in operation, the Council staff will assist these institutions to develop additional programs which will be attractive to white students and which will not be duplicative of those already offered by predominantly white institutions.
Finally, the Council wilt work with the six regional consortia for continuing education, seeking to ensure that citizens from minority groups have equal access to continuing education. The Council staff will assist the consortia members in choosing sites for off-campus work that ore accessible to minority group persons.
In that portion of the plan submitted on June 11, it was stated that a com- prehensive master plan for higher education was being developed by the State Council of Higher Education. Appendix I, "The Virginia Plan for Higher Education," has been completed. It represents the combined efforts of the public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and the State Council of Higher Education. This plan includes planning statements for each of the public and private institutions. These statements are provided in response to the specific request made in the Office of Civil Rights letter of November 10.
In addition, the November 10 letter requested that a complete listing of academic programs offered by Virginia's institutions of higher education be provided to the Office of Civil Rights. Appendix J, "Higher Education in Virginia, Selected Characteristics, Degree Programs, Student Fees in Public and Private Institutions, 1973-74," shows each program and degree level offered by Virginia's public and private institutions.
D. Cooperative Programs
In the area of cooperative arrangements between and among institutions, the Council will suggest appropriate arrangements and will assist the institutions
involved in solving problems that might exist at the state level. The Council will also give special consideration to proposals For academic programs which are jointly sponsored by two or more institutions and which further the equal opportunity efforts of the institutions involved.
E. Monitoring and Evaluation
The Commonwealth of Virginia and its institutions of higher education are committed to those affirmative actions necessary to guarantee fully equal opportunity in all aspects of higher education. The State Council of Higher Education will serve as the statewide agency for the consolidation of all statistical activities related to this plan. This function is consistent with the provisions of Section 23-9.6 of the Code of Virginia which charges the Council with the "duty of assembling data". After receiving and analyzing data from the individual institutions, the Council of Higher Education will evaluate the affirmative actions of each institution and, when appropriate, make recommendations to the institutions on possible ways of increasing the effectiveness of their efforts.
In addition to assembling and analyzing data provided to the Council by the individual institutions, the Council will regularly assess the effectiveness of those portions of the plan For which the Council has final authority. The Council of Higher Education will be the state agency responsible for preparing semi-annual reports of the State's efforts and accomplishments as related to the plan.
| Board of Visitors minutes March 29, 1974 | |