University of Virginia General Faculty Council (GFC)

Minutes: 13 February, 2001 12:30-2:00 PM, Room 389 Newcomb Hall

Members Present: Mary Abouzeid, Frank Butros, Chuck Callaghan, Donal Day, Patricia Foley, Jim Freeman, Joe Gieck, Brad Holland, Carol Hunter, William Keene, Aaron Laushway, Barbara Millar, Jane Penner, Jan Redick, Max Salinas, Betsy Tucker, Ellie Wilson

Members Absent: Maurice Lipper

Others Present: Susan Ford, Joyce Pastors, Lynda White

The meeting was chaired by Patricia Foley

1. Minutes of the December 13, 2000 meeting were approved.

2. Report from the Chair:

    1. Legislative Forum: Trish Foley and some other Council members attended the recent Legislative Forum. In general discussion among those who had attended, a feeling that the forum was ineffective and did not meet expectations was expressed.

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    2. "Summary of Town Meetings." The option of sending the summary of recent town meetings out to the entire general faculty was discussed and the decision to do so was reached. Trish Foley will revise the summary and write an accompanying statement, and Jan Redick will post to the general faculty.

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    3. "Computers 4 Kids" needs volunteers to help teach children how to use computers. The commitment is one hour per week for nine months. Free parking is available. Contact Kala Somerville: kala@computers4kids.net.

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    4. Trish Foley called for volunteers for the upcoming Faculty-Staff Resource Fair March 29, 2001. Jane Penner, Carol Hunter, and Trish Foley will participate.
  1. Draft Policy on the General Faculty: The latest, and hopefully final, draft of the Policy on the General Faculty (dated January 26, 2001) is the culmination of efforts on the part of the Provost’s Office, General Faculty Council members (Jane Penner, Frank Butros, and Trish Foley), and Joyce Pastors. Those who worked on this new draft indicated that the greatest effort and most important revisions were in the following areas: the sections on Performance Review, Expectation of Continued Employment, and Standards of Notice. The consensus expressed by all who had worked on the document, and those present who had carefully reviewed same, was that the policy now contains tighter language with better guarantees for the protection of general faculty interests. This January 26, 2001 draft policy was approved unanimously. The policy will be circulated by the Provost’s Office to Deans for approval/comments. Once approved, implementation becomes a looming issue for the General Faculty Council to monitor.

It was felt that this draft policy should be put on the GFC website, but this should not be done without approval from the Provost’s office. Trish Foley will pursue this and when the approval is given, Jan Redick will post on the website.
  1. Elections. Betsy Tucker and Max Salinas reported on the status of nominations for elections which are to take place in March. The deadline for submitting nominations was extended until March 2, 2001. Openings on the Council are: Arts and Sciences (2 seats); Medicine (1 seat); Administration (1 seat); Libraries (1 seat); and Other Schools (1 seat).

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  2. New Provost. Council members expressed the desirability of having the incoming Provost well aware of the General Faculty Council and its activities at UVA. To accomplish this, it was decided to have one or more of the members of the search committee come to a future Council meeting so that they might be better informed about the Council and communicate same to prospective Provost candidates. Trish Foley will invite Sondra Stollard (Dean, Continuing Education and member of the search committee) to the March meeting.

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  3. The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 PM.

 

NEXT MEETING: March 20, 2001 12:30 PM Location: Darden School.

 

Submitted by: Jan Redick