The Board of Visitors decided earlier this month to add a non-voting faculty member to its ranks. The decision comes after Board of Visitors Rector George Martin first made a formal proposal to the board in January.
Although faculty involvement on the Board’s subcommittees has recently been strong, the outgoing Undergraduate Board of Visitors member Meg Gould, a fourth-year College student, said the Board felt this decision would strengthen the relationship with the faculty.
“The addition of a non-voting faculty member is meant to serve as a more effective, and more integrated, liaison between the Board and the faculty,” Gould said.
Daniel Judge, a third-year College student who will take Gould’s place as the student representative starting in June, shared Gould’s thoughts on the benefits of the new addition.
“This new board member is going to give a larger, holistic and more consistent view and representation for the faculty,” Judge said.
The faculty member will be chosen through an internal University procedure, similar to the process involved in selecting the undergraduate member. The other 17 Board members were appointed by the governor.
The faculty member will have a similar role to the undergraduate representative — he or she will not have a vote on official Board decisions, but will be afforded the right to speak on all issues.
Gould highlighted the possible benefit of the non-voting aspect of the new position.
“The idea of having a non-voting faculty member means that the Board will have the opportunity to hear concerns and opinions that are qualified and nuanced to an entire body of people, as opposed to a singular yes [or] no vote of an individual,” Gould said.
The law of the Commonwealth of Virginia only affords the right to vote to members appointed by the governor.
The University mirrored the actions of other public Virginia universities, such as the College of William & Mary and Virginia Tech, in adding a faculty member to its Board of Visitors. Virginia Tech opted to add a non-voting faculty member in 1988 while William & Mary made the official decision in 2004.
No decision has yet been reached as to whom will become the faculty member of the Board. The member will be appointed to a one-year term before the 2015 fall semester.
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