Friday, April 18, 2025
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Rouss Robertson & Zoom Webinar
Senators Present (in person and online): Peter Abramenko, Kim Acquaviva, Huiwang Ai, Dana Albon, Hanadi Al-Samman, Ben Bennett, Aaron Bloomfield, Aniko Bodroghkozy, Matthew Bolton, Cathy Campbell, Ming-Jer Chen, Eve Danziger, Nomi Dave, Todd DeLong, Katia Dianina, Thomas Druzgal, Vanessa Gregg, Bryon Gustafson, Natoya Haskins, Meredith Hayden, Matthew Hedstrom, Gustav Heldt, Robert Hirosky, John Hott, Richard Hynes, Michael Kennedy, Anne Kenworthy, Brad Kesser, Jim Lambert, Craig Lefanowicz, Stephen Macko, Katya Makarova, Carol Manning, Charlotte Matthews, Amy Ogden, Charlotte Patterson, Andy Pennock, Paul Perrin, Lisa Peterson, Eric Ramirez-Weaver, Michael Rasbury, Sue Saliba, Patrik Sandas, Jeri Seidman, Maria Luisa Sequeira Lopez, Jessica Sewell, Dan Spitzner, David Vander Meulen, June West, Brian Williams, Brian Wright, Victor Zaydfudim, Eli Zunder
Ex-Officio & Guests Present (in person and online): Brie Gertler, Maite Brandt Pearce, Jim Ryan, Barbara Zunder
Call to Order:
Jim Lambert, Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:03 PM
President Jim Ryan
Gave updates on Federal orders. He also reminded everyone that there is a UVA website that can answer questions.
Question: Is the Trump administration more hostile toward private schools?
So far, all schools with funding frozen have been private.
Question: Does President Ryan have conversations with other University Presidents?
Yes, they feel it is most effective to work together.
Question: Is there a way for faculty to support their DEI colleagues?
The University is working for Kevin McDonald and keeping communication open with the employees.
Question: Why does higher education have such low political capital?
Universities need people outside of academia, such as those who benefit from research or alumni who credit their success to university, to fight for them.
Question: Are injunctions or restraining orders the only tools Universities have? Is this how stability will be established?
Since they are based off different legal principles, it’s hard to say. We’ll know more once they get to the Supreme Court.
Brie Gertler
Shared some good news stats on UVA in comparison to other Universities.
UVA participates in a nationwide survey of undergraduate students in even numbered years and graduate students in odd numbered years.
For undergraduates, UVA compares their results against UNC Chapel Hill, Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and University of California, Berkeley.
Some results:
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95% expressed satisfaction with overall academic experience.
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90% expressed satisfaction with their social experience.
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86% expressed satisfaction with the value of their education.
There are areas for improvement. All school deans have received their data. One area UVA will focus on is internships.
Chair Jim Lambert welcomed everyone and displayed a slide showing a timeline of March and April activities. Visit FS website and link to policy box.
Approval of March 21 meeting minutes
Jim Savage motioned for approval that was seconded by Michael Kennedy. All in favor, motion passed.
BOV Update
There are two upcoming meetings:
April 29 Finance Committee
June 5-6 Final regular meeting of the Board
After removing Bert Ellis from the BOV, Governor Youngkin has placed Ken Cuccinelli on the Board.
Defense of Academic Freedom Resolution passed.
Eric Remirez Weaver thanked everyone for their input and feedback. The Resolution can be found on the Faculty Senate website.
Representation & Governance Ad Hoc Committee
Jeri has created a Qualtrics survey to capture if senators are elected or appointed in their schools, what voice do you have in your school, how do you distribute information, etc. She will send the survey out after the meeting.
Jeri has also created a list serve so faculty can stay in touch over the summer months. Its not just for senators so please encourage colleagues to sign up.
Faculty Discipline Working Group
The group is working on updating the policy. There will be two town halls: May 1 and May 2 Harrison Auditorium, Small Collections Library.
Bylaws Ad Hoc Committee
A formal motion was sent by committee ahead of this meeting. The motion is to fix grammatical and minor changes. Questions arose regarding ex officio members and why they are included.
Aaron suggested adding staff senate and general faculty chair to EXCO as ex officio.
A motion was made to leave in university VPs in as ex officio (which they already are) and Brian Wright seconded. The motion was withdrawn. Discussion ensued over how many ex officio members there are, and that VPs are almost equal to the number of senators.
Motion to Strike 1st and 3rd statement was made by Jennifer Greeson and seconded by Jeri Seidman.
Major changes slide discusses how one fills a vacancy. There currently is no mechanism but each position vacated will probably have a different mechanism. Brian Pusser moved to take this back to the committee for additional work and bring the final to Faculty Senate. Judith Thomas seconded. Motion carries.
Accessibility Standards Update
Barbara Zunder and David Strite–updated FS on the new accessibility standards that go into effective in April 2026. All digital content must comply. Resources can be found at the Digital Accessibility website.
Committees Updates
FRRRW – UVA has signed a contract with Bright Horizons childcare to run the childcare centers.
Elections
Faculty Senate of Virginia Candidate
Dr. Stephen Culp
EXCO At Large Candidates
Dr. Meredith Hayden
Jim Savage
Jessica Sewell
Senate Chair-Elect Candidates
Kim Acquaviva
Aaron Bloomfield
Andy Pennock
Voting will begin Monday and end Thursday at 5:00 PM.
Motion to Adjourn passed at 4:09 PM