February 11, 1998

Jahan Ramazani, Chair of Faculty Senate, called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. The meeting, which was the third meeting of the academic year, was held in the Garden Room at the Colonnade Hotel.

Mr. Ramazani welcomed everyone. Mr. Ramazani spoke about this year's ongoing initiatives and the work of the Academic Affairs Committee and the Committee on Research and Scholarship. Mr. Ramazani commented on the issue of deferring rush to second semester. He noted that Melvyn Leffler, Dean of Arts and Sciences, would be having a meeting on the subject on February 12th, and he urged faculty from Arts and Sciences to attend. Mr. Ramazani also mentioned the Task Force on Orientation, which is chaired by Rachel Most. The Task Force is working on ways to reform orientation. The Executive Council has met with Ms. Most and is pleased with the progress of the Task Force, Mr. Ramazani said.

Mr. Ramazani spoke about the initiative on excellent teaching, which is a project of the Academic Affairs Committee. The call for proposals has resulted in 58 proposals, from a wide variety of schools. Mr. Ramazani thanked the Provost and Benjamin Ray, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, for their contributions to this initiative. He also recognized the subcommittee that is charged with reviewing the proposals.

Meal tickets, which were donated by Richard Kovatch, Assistant Vice President for Business Operations, were distributed to the Senators. This is part of the ongoing initiative by the Senate to promote intellectual exchanges between faculty and students.

Mr. Ramazani gave an update on General Assembly activities. He spoke on budgetary matters affecting faculty salaries. In an effort to move the University of Virginia faculty salaries to the 60th percentile by the Year 2000, it was originally thought the faculty would receive average raises of 6.4% or 6.5%. This average raise was rolled back to 5.67%, based on a new method adopted by the State to determine the 60th percentile. It was pointed out that, using this method, one could be in the 60th percentile and still have a below average salary. This method weakens the University in its efforts to get back its competitive edge. Presidents of State institutions of higher education have asked the State to go back to the original method of computation. Mr. Ramazani distributed a handout which lists the State's representatives, and urged everyone to contact their representatives regarding the issue. Mr. Ramazani said any correspondence should not be on University letterhead. Mr. Ramazani also distributed texts of bills being considered by the General Assembly. For anyone who would like to review legislative information, it is on the Web, Mr. Ramazani commented. The Web location is (http://legis.state.va.us/).

Mr. Ramazani introduced David Gies, Chair of the Committee on Research and Scholarship, who gave an update on the work of his Committee. Mr. Gies said the Committee has been in "action" mode since the December 3, 1997, Research and Scholarship Committee report. The Committee is working closely with the administration on the funding for the programmatic portion of their charge, as well as finding spaces for faculty dining and "common grounds," Mr. Gies said. He reported that the Committee expects to see significant activity soon, and he will keep the Senate informed on the progress of the Committee.

Mr. Ramazani introduced Ben Ray, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, and Marva Barnett, Chair of the Academic Affairs Subcommittee on Junior Faculty Development and Retention. Ms. Barnett gave a report on the work of her subcommittee. She distributed a handout which lists information that has been gathered. The topics of concern listed in the handout are based on information gathered by polling deans and chairs and investigating junior faculty concerns with all tenure-track and academic general faculty members hired at the University since Fall, 1992, into the College of Arts & Sciences, and Schools of Architecture, Commerce, Darden, Education, Engineering, Law, and Nursing. Given the distinct nature of the work in the School of Medicine, the subcommittee will meet separately with colleagues there. Ms. Barnett asked the Senators to take ten minutes to review the report, and then they would have a discussion. She asked for feedback and ideas that will enhance the report. A discussion followed, and the group gave Ms. Barnett some valuable suggestions. Ms. Barnett told the Senate that her subcommittee has put together junior faculty profiles, which she envisions as a tool to help promote intellectual exchanges between faculty with common interests.

In wrapping up, Mr. Ramazani said lunches, coordinated by the Office of the Provost, with junior faculty members are taking place periodically this year. All entering tenure-track faculty under the Provost's academic area have been invited, and new faculty in Health Sciences have also been invited to a comparable series of lunches with Mr. Robert Cantrell, Vice President and Provost for Health Sciences. Each Provost lunch includes seven or eight junior faculty members, Peter Low, Provost, Jahan Ramazani, Chair of the Faculty Senate, Edward Ayers, Chair-Elect of the Faculty Senate, and Rebecca Kneedler, Past Chair of the Faculty Senate. It was noted that lunch discussions are very beneficial and enjoyable for all involved.

Mr. Ramazani thanked everyone for attending the meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Submitted by Janet Horne, Secretary of the Faculty Senate