Board of Visitors approves management agreement required for restructuring act
At its regular quarterly meeting held Monday in Torgersen Hall, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors took action on one of the final steps in the process of higher education restructuring by approving the “management agreement” between Virginia Tech and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The agreement details the new authorities the university will have as a “covered institution” under the restructuring act passed by the 2005 Virginia General Assembly.
University leadership has been in discussions with members of the governor’s cabinet over the past several months hammering out the specific authorities that were generally outlined in the 2005 legislation. The management agreement consists of various attestations about the university’s ability to manage itself, performance measures, delegations of authority, and policies covering capital projects, financial operations and management, human resources, information technology, and procurement.
The legislation requires the governor to make recommendations to approve and submit to the General Assembly by Nov. 15. If approved by the legislature, the university will begin operations as a covered institution by July 1, 2006.
Several other items and resolutions were discussed and approved during the two day session.
The board approved a resolutions proposed by the Academic Affairs Committee to revise a policy on research extended appointments to create more opportunities for faculty with sponsored grants and contracts including summer earnings to receive retirement benefits. A second resolution brought forth by this committee honored the Cranwell International Center and the Department of Human Development at the 2005-06 Exemplary Department and Program Award winners.
The Building and Grounds Committee reviewed designs and plans for a “surge space” building that would be used to temporarily house university departments while their permanent space is renovated. The building, estimated to cost $8.5 million, will be a single floor, 45,000 gross square foot pre-engineered steel frame structure to be located across the street from Collegiate Square near Turner and Perry streets. The building would be used for 10-15 years before being renewed or disassembled.
The Student Affairs Committee discussed the status of a comprehensive study on university residence hall facilities to result in a long term facility management and renovation plan. The committee also reviewed Virginia Tech’s response to students affected by Hurricane Katrina and received an annual update on the university’s alcohol abuse prevention center.
On Sunday, the board reviewed and discussed the university’s next campus master plan.
The board honored four Virginia Tech professors with endowed professorships. Andrew J. Kurdila was appointed the W. Martin Johnson Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering; Saied Mostaghimi was reappointed the H.E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor in Agriculture and Life Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and Yuriko and Michael Renardy were jointly reappointed to the Class of 1950 Professorship of Mathematics in the College of Science. In addition, four others professors were recognized with emeritus status.
The next regular quarterly meeting of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors will be held March 26-27 in Blacksburg.
==> Please note: Board minutes, resolutions, and other background information may be found at the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors website.
