The University Board of Visitors is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday in the Rotunda to vote on and discuss various committee proposals, strategic plan initiatives and goals for the academic and fiscal year. The meetings will occur in open and closed sessions and will be held in-person for the first time since before the beginning of the pandemic.
Meeting of the Building and Grounds Committee
The Board of Visitors Buildings and Grounds Committee will meet from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Action items at this meeting include the approval of the revised schematic design for the upcoming U.Va. Hotel and Conference Center — which is expected to be completed by June 2024 — as well as concept, site and design guidelines for the new Institute of Democracy.
The committee also plans to construct a facility north of the Ivy Road and Cameron Lane intersection to house the recently-announced Institute of Democracy. The committee will also officially consider naming the institute the Karsh Institute of Democracy after School of Law alumni Bruce and Martha Karsh, whose $50 million gift made the project possible.
The Building and Grounds Committee will also vote on naming the McIntire Academic Facility as Shumway Hall — named after McIntire alumnus Chris Shumway — and a hospital renovation and expansion.
A written report on historic preservation projects in the academical village during 2020 and 2021 will also be presented during the committee meeting. The presentation will include updates on the renovation of Pavilion VIII, the restoration of Colonnade railings and roofs, the renovation of student rooms on the East Lawn and progress on resolving water infiltration issues in the University Chapel.
Meeting of the Finance Committee
At its meeting from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Thursday, the Board of Visitors’ Finance Committee will vote on six budget action items, including whether to revise the budget for the proposed Contemplative Sciences Center building by adding the project to the Multi-Year Major Capital Plan.
The Contemplative Sciences Center launched in 2012 and aims to “advance the study and application of human flourishing at all levels of education — K-12, undergraduate, graduate, professional, and lifelong.”
The project — which includes a new accessible bridge across Emmet Street to connect part of Grounds — now requires a $9 million budget increase from $60 million to $69 million due to the impacts of the pandemic and market factors within the construction process. The financial plan calls for $49 million in gifts, $15 million in bond proceeds and $5 million in cash to be spent on the capital project.
The Committee will also vote on the state six-year institutional plan, biennial budget requests — including increasing the minimum wage for work study students — endowment spending policy, strategic investment fund guidelines and quasi-endowment action.
Meeting of the Academic and Student Life Committee
The Academic and Student Life Committee will meet from 10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday. The committee will consider approval of several professorships.
In addition to the Building and Grounds Committee, the Academic and Student Life Committee will also vote on the naming of the new Institute of Democracy as the Karsh Institute of Democracy.
Other meetings occurring Thursday and Friday are the meeting of the Health System Board for the University of Virginia Health System and the meetings of the Advancement Committee, the Committee on The University of Virginia’s College at Wise and the Audit, Compliance, and Risk Committee.
Meeting of the Full Board
The full board will meet from 12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Friday. They will vote on resolutions to approve the election of the new executive committee, set the dates of the Board meetings in 2024 and 2025 and review significant gifts received since the last meeting of the Board in June.
University President Jim Ryan will then address the board and share his priorities for the 2021-2022 school year. These include protecting and promoting the health and safety of the community, advancing key initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion and increasing engagement with the University community with events like lunches with students and community members and Democracy Dialogues.
Finally, Rector of the Board Whittington Clement, student member of the Board Sarita Mehta and Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Susan Clark will share remarks.
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