The Victoria College, 1925-2000: A Tradition of Excellence

and 55 against the motion. When the faculty
finally got around to deciding on the constitution
and bylaws, the documents, as amended,
were adopted by secret ballot 77 to 20.
Afterwards, the new senate appropriately selected
Hummel as its president. 34
The Faculty Senate quickly became a positive
force for the college because both the senate and
the administration conscientiously avoided an
adversarial relationship in favor of a collaborative
one. While most of the formal senate recommendations
to the administration emanated from the
faculty, the administration also actively solicited
the senate’s input on a number of key issues.
Certainly there were differences of opinions,
sometimes strong differences, but they were
resolved in a spirit of cooperation. Among the
accomplishments of the senate were revisions to
the tenure policy, salary schedule, faculty evaluation
by students and administrators, creation of
faculty development grants, and guidelines for
experimental or innovative teaching.
After two years of acute self-evaluation conducted
by the faculty and staff, the college was
ready for the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools Reaffirmation Committee’s visit that
began on February 22, 1993. Burdine, chairman
of the college self-study, had exercised exceptional
leadership in supervising the preparation
of a final report to present to the regional
accreditation team. The revisitation, to say the
least, went prosaically for the four days the
group was on the campus. When the obligatory
junket concluded, the committee made a minimal
number of recommendations. No matter
how exhaustively a college self-study has been
conducted and recorded, reaffirmation committees
apparently think their work is not complete
unless recommendations are produced as evidence.
At its annual meeting on December 15,
1993, SACS reaccredited Victoria College for
another decade. The college was required to
respond to five minor recommendations in a follow-up
report. Acting upon the directive, Dean
Thomas compiled a reply that was accepted by
the board and submitted to SACS. 35
Doors of the new Sports Center were opened
in August 1993. Featuring an assortment of athletic
equipment, the facility, designed with individual
utilization in mind rather than team
sports, offered the students, faculty, and staff
opportunities to stay physically fit. Each segment
of the college community quickly took
advantage of the accommodations. Harlon
Gerhold, kinesiology department head, noted
that “students are really enjoying using the
Center during their off hours.” Kelly McKay,
kinesiology instructor, remarked that “the faculty
and staff enrolled in the wellness program
were having a great time.” She added, “Everyone
✯
Cindy Bedwell (left), manager of Food
Services, and her assistant, Kim
Reger, arrange decorations in the
Student Union.
A New Chief, A New Era ✦ 191