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Faculty Senate Retreat 2006

January 27, 2006 - 12:00-4:00 p.m.

Newcomb Hall Commonwealth Room

Houston Wood, Chair of the Faculty Senate, called the meeting to order. Mr. Wood introduced Tyler St. Clair and John Pickering, facilitators for the retreat activities.

Rebecca Kneedler, a past chair of the Faculty Senate, and Marcia Childress, the most recent past chair of the Senate, gave highlights of Faculty Senate accomplishments from 1996 to the present. Those highlights include advising the president and other administrators, the Senate chair now directly addresses the Board of Visitors, and the Provost has a seat at the main table during BOV meetings.

Other Senate reports were made available to each table, for their information. These reports were on Faculty Senate Models, Faculty Senate procedures for selection of senators, an article in Academe, Who Needs a Faculty Senate, and the Faculty Senate Constitution and By Laws.

Tyler St. Clair and John Pickering addressed the Senators. The Senators had assigned seating, and Ms. St. Clair and Mr. Pickering asked each table (there were six tables) to begin their discussion in an effort to identify the Senate's focus.

The retreat began with lunch and the initial discussion, as directed by the facilitators.

Houston Wood gave the closing remarks.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m. Submitted by Teresa Culver, Secretary of the Faculty Senate

What follows are the issues/comments made by each table's discussion group. These issues and comments will be reviewed and addressed by the Executive Council to determine "action" items.

Determining the Faculty Senate's Focus

(Focus of Table Discussions, as Instructed by the Facilitators)

Project yourself 5 years into the future - You have served at least 5 years on the Senate.

Identify what the University Faculty Senate has accomplished (what issues were engaged and what did the Senate accomplish?)

Individual Table Comments to the Above Instructions

  • The Faculty Senate takes responsibility for integrating new faculty into life of the University: dinners, workshops, and other social events.
  • The Senate succeeded in obtaining tuition benefits for children.
  • The Senate develops mechanisms for supporting research across disciplines.
  • There is a Senate representative on the BOV.
  • The Senate has created a web site - faculty blog.
  • The Senate will be proactive, rather than reactive.
  • The committee structure will be one where every Senator is serving on a committee.
  • There will be spousal/partner employment.
  • Housing - 75% of students will be in University housing, relieving pressure on the stock of affordable faculty housing in Charlottesville.
  • Rethink the relationship between the University and athletics.
  • More input into academic programs. There now are top-down decisions (eg, year abroad for all, Singapore, Semester at sea, etc.)
  • Does the Senate need a mission statement?
  • Faculty Senate involvement in upper level administrative appointments.

Changes to governance

  1. improve continuity (role of Chair? Term of Chair?
  2. improve responsiveness to issues brought to Senate
  3. Presently the Senate is not representative and uniform reporting back or soliciting input.
  4. How do the Senators fit into Senate and how does the Senate fit into the administration?

Effective structural Changes

  1. Have a Faculty Senate Representative on the Board of Visitors
  2. All Senators should serve on a committee.
  3. Reviewing/redefining the role of the Senate in developing policies relevant to faculty.
  4. Advocacy for faculty retention and quality of life - benefits, intellectual, simplified inter-school collaboration (research administrative policies.
  5. Dedicated Senate meeting at the beginning of each year to define issues of concern at the beginning of each year and assign to committees.

Centralize and decentralized faculty - formalize role with constituents, increase collective role (influence, money, & identity).

Actions: Spousal partner employment, tuition benefits, housing/loan programs, community/faculty space, dining room and parking. Increase faculty resources/salaries.

Improve Faculty Quality of Life:

Intellectual:

  1. desktop computing improvements
  2. revitalized faculty club (gathering places)
  3. buildings/spaces that invite interactions
  4. raised endowment for DYF
  5. faculty member on the BOV Education Policy Committee

Administrative:

  1. shifting downwards
  2. improve infrastructure
  3. IT/desktop support staff

Personal:

  1. tuition benefits
  2. domestic partner access to facilities
  3. spousal hires/daycare
  4. active voting faculty on Benefits Committee
  5. professional development
  6. housing cost
  7. salaries
  8. planning for institutional change - a faculty representative on vice president and president searches
  • Define purpose of Senate, structure of Senate, and focus on faculty recruitment and retention.
  • Faculty representation on BOV (possibly former Senate chair.)
  • More democratic process of elections and appointment mobility of Senators.
  • Rewrite Senate mission statement, with emphasis on advocacy for faculty
  • Create a committee on committees to ensure every Senator serves on a Committee - let the Senators choose the committee he/she wishes to serve on.
  • Have an orientation session for new Senators.
  • Recruitment and retention
  • Partner hires " Benefits
  • Non-tenure track faculty versus tenure faculty " Housing
  • Salary sources/bridge for grant-supported
  • Email communication with colleagues
  • Everyone serve on a committee
  • No charge between schools " Accessibility of Executive Council " Senators initiate issues
  • Adapt to current issues
  • Vice President for faculty recruitment and retention
  • Non-track - Senate

If the Senators Were Structuring Themselves for "Functional Outcomes" What Would Those Broad Categories of Issues Be?

(Focus of Table Discussions, as Instructed by the Facilitators.)

  • Faculty recruitment and retention
  • Address the Senate structure and mission
  • Improved intellectual life and research
  • Improved faculty work life
  • Enhanced Senate ability, via the Executive Council, to advise the President
  • Better benefits package and housing options
  • Enhanced faculty support structure
  • Tuition benefits
  • Salary increases
  • Greater effectiveness
  • Redefined roles and goals
  • Re-write Senate missions statement to better reflect the election/appointment process for new senators
  • The Senate should be proactive versus reactive
  • Faculty representative on the BOV
  • Inclusion of all Senators in a committee
  • Research and other opportunities for inter-school/disciplinary interaction
  • Social interaction and new Senator orientation
  • Enhanced research policies
  • Support for non-track faculty
  • Improved intellectual community development
  • Infrastructure - space, equipment, IT support, and staff support
  • Administration push down - red tape

Charter Yourselves

(Focus of Table Discussions, as Instructed by Facilitators.)

What is the purpose of this "committee" or functional area?

What outcomes does it need to be responsible for accomplishing?

Effective advocacy for enhanced faculty recruitment and retention (Working within the University policies and Human Resources programs)

Outcomes:

  1. Establish a tuition benefits program
  2. Bring faculty salaries up to specified benchmark
  3. Effective infrastructure for partner/spousal employment
  4. Investigate housing support
  5. Evaluate family leave and medical leave programs
  6. Faculty climate/retention study

Structure and Purpose (Change role of Faculty Senate to an active unit)

Outcomes:

  1. Advocacy of faculty issues
  2. Evaluate committee organization, create committees to expand on function areas of the retreat
  3. Advising on senior administration positions
  4. Revaluation of mission statement
  5. Evaluate term of chair - (one year or two)
  6. evaluate the Senate election process
  7. Representation on the BOV
  8. Review role of Senate in creation policies relative to faculty and academics

Intellectual Research

  1. Individual faculty research: Travel dollars and summer dollars
  2. Intellectual Life: Bring back the Institute for Advanced Studies, large lectures - accessible and of interest across disciplines, streamline sponsored research policies

Work Life

Assure faculty excellence and productivity in teaching, scholarship and service by enhancing work life by:

  1. Improvements in staffing
  2. Equipment and technology - office, classroom and lab
  3. Space
  4. Streamlined and transparent administrative systems and procedures
  5. Communications
  6. Management and leadership
  7. Respectful and collegial environment
  8. individual professional development