Birmingham Southern College - Southern Accent Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

Page 6 text:

' SOUTHERN GAINS NEW PRESIDENT IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SOUTHERN ACCENT— PRESIDENT HOUNSHELL TELLS HIS PLANS FOR ' SOUTHERN ' S FUTURE ACCENT: What exactly is your relation to the Board of Trustees in the operation of Birmingham — Southern. Dr. Hounshell? DR. HOUNSHELL: To explain my role in the operation of this college let me use the analogy of a large business corporation. At the head of the corporation there will be a body known as the Board of Directors or Board of Trustees from which the corpo- ration derives all of its authority. Normally the men composing such a board are not associated full time with the institution they represent — quite often the mem- bers are affiliated with other in- stitutions which may or may not operate in the same area. Thus to adequately discharge their re- sponsibilities, the Board requires a link between itself and the day- to-day operation of the institu- tion. The president of a corpora- tion or college provides the link necessary to the maintenance and operation of the entity which the Board represents. ACCENT: Dr. Hounshell, are we to understand that a college is a legal entity akin to a corpo- ration? If so, are you then in a

Page 5 text:

THIS IS B.S. THIS..ISB.S. 1 rcK S .i ' riTj ;f NIC , ' r TH Q IC n THIS IS B.S. THIS IS B.S. THIS J5 |. . THIS IS B.S. B.S. THIS IS B.S. • « • 1 4 1 ■ •. THIS IS B fifiS IS B.S.THIS IS B.S. HIS,JS B,S.IHiS iS U.S. THIS IS B.S. a VS. ' WHAT IS THIS B.S.? THIS IS B.S. 7 Tl iS B.Sv IS H THIS IS B.S. O C o c » I I I g i« This is Birmingham-Southern Col- I fH I I lege founded in 1918 — and this is „ the yearbook of that institution — The Southern Accent. • ■ ' J ' Vol. 29 Setf ' . J

Page 7 text:

position subsidiary to our Board of Trustees and thus charged pri- marily with the operation of the college and implementation of directives from the Board? DR. HOUNSHELL: Generally speaking, yes. You see, the col- lege IS the Board of Trustees in a legal sense. At the inception of this College, the Board of Trust- ees met and devised a charter with which it hoped to institute a college providing education in a Christian environment. Thus Bir- mingham-Southern College de- rives its authority, its legal exis- tence from the Board of Trust- ees; the Board has final power in all matters pertaining to the op- eration or expansion of the col- lege. I, as President of the College, am an appointee of the Board encharged with the execu- tion of policies as set forth in the charter and in the semiannual Board meeting. ACCENT: Just how active is the Board of Trustees in the opera- ti on of this college? What crite- ria does the Board apply in either approving or rejecting pro- posals brought before it? DR. HOUNSHELL: To answer your first question, the Board only meets twice a year and then only for a short time at each meeting. Consequently only ma- jor proposals are considered: routine matters are handled with- in the existing administrative ma- chinery of the college. For example, the purchase of addi- tional furniture for the dormito- ries would be handled through the Treasurer. Another example would be the various deans — Deans Abernethy, Whetstone. Cochran, and Sturrock in their various offices. ACCENT: 1 see, how then does the Board decide on the more important issues brought before it? DR. HOUNSHELL: In deciding whether to reject or accept a pro- posal the Board applies two ma- jor criteria. Firstly, the Board must decide as to whether or not the proposal in question assists in fulfilling the function of the College — that is to provide edu- cational opportunities and facil- ities for the students since THEY ARE THE COLLEGE. Secondly, the Board must con- sider the limitations of the col- lege ' s ability to best discharge its educational duty. To clarify, can the college carry out the propos- al without impairing other as- pects of its program considered equally vital. An example might be that necessary new construc- tion would have to be postponed because it would dig too deeply into the endowment of the col- lege. I think you can see then that the Board may be compelled to reject some proposals simply because of their lack of feasibil- ity. Essentially, these are the ma- jor criteria that the Board must apply to any question coming be- fore it for consideration. ACCENT: Now that you have clarified your role and the Board ' s role — w here does the typical Birmingham-Southern student fit? DR. HOUNSHELL: Of course no college can exist without its students and faculty. I have great faith in today ' s student. The goal of most students is an education- al experience that will meet their needs in today ' s world. Most stu- dents are not interested in de- stroying the college; they are in- terested in inspiring the college: they want it to be more adequate and more relevant. The survival of the college is threatened less by student unrest than by the existence of condi- tions against which the students