The Board of Visitors’ Academic and Student Life Committee approved two new Bachelor of Science in Education programs in the School of Education and Human Development during its Thursday meeting. Other discussion items included updates from the Honor and Judiciary Committees, as well as current progress and new plans for the undergraduate Data Science major. The Committee also heard about the progress of U.Va. Innovates, a pan-university entrepreneurship initiative designed to foster and support the entrepreneurship community at the University.
The Committee unanimously approved the establishment of a Bachelors of Science in English as a Second Language Education and in Secondary Education, both of which will be housed in the School of Education and Human Development. According to Ian Baucom, executive vice president and provost, both degrees are designed to equip students with skills for teaching underserved populations in PreK-12 classrooms. The ESL Education program will prepare future teachers to meet the needs of multilingual learners, while the Secondary Education program will focus on training students to teach for grades 6-12.
Baucom said the creation of these new degree programs is motivated by multiple factors, including a widespread teacher shortage and the goal of creating degree programs that fit within the School of Education and Human Development’s existing resources.
“These are two [programs] that … are so squarely in the center of the School of Education’s mission that I feel very solid [about them],” Baucom said.
After members voted on the meeting’s action items and heard remarks from Baucom, Laura Howard, chair of the Honor Committee and fourth-year College student, presented updates on the multi-sanction honor system, which students first voted into place in a 2023 referendum. She explained that the new system allows for proportional responses to violations, instead of the previously mandated penalty of expulsion.
According to Howard, faculty were often reluctant to report cases because they wanted to avoid subjecting students to the severe penalty of expulsion. She said that with the new model, more violations are being reported and adjudicated than under the single-sanction system, with roughly 80 percent of last year’s cases resulting in a finding of guilt and subsequent sanctioning.
Howard emphasized the importance of faculty engagement, explaining that the Committee has worked to increase faculty involvement through efforts such as monthly newsletters and subcommittees which focus on outreach. This has had tangible results according to Howard who said that 81 percent of cases in the past year were reported by faculty. In total, faculty members reported 35 honor cases since April 1, putting the Committee on track to meet or exceed the previous term’s total of 74 reports.
In her remarks, Howard recounted takeaways from reflections written by students who had been sanctioned. She highlighted the positive impact of the informed retraction process, which allows students accused of honor violations to admit guilt early, take responsibility and make amends with affected parties in exchange for reduced sanctions.
“We've had students who took the informed retraction … apply to join our support officer pool, one of whom was selected,” Howard said. “This student shared that their experience going through the case process and learning about our community of trust made them very passionate about upholding it.”
Harper Jones, chair of the University Judiciary Committee and fourth-year College student, also provided updates on the recent work of the UJC, reporting a significant increase in the severity and number of cases. According to Jones, the UJC has adjudicated 40 cases since April, in contrast to 23 cases that were adjudicated in the entirety of the 2023-24 term.
The UJC operates under a multi-sanction model that adjudicates 12 standards of conduct violations, ranging from disorderly conduct to physical assault. According to Jones, the UJC has worked to improve the timeliness of case resolutions, reducing the average processing time to 27 days. Jones also highlighted the UJC’s recent outreach efforts, including Judiciary Week, a series of events hosted in March with the aim of educating students about and promoting the UJC.
“We continue to do this work because we believe in this system,” Jones said. “We do this work because it constitutes student self-governance in its purest form because the process provides students with the opportunity to hold communities and their institutions accountable.”
In addition to presentations from student self-governance leaders, Philip Bourne, dean of the School of Data Science, and Brian Wright, director of undergraduate programs at the School of Data Science, shared updates on the school’s first undergraduate cohort. The new Bachelor of Science in Data Science, launched in 2024, enrolled 75 students in its inaugural year. According to Wright, women comprise 57 percent of the cohort, exceeding the national average of 18 percent for STEM programs.
Wright said that the Data Science major at the University stands out for its interdisciplinary approach and focus on ethical problem-solving. He emphasized that unlike programs that prioritize stand-alone technical skills stemming from the field's origin in computer science and applied mathematics, the University’s program integrates data science with the humanities, social sciences and other STEM applications, such as environmental science and healthcare analytics.
The Committee discussed how the Data Science program is built on partnerships across the University’s schools, allowing students to tailor their studies towards their interests. For example, students in the Data Science major can pursue interdisciplinary concentrations in Public Policy and Leadership, Education or Environmental Science, among others.
Michael Lenox, head of U.Va. Innovates, also updated the Committee on the University’s entrepreneurship efforts. Launched in October 2023, U.Va. Innovates serves as a platform to coordinate, communicate and amplify entrepreneurial activities across Grounds. According to Lenox, recent accomplishments include the opening of The Foundry, a new student entrepreneur center on Elliewood Avenue and the establishment of the Venture Hub, a concierge service for faculty and graduate researchers. Lenox also announced that the BioHub Accelerator — a Charlottesville-based group of biotechnology companies — has secured funding from a variety of sources, including the University, the Commonwealth of Virginia and private donors.
The Committee approved the renaming of the Bicentennial Professorship in Advanced Medical Analytics to honor Dr. Randall and Liza Moorman for their contributions to predictive medical technology. Additionally, the Committee voted to establish three new endowed professorships — the John B. and Anne M. Koch Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professorship in Systems and Information Engineering, the Witt and Carol Stephens Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professorship in Economics and the Kathie L. Hullfish Professorship in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Each endowed chair is funded by a $3 million minimum gift, and these positions will provide ongoing funding for faculty salaries, research and program development.
The Academic and Student Life Committee is scheduled to reconvene during the next Board of Visitors meeting in March.
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