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Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, EXCO - August 19, 2022

Date/Time/Location: Friday, August 19, 2022 / 1:00pm / President’s Conference Room & Zoom Webinar

Members Present (In-Person): Aaron Bloomfield, Tish Jennings (Chair), Susan Kirk (Past Chair), Jim Lambert, Peter Norton, Jeri Seidman

Members Present (Zoom): Kim Acquaviva, Alan Beckenstein, Aniko Bodroghkozy, Michael Kennedy (Chair Elect), Jim Savage, Sarah Stewart Ware

Guests/Others Present (In Person & Zoom): Maïté Brandt-Pearce (Vice Provost Faculty Affairs), Joe Fore (General Faculty Council), Brie Gertler (Vice Provost Academic Affairs)

Meeting Called to Order
1:03pm

Approval of Minutes
Tish Jennings shared minutes from the July 2022 EXCO Meeting to review.

Motion to approve minutes: Aaron Bloomfield
Second: Michael Kennedy
For: 10 Against: 0 Abstain: 0
MOTION PASSES

Report from Committees
Policy
Peter Norton, Chair

  • Have been reviewing policies this summer, nothing requiring comment at this time

Grievance
Jim Lambert, Chair

  • 1 or more grievances currently underway

FRRRW
Alan Beckenstein, Chair

  • First meeting scheduled for next week, expecting 11 people

Finance
Jim Savage, Co-Chair

  • Have scheduled meetings for September and October
  • Second meeting with Adam Daniel, potentially Provost Baucom

Proposed Bylaw Changes
Aaron Bloomfield submitted proposals, leading discussion
Detailed proposals were shared via email and are available in Box.  

  • Change in Minimum Senators per School

Proposed change: That the minimum number of senators from any school be two; this will not affect the allocation of senators from any other school.

Formal change: Section III would be changed as follows (bold is the new text, strike-out is the
text to be removed):
There shall be approximately eighty (80) elected members of the Faculty Senate, allocated among the constituent Faculties of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in accordance with the following formulas: the Faculty of each School (except the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) shall elect the number that is closest to the percentage of eighty (80) that is derived by taking the average of (a) the percentage of the total full-time academic faculty or academic general faculty in the rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville who hold their primary appointment in that School, and (b) the percentage of the total number of full-time students at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville who are enrolled in that School. Any school whose allocation would yield less than two senators will have two senators; this will not change the allocation for the other schools.

Discussion

Motion to accept proposal, present to Full Senate
For: 11 Against: 0 Abstain: 0
MOTION PASSES

  • Change in Senate Chair Seat Surrendering

Proposed change: That the newly elected senate chair no longer give up his/her seat.

Formal change: Section VII.B.ii will be changed to the following (the entire section is to be replaced):
If the Chair-Elect, Chair, or Past-Chair loses their senate seat due to their school’s regular election or appointment processes, their term in the senate will be extended, with full voting privileges, until the end of their term as Past Chair.

Discussion

Motion to accept proposal, present to Full Senate
For: 10 Against: 1 Abstain: 0
MOTION PASSES

  • Change in Proxies

Proposed change: That the senate allow for both general and special proxies.

Formal change: Section VIII.G will be changed to the following (bold text is the new text):
Voting by proxy shall be accepted for meetings. If a Senator is unable to be present for a vote included in the agenda, a written proxy designating the name of the assigned Faculty Senator, type of proxy (general or special), date of the vote, and (if necessary) topic of the vote shall be sent electronically to both the Chair of the Faculty Senate and the assigned current Senator who will be present for the discussion that will accompany the voting process. A proxy may be general or special at the discretion of the senator giving the proxy power to another senator; “a general proxy authorizes the person to whom it is entrusted to exercise general discretion throughout the matter in hand, while a special proxy limits the authority to some special proposal or resolution.” Proxies shall be appended to the attendance log for the meeting. Votes by special proxy shall be valid only for previously announced, written motions, that are included in the agenda and come to vote without amendment, or are amended such that, in the sole discretion of the parliamentarian, the amendment is deemed not to significantly alter the substance of the motion, but is instead technical, clarifying, or otherwise minor in its effect. The parliamentarian may render an opinion on whether an amendment to a motion is significant prior to the Senate voting to accept the motion.

Discussion

Motion to accept proposal, present to Full Senate
For: 12 Against: 0 Abstain: 0
MOTION PASSES

  • Change in Start Date of Senate Terms

Proposed change: That a senator’s term instead begins on July 1st. This will have the net effect of extending the terms of all current senators by one month.

Formal change: Section V will be changed to the following (bold is the new text, strike-out is the text to be removed):
Elected members of the Senate shall serve for a term of four years, commencing on June July 1 of the calendar year. Election procedures shall be determined by each of the constituent Faculties, except that…

Associated Changes: If the start date of senate terms are being delayed by one month, then the timeline to instantiate committees should also be changed by one month. Two relevant items in section VII.B.vi (Organization of the Faculty Senate) – which deals with selecting the members and chairs of the committees – would have their timelines modified appropriately (bold is the new text, strike-out is the text to be removed):

  • VII.B.vi.a: complete the assignments with notification to faculty senators by May June 15th
  • VII.B.vi.c: close the voting at midnight May 31st June 30th

Discussion

Motion to accept proposal, present to Full Senate
For: 12 Against: 0 Abstain: 0
MOTION PASSES

  • Change in Election of Board of Visitors Representatives

Proposed Change: That the senate elect a slate of three proposed representatives, and the Board of Visitors will choose the specific individual from those three to serve as the faculty representative. The date of the election is to change slightly as well.

Formal change: Section VII.E.v will be changed to the following (the entire section is to be replaced)
A slate of three potential Faculty Representatives to the Board of Visitors will be selected by the Faculty Senate by January 31. The immediate Past Chair will automatically be included in that slate of three, if s/he is willing to serve. The Faculty Senate will elect additional potential Faculty Representatives to bring the total to three.
For the election, the nominating committee will solicit candidates to ensure that the senate can present a total of three potential Faculty Representatives. If the immediate past chair is willing to serve, the minimum number of candidates for the election is two. If the past chair cannot serve, the nominating committee must solicit at least three nominations.

Discussion

Motion to accept proposal, present to Full Senate

Yes

  • Kennedy
  • Kirk
  • Seidman (by proxy)
  • Acquaviva
  • Beckenstein
  • Bloomfield
  • Lambert
  • Pennock (by proxy)
  • Savage
  • Stewart Ware
  • Swiatecka-Urban (by proxy)

No

  • Norton
  • Ramirez-Weaver (by proxy)

Abstain

  • Bodroghkozy

For: 11 Against: 2 Abstain: 1
MOTION PASSES

New Business
Setting the agenda for Faculty Senate 9/13

  • Proposals agreed upon today
  • Committee Reports
  • Update from Tish
  • Nominating committee must be constituted by October 15th

Meeting Adjourned
Motion to adjourn: Aaron Bloomfield
Second: Alan Beckenstein
Meeting adjourned: 2:54PM