Resolution on Best Practices for Electing Senators

WHEREAS the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia “represents all faculties of the University of Virginia with respect to all academic functions” (Constitution & By-Laws, 2a);

WHEREAS the Board of Visitors’ policy “BOV-006: Faculty Role in University Governance” defines the Faculty Senate as “a representative body consisting of members elected from each of the schools” (emphasis added);

WHEREAS the Senate’s authority and legitimacy to advise the President of the University, the Provost, and the Board of Visitors, and to speak on behalf of the University’s faculty more generally, derive from its members’ status as representatives chosen by the faculty; and

WHEREAS the University of Virginia Faculty Senate, even while valuing the diversity of the UVA Schools’ administrative cultures and processes, nonetheless affirms the necessity of democratic elections to ensure true representation; therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate supports the “Best Practices for Electing Senators” document composed by the ad-hoc Representation and Governance Committee; and be it further

RESOLVED that all senators will work with their units to implement these best practices—or a modified version that aligns with unit culture while respecting the document’s ethos—with the immutable goal of ensuring that the Faculty Senate truly becomes and remains “a representative body consisting of members elected from each of the schools.”