Several initiatives aimed at distinguishing the University from its peers were presented yesterday afternoon during a joint meeting of the University’s Faculty Senate and the Commission on the Future of the University.
University Provost Arthur Garson said the priorities and values expressed in the initiatives, which have already been approved by the Board of Visitors, were the result of a joint effort between the two groups present.
“Our strategy is to strengthen our core resources while strategically funding selected new efforts that will further distinguish the University,” said Lili Powell, Faculty Senate Planning and Development Committee chair.
In an attempt to increase diversity among faculty members, the University has created a pilot program that includes 30 diverse members of the faculty charged with the goal of developing a strong group of young, talented faculty members who can help to develop a new generation of leadership, Pediatrics Prof. Sharon Hostler said as she explained the first initiative.
Hostler spoke about the importance of recruiting the best faculty candidates from an increasingly diverse academic workforce as well as supporting and retaining the faculty members already part of the University’s ranks. Currently, the faculty does not fully represent the diversity of the University, she said, noting that the initiative is aimed at addressing this problem.
Another initiative seeks to improve higher education instruction by establishing the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, Education School Dean Bob Pianta explained in his presentation. The Center will help to provide the University with new ways to improve teaching in higher education classrooms. The program will be run through the Education School, but the staff will serve as the catalyst in establishing new activities in each of the schools across Grounds, he said.
James Hilton, vice president and chief information officer, presented an initiative for the Center for Computation-Intense Research & Scholarship with co-chair Karin Wittenborg, the University librarian. The initiative would provide ways for the University’s many academic departments to access new technology and to support a computation-intense research environment, Hilton said.
“The initiative is intentionally people-intensive,” he said in his presentation. “The focus is on providing ways for faculty to collaborate with each other, students and technically-oriented staff who are fluent in the methods of computationally-intense inquiry and to make sure that new and existing infrastructure commitments align with the needs of our scientists and scholars.”
Computer Science Prof. Andrew Grimshaw presented another technology-oriented initiative focusing on incorporating more high-level computing systems into resources available for members of the faculty, in addition to the “basic tool” technology education that is offered now, Grimshaw said.
Religious Studies Prof. David Germano, meanwhile, introduced an initiative for the social sciences, humanities and arts network of technological initiatives, which will help to connect faculty members from related fields.
By comparison, in an effort to connect students through different fields, Vice Provost for International Programs Gowher Rizvi presented an initiative for programs that would better equip University students to be “global students,” he said. He added that it is important that students can understand different cultures and can be effective participants in a world of increasing globalization. To prepare students for international studies, he said, “you very much have to rethink what sort of education we are offering our students.”
One of goals of the initiative is to ensure students are fully able to absorb and learn from the culture of another place when they study abroad, Rizvi said. Language was also a key factor, he said, adding that the project would help to “expand the ability of teaching languages to students.”
Vice President of Research Tom Skalak presented the final initiative, which focused on science, technology and research.
“U.Va. knows research,” he said, expounding on the ways in which the University has built up its research program in recent years and outlining the ways it can improve. Designing sustainable programs, buildings and research is especially crucial to the University’s future, Skalak said.
For each of the new initiatives to be fully realized, collaboration between faculty and administration is absolutely necessary, Powell said. She encouraged faculty members to serve as representatives within their departments to engage other members of the faculty in the open dialogue process of implementing the initiatives.
“The key question is how to organize ourselves,” Faculty Senate member Ann Hamric said. “We, as senators, have to grapple with that key concept.”
—Prateek Vasireddy contributed to this article
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