Student Board of Visitors member Phoebe Willis, a Law and Darden graduate student, spoke with Student Council Tuesday about a proposed plan to increase enrollment in the University over the next four years.
Student Council also discussed student concerns and continued its discussion regarding quoting Thomas Jefferson.
Willis began the meeting by explaining the basics of the proposed enrollment increase plan being considered by the Board of Visitors. The plan would increase enrollment by 400 students, at a rate of 100 students each year for the next four years.
“The state has asked the board to consider increasing enrollment,” Willis explained.
Willis will present student opinions on the proposed plan at the Board of Visitors meeting next Friday, and stressed the importance of student feedback.
“I think it’s something students have a great perspective on,” she said of the proposed enrollment changes.
She also created a survey to gather student opinions on the potential increase. The survey is currently available on Willis’ public Facebook page, “Student Member of the U.Va. Board of Visitors.”
“My role on the BOV is not to take a position, but instead, to present the board with the full spectrum of student opinion,” Willis said in an email statement after the meeting.
She also said she will share the results of the survey with the board next week.
The University recently reached an enrollment increase goal set by the Top Jobs Act. That plan called for an increase of 1,200 undergraduate students between 2011 and 2018.
Willis said the state had not offered to provide additional funding along with the newly proposed enrollment increase.
Some Student Council members expressed concerns about the potential increase.
Jocelyn Huang, a third-year College student and Student Arts Committee co-chair, worried the increase could be challenging given the University’s resources.
“Just given the current resources we have right now, I would flat out say no,” Huang said. “So many departments are already underfunded, like Computer Science.”
Willis acknowledged the issue, saying she agreed that the quality of education is a factor the BOV should be considering.
Eric Xie, a third-year Engineering student and Student Council chief technology officer, asked about the benefits of the enrollment proposal.
“Can you list some of the reasons that current students would benefit from an enrollment increase?” he asked Willis.
Willis listed a greater diversity of perspectives and a need to accommodate rising high school graduation rates as possible reasons for increasing enrollment.
After Willis’ presentation on the enrollment plan, Student Council President Emily Lodge, a fourth-year Batten student, began discussion on the letter written to President Teresa Sullivan regarding her use of Thomas Jefferson quotes.
Student Council discussed the issue at their last meeting and agreed to reconvene and continue the discussion.
“There isn’t a good consensus that’s going to be reached on this,” Lodge said. “What we’ve learned in the past month is there is a portion of U.Va. that feels a little bit differently about Jefferson.”
She suggested using the upcoming bicentennial celebrations as an opportunity to address the issue.
“I would suggest that we bring in the person who is in charge of organizing a lot of the bicentennial events and talk about … celebrating the history of U.Va, but also trying to shed light on U.Va’s past,” she said.
Sarah Kenny, a third-year College student and Student Council vice president for administration, said the directors of the bicentennial campaign would come to a Student Council in February meeting to further discuss the issue.
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