ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
THE BOARD OF VISITORS said after seeing his evaluation that President Douglas Covington has done a good job since taking over 14 months ago.
A contract is in the offing for Radford University President Douglas Covington, who received a positive job evaluation after all on Monday.
``I think communications between the board and president can be improved. We'll work on that,'' said Jim Stutts, rector of the board of visitors.
Two months ago, news that Covington was to undergo an evaluation after only 14 months in office touched off charges that a move was afoot to oust him.
On Monday, Covington released a statement saying he was ``gratified by the positive evaluation of my first year in office.''
While the review itself will not be released, portions of it that examine the institution - not the personnel evaluation - will be released in the coming weeks, Stutts said. He could not set the date. Under the state Freedom of Information Act, personnel matters are considered confidential.
The review had been described as an institutional review with a focus on the president.
``It's a presidential evaluation,'' Covington said. ``It's kind of difficult to do a thorough evaluation of the president unless you do it in the context of the institution.''
The full board got its first look at the evaluation during a 21/2-hour closed-door session Monday. Stutts and Covington already had reviewed the report. James Fisher, former president of Towson State University, and Milliken University President Curtis McCray did the evaluation last month, when they came to campus and interviewed a cross-section of students, faculty members and administrators.
After its private discussion Monday, the board unanimously adopted a resolution that finds ``a number of improvements during the past 15 months that were attributable to the new president.'' However, unspecified recommendations for improvement to both Covington and the board were made and taken under advisement.
The resolution also states that Covington ``has responded that the review was both appropriate and fair and that he believed it will result in developing a better playing field between him and the board.'' Also: ``The board is pleased with the review, believes it cleared the air, and will do all in its power to ensure that the board and the president work candidly and harmoniously together.''
After the meeting, Nancy Wilson -the board member who has said that discussion to oust Covington surfaced within the board this summer - said, ``I'm comfortable.''
But the issue may not be entirely resolved just yet.
Members of a group called Concerned Citizens for Covington attended the meeting to ask why the board had not responded to nine questions it raised last month about the evaluation. Among them: whether Radford's previous presidents had undergone written reviews.
The Rev. John Price of Christiansburg asked the board to bring closure to the controversy surrounding Covington's evaluation by answering its questions. Stutts said the full board had not had a chance to discuss the questions, and that he expected within 30 days to answer the questions to which he can respond .
It was a member of the group, Elder Ronald Watson of the Radford Church of God in Christ, who first suggested that the review might be racially motivated. Covington is the first black president of the predominantly white university. Watson could not attend Monday's meeting.
Asked during a break about allegations of racism, Elder Tyrone Hash, the assistant pastor at Watson's church, pointed out that Covington had been in office for only a year, that concern had arisen that board members wanted the president out, and that, by all accounts from students and faculty, Covington appeared to be doing a good job.
``Whether it's meant to or not, it speaks to racism,'' he said.
Covington said after the meeting that he did not view board members, individually or as a whole, as racist.
``They have not done anything - the board - that causes me to label them as racist,'' he said.
The board also issued a statement reiterating the university's policies that ensure its commitment against discrimination.
``This board takes very seriously its legal and moral responsibility for seeing that fair employment practices are applied to all of its personnel, beginning with the president and extending to every university employee,'' read one line of the statement.
Meantime, the length of Covington's contract remains to be negotiated with the assistance of the consultant, Fisher. Watson had called for a three-to four-year contract last month. Stutts said Monday that university presidents across the state hold contracts ranging up to five years.
Covington arrived at Radford after a year that included the controversial departure of its longtime president and a rocky year under an interim head.
``I feel that this is an opportunity for the various constituent groups to really come together,'' Covington said after the meeting, noting that last year - his first on the job - had been a year of transition for the university.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Covington. color.by CNB