The Board of Visitors lent a stamp of approval to a management agreement yesterday morning that will be sent to Governor Mark R. Warner today and must be sent to the Virginia General Assembly by Nov. 15. Warner must approve the current draft before it can be sent to the Virginia legislature.
Most of the provisions in the current version of the management agreement already have been thoroughly vetted, including relaxing state requirements on procurement and capital outlay. Changes are likely to provisions about finance and accounting, specifically a clause that would allow the University to keep its funds in its own accounts and collect interest earnings on these funds, rather than turning them over to the state and storing them in state escrow accounts, according to Collette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget.
"Candidly, we expect over the next few days there will be a few changes, but you can feel comfortable that the big changes have been made," said Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge, who has been leading the negotiations on behalf of the administration with Sheehy.
Some of the changes to University procurement policy might be adopted in other areas of state activities, including the Virginia Public Procurement Act, Sheehy said. The University has a difficult time with some provisions of VPPA that are not appropriate for educational institutions, according to Sheehy.
Under the new policy spelled out in the management agreement, the University will no longer have to solicit competitive bids for speakers, performing artists, memberships and association dues. Bid bonds will be increased from $100,000 to $1 million, and the University will have flexibility to deal with capital projects valued under $1 million.
Board members said they were pleased by the management agreement as it is shaping up.
"It is hard to imagine how this could have been done better both on the part of the three institutions [the University, College of William & Mary and Virginia Tech] and the Commonwealth," Sandridge said.
Later yesterday afternoon the Board's Buildings and Grounds Committee approved the selection of an engineer, concept plan and site guidelines for an expansion to the south chiller plant behind the Medical Center.
Also, the Committee discussed progress on the selection of architects for a $98 million Center for the Arts expected to be constructed by 2010.
In an unusual move, the selection process was converted into a public contest that drew 56 architects, much more than typical selection processes.Currently, the field has been narrowed to four firms.
"This was a great way to engage a variety of architects," University spokesperson Carol Wood said. "It adds a certain cachet."
The architecture selection committee, which is chaired by Provost Gene Block, includes Architecture School faculty members Richard Guy Wilson and Elizabeth Meyer and fourth-year Architecture student Ryan C. Fleenor.
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