BOT commends efforts in University, student life

The emerging role of students, faculty and staff in the life of the University under the administration of Chancellor Gordon Gee won praise during the spring meeting of the Board of Trust.

At committee meetings and the Saturday morning session of the three-day meeting April 25-27, representatives of student, faculty and staff groups said they have been heartened by efforts of the administration to involve them in decisions affecting their constituents.

Law professor James Blumstein, president of the Faculty Senate, noted that the administration has involved the faculty in a partnership in such areas as academic planning, development of the academic venture fund and the restructuring of the senior management team. The enhanced relationship between the faculty and the administration "all starts with the Chancellor and permeates the administration that he has put in place."

He congratulated the administration for developing the academic venture fund, which funds innovative, transinstitutional initiatives. "It's much riskier but much more valuable to invest in ideas, rather than brick and mortar," he said.

Just as the faculty has supported the administration's efforts, the administration has backed the Faculty Senate. He gave as an example the swift approval of a Faculty Senate-endorsed proposal. "It was put on the table. It could have been researched to death, but instead it was approved on the spot," Blumstein said.

Samar Ali, president of the Student Government Association, said the administration's encouragement of student involvement has "rejuvenated students and has created more activists. We're hearing 'no' less frequently and 'yes' more often."

Phillip McGovern, chair of the Staff Advisory Council, said staff is proud to play "a critical role in the University's goals" including residential colleges, the academic venture fund, community involvement and a new University funding model.

The sentiments expressed during Saturday's meeting echoed many of the comments made the day before in meetings of board committees.

Efforts within the reorganized Division of Student Life to empower students with increased leadership opportunities have resulted in improved campus programming, including more cross-cultural events, and other initiatives, students told the Student Life Committee. In all, 24 students on four panels briefed the committee on programming, student fees and student services; diversity; residential colleges and Greek affairs.

During the discussion called "Students for Students," Laura Floyd, outgoing president of the new Vanderbilt Programming Board, said the group's formation was made possible through the restructuring within Student Life and as a result of discussions that began last fall among 10 major groups involved in campus programming. Through the new board, the University will be able to offer more programs for all students with greater coordination among the various member groups.

The programming along with other services is paid for with allocations from activities fees. Marissa Shrum, a member of the Student Finance Committee, said allocations were up 29 percent from the last school year, with 25 more campus organizations applying for funding. Shrum said the committee was created to give students a larger decision-making role in campus programming.

Alex Quintana, who serves as SGA's chair for its new Residential College Committee, told members of the Student Life Committee that student input in discussions about the plans to institute the new housing and education model is not only encouraged but expected. "The key thing I notice on the committee, is that if you're a student, you had better be talking."

During the Greek affairs discussion, Neal Cope, president of the Interfraternity Council, reviewed the proposed Greek facility management plan through which each fraternity member would be charged a semester fee to enable the fraternities to provide upkeep and general maintenance of their houses. The remainder of the revenue would be placed in each chapter's rental account and could be used for housing loans and future capital improvement projects. The current plan does not include sororities.

Chris Mackey, president of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, urged the board members to consider adding a new fund-raising staff position that would work specifically with Greek organizations on major projects. Jennifer Dunaway addressed the overcrowding concerns of sorority chapters. The houses are not large enough to accommodate the chapters' programming and housing needs as membership in sororities has grown to between 130 and 180 students each, she said.

Another panel briefed the board on student initiatives to promote inclusiveness on campus, including an anti-hate campaign in response to racist graffiti on campus.

"We know that racism and bigotry won't go away because of a sign, but we wanted to start having a conversation on campus about why these incidents occur," Shrum said. "We also want to encourage students to hold each other accountable and challenge each other when they hear words of hate."

Other efforts to promote inclusiveness discussed during the meeting included a new sociology course to be taught by Vice Chancellor David Williams and Tina Yih-Ting Chen, assistant professor of English, and a push by the National Pan-Hellenic Council to help historically black Greek organizations on campus obtain permanent meeting space and housing on campus.

In remarks during Saturday's session, Ali and young alumni trustee Sarah Ann McElvain told the board that establishment of an international student center as well as renovations and enhancements of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center would do much to promote inclusiveness on campus.

The board's Academic Programs Committee heard presentations on professional education and undergraduate program advising.

Deans Richard McCarty of the College of Arts and Science, Mark Wait of the Blair School of Music, Kenneth Galloway of the School of Engineering and Camilla Benbow of Peabody College provided the committee with an overview of the undergraduate advising process at each of their schools. McCarty acknowledged that over the next two years significant changes are planned in the Arts and Science advising process, including mandatory meetings between faculty advisers and all undergraduate students, not just freshmen, each semester before they can register for classes.

Also holding its semi-annual meeting was the Building and Grounds Committee, which heard a report that included information on the retiring of $35.5 million in the backlog in facilities-related projects and maintenance in existing buildings over a five-year period and the contribution of $855,000 toward scholarships from the University's real estate holdings.