Members Present:  Barry Anderson (Hospitals) , Susan Andrews (Administration) , Donal Day (A&S), Dennis DeSilvey (Medicine) , Tom Dowd (Other Schools) , Trish Foley (Medicine), Elizabeth Fortune (Other Schools), Nancy Garlick (A&S), Joe Gieck (Athletics) , Abby Gillette (Other Schools), Brad Holland (Administration), Aaron Laushway (Student Affairs), Joyce Pastors (Medicine), Jane Penner (Libraries), Jan Redick (Medicine), Mary Smith (Engineering), and Betsy Tucker (A&S).

Members Absent: Ron Berube (Hospitals)

Also Present: Bill Keene, Suzanne Louis, Jenny Moody, Ronald Murray, Lynda White

Joyce Pastors chaired the meeting

1. Joyce announced that GFC representative Ron Berube is recuperating from a heart attack. It was also announced that as of July 1, 1999, as a result of the personnel reorganization in the hospital, all those employed as general faculty will be moved into another job classification series, much like health care professional series. Therefore, current GFC representatives Barry Anderson and Ron Berube will no longer be members of the general faculty. This will drop the number of GFC representatives from the current 18 to 16. This reduction in numbers will be discussed at a future GFC meeting.
   
2. The April GFC minutes were approved with thanks to Donal Day, Elizabeth Fortune, and Joyce Pastors for generating the minutes when the GFC secretary, Tom Dowd, was out of town for the April meeting.
   
3. William C. Keene, Research Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, made a presentation to the GFC about university policies and procedures impacting U.Va. research faculty and recommendations for addressing several important problems. After hearing about the problems caused by the vagaries in funding cycles for most Research Faculty that may cause temporary breaks in full-time support for salary, benefits, and associated overhead the GFC asked that a letter spelling out the problems and recommended solutions be drafted for the Chair of the GFC to send, after soliciting feedback from the GFC, to Gene Block, Vice Provost for Research.
   
4. The appointment of two general faculty representatives to the Faculty Senate was discussed. Each general faculty representative will serve on one of two Faculty Senate committees -- Academic Affairs and Research and Scholarship. After discussion, it was moved that the general faculty representatives to the Faculty Senate need to be elected members of the GFC. This motion was seconded, voted on, and approved. It was further decided by motion and vote that the general faculty representatives to the Faculty Senate will be appointed by the GFC and serve one-year renewable terms. Donal Day and Dennis DeSilvey were appointed to be the first general faculty representatives to the Faculty Senate. Donal Day will sit on the Faculty Senate Research and Scholarship Committee and Dennis DeSilvey will sit on the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee. The GFC Bylaws will be examined and may need to be revised to codify the details of the appointment process.
   
5. Nomination of GFC Officers for upcoming year. Jane Penner, representing Libraries, was nominated for 99-00 Chair of the GFC. Tom Dowd, representing Other Schools, was nominated for 99-00 Secretary of the GFC. These nominations were voted upon and approved by the GFC.
   
6. Realignment of GFC committees: In light of the election of GFC officers and appointment of two members of the GFC to the Faculty Senate, the GFC committee memberships were realigned. Joyce Pastors will chair the GFC Policy Committee; Trish Foley and Jan Redick will work together on the GFC Elections Committee; and Donal Day will continue his leadership of the GFC Bylaws Committee. GFC members were encouraged to consider joining both the Policy and the Bylaws Committees.
   
7. Update of the proposed revisions to the Policy on the General Faculty: Jane Penner had a good talk with Kathy Reed, Associate Provost for Management, about moving forward on the revisions to the Policy on the General Faculty. Provost Peter Low will not be able to turn his attention to the revised policy until the Qatar negotiations are finalized, hopefully in August. In the meantime Kathy Reed and Alex Johnson, Vice Provost for Faculty Recruitment, will meet with GFC members Jane Penner and Joyce Pastors to begin to read and work through the proposed revisions. This is the first sign of movement on this issue since July, 1998.
   
8. Brad Holland, GFC representative to the Coordinating Committee for University Wide Groups (CCUWG) updated the GFC on CCUWG activities. Four issues are currently under discussion: improved child care services for U.Va. employees; improving the work climate for all groups; parking; and salary disparity.
   
9. At the next GFC meeting the issue of creating an "ex officio" status for General Faculty Council membership will be discussed. This might allow the GFC to benefit from the expertise and advice of members of the University community who are not elected members of the GFC. Granting of "ex officio" status would carry with it the responsibility of regular attendance at GFC meetings.
   
10. Next Meetings:

Tuesday, June 8: 3:30-4:30pm, Location: Music Library
Tuesday, July 13: 12:30-2:00 pm, Location: Music Library

Submitted June 1, 1999

Tom Dowd, Secretary
General Faculty Council