The UVM Board of Trustees at its Aug. 19 meeting approved a new anti-hazing policy, made a commitment to drop tobacco from the university's investments and gave the green light to a project that will improve classroom and dining space at Living/Learning.
Hazing Prevention
The new policy, which is consistent with state law, defines hazing as any act intended to "humiliate, demean or endanger the mental or physical health of a student" and includes passive participation in such acts conducted on or off campus "regardless of the willingness of a person to participate in the activity."
David Nestor, interim vice president for student affairs, provided a summary of the Bond Report and its 53 recommendations to prevent hazing. The majority of the recommendations have been addressed or will be implemented by Sept. 1, Nestor said. Among the examples he cited of procedures already in place were:
UVM Police Services has been designated as the appropriate party to first receive all reports of hazing. Centralized reporting models also have been completed, with ongoing review planned through UVM's Best Practices Group.
Preventive education about hazing began with student orientation in
June 2000 and will continue throughout the academic year.
Funds have been approved to pilot a Life Skills program with student
athletes. A coordinator to teach the program - which promotes positive
team-building experiences - will begin work at UVM Sept. 1.
A committee chaired by UVM Presidential Fellow Shirley Gedeon will explore the feasibility of offering Life Skills classes for all students.
Living/Learning Improvements
Trustees approved plans for one campus project - pending additional student input - and reviewed plans for another. They authorized the administration to spend up to $750,000 to renovate the Living and Learning Center dining and classroom areas, including Alice's store, a popular convenience store. Sodexho-Marriott, which provides dining services for UVM, will donate an additional $2 million. The project calls for increased store space for additional items (including organic foods), plus a dining area/caf* and an increased selection of take-out items. It moves the center's dining room downstairs and improves classroom space upstairs. The approval stipulates that students be given additional opportunity for input on the project and that any student concerns be worked out.
Trustees also reviewed -- but did not approve -- plans to build a 400-bed, apartment-style student housing project at University Heights. Board members raised concerns about the scope of the project and the placement and longevity of the buildings. The committee urged staff to consider alternatives - including building smaller projects on several different sites.
Tobacco-Free Investments
The Board approved a tobacco-free mandate following study and discussion by the Committee on Socially Responsible Investing and the Investment Committee. As per the resolution, the university will divest its endowment of tobacco stocks wherever possible, beginning by moving some investments to a tobacco-free S&P 500 index fund.
Other Business
In other business, trustees heard an update on the voluntary separation plan, for which 95 faculty and 151 staff have applied. Trustees raised questions about how UVM will pay for the plan; they will continue the discussion in September when the Finance and Budget Committee next meets.
Trustees also reviewed fall enrollment projections that estimated fall
2000 enrollment at 7,390 undergraduate students, 1,085 graduate and post-baccalaureate
students and 380 medical students, for a total university headcount of
10,125.The Class of 2004 comprises 1,750 first-year, first-time students,
with nearly 73 percent of that total from out of state. Some trustees voiced
concern about declining in-state applications, which are down 5 percent
from fall 1999. Discussion included new or enhanced honors programs to
attract more of Vermont's top high school students to UVM. Jane Lawrence,
vice provost for undergraduate education, reported on initiatives to bolster
undergraduate enrollment and retention, which include a new committee comprising
faculty from every UVM school and college that will work to enhance the
first-year student experience.