At the start of this year's Virginia congressional session, the Senate's Education and Health Committee considered a bill that would have required the board of visitors of each public institution of higher education to provide a seat for faculty. The bill, S.B. 893, was killed in committee Jan. 18, after the University's administration lobbied against it. Now members of the University faculty are left to wonder when they will be invited to the table.
The Current Board
Currently, the University's Board of Visitors has 16 members appointed by the governor and approved by the General Assembly. Led by University Rector Thomas F. Farrell, II, Board members serve four-year terms and together operate as the corporate board of the University. Along with making policy and budget decisions, the Board oversees the long-term planning of the University.
The Board also has the option of appointing a full-time University student to a non-voting position on the Board. The student is recommended by the Executive Committee and is elected at the first regular meeting of the spring semester. The current student member is fourth-year College student Lizzie Mullen, and the next student member will be selected this February.
Failed Legislation
At the urging of the statewide Faculty Senate of Virginia, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, proposed a bill in the General Assembly that would have required state-funded schools to have a non-voting faculty member on their boards of visitors. The legislation was an attempt to amend a 2004 bill that first allowed schools to have a faculty member on their boards.
According to Deeds, James Madison University, Virginia Military Institute and the University are the only four-year public schools in Virginia that do not have a faculty member on their boards.
Deeds noted that while the University was not the only opponent of the legislation, it was the most vocal.
"There were other people opposed, but U.Va. was the only one that spoke" at the committee, Deeds said.
Proponents of the measure said the bill was intended to enhance relations between administrators and faculty.
"It would improve communication between faculty and the board of visitors and, I think, improve the quality of the education," Deeds said. "It is too bad people feel like we have to mandate that communication, but that we do might say something in itself."
Deeds said he is not sure whether he will introduce it again.
"We will have to see about the climate," Deeds said. "I don't know whether there will be enough change in the committee for it to go further."
Why No Faculty?
According to Farrell, the bill was unnecessary because the University's Board already communicates with faculty.
"We have tremendous input for the faculty in multiple ways though the president, the provost and the chair of the Faculty Senate, who meet frequently with our education committee," Farrell said.
Additionally, Farrell noted that current legislation already provides for a member of the faculty to occupy a seat on the Board.
"There was a bill enactment in the 2004 session that dealt with this issue, which established [the possibility for] a seat on the Board of Visitors similar to the student representative," Farrell said. "That was part of a compromise that was reached from a variety of parties. This bill would have upended that compromise."
Farrell also added that he has discussed the possibility of a faculty member on the Board with University faculty representatives and said the idea is "under consideration."
University spokesperson Carol Wood also said she felt there is a strong dialogue between the Board and the faculty.
"There is a very close working relationship with the Board of Visitors and the faculty, through the chair of the Faculty Senate, bringing issues and concerns to the Board," Wood said.
The Faculty Opinion
Despite the administration's assertion that sufficient dialogue exists between the Board and faculty, some members of the University community said they think approval of the bill would have been a move toward a better functioning administration. Physics Prof. Brad Cox, an executive member of the Virginia Commerce of the American Association of University Professors, which supported the bill, said a change in the way faculty members are represented on the Board would benefit the University.
"It would be useful for the Board of Visitors to get faculty input from such a position," Cox said. "Even if it was a non-voting member it would better for getting information that would be useful."
Cox added that he thinks many on the faculty want such a change in the Board's structure.
"I think it would be a good thing to do and would alleviate some of the feelings of remoteness that the faculty sometimes feels with the Board," Cox added. "I am pretty sure if you ask the rank and file, they would support this."
University Faculty Senate Chair Kenneth Schwartz said the faculty is currently working toward representation on the Board.
"I have a meeting with the rector and the president early in February to talk about the issue at U.Va.," Schwartz said. "The Faculty Senate continues to be very interested in this issue, and a faculty member on the University's Board of Visitors would be a positive development."
A Better Model
According to Prof. Kerry Redican, president of the Virginia Tech faculty senate, Virginia Tech - along with most other four-year institutions in Virginia - has a place for professors on its board.
"We have a faculty member on the board that is the president of the faculty senate," Redican said. "I am invited to just about every BOV function and meeting."
Redican said he feels his inclusion on the governing body lets faculty members know that their contributions are appreciated.
"To me, the board of visitors allowing me to sit at the table with them sends a clear signal [that] they value the input of the 1,500 members of faculty that I represent and have a strong commitment to shared governance," Redican said.
He added that Virginia Tech's system of constant faculty presence on the board is one that schools might want to imitate.
"Other faculty senates would love to have what we have," Redican said. "You would think if you were running a large institution...you would want input of those in the trenches, the faculty and staff."
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