In his semester report to the Board of Visitors this past Saturday, Faculty Senate Chair Michael J. Smith called on members to consider appointing a faculty representative to a non-voting position on the Board.
Action on the proposal has yet to be scheduled, according to Rector Gordon F. Rainey Jr.
Smith introduced his request by citing the contributions of student members to the Board, expressing a desire for the faculty to have a similar voice in Board decision-making.
"Frankly, we on the faculty would love to have that same opportunity to participate, discuss and perhaps to influence your thinking on the vital issues facing this institution," Smith said.
Appealing to members' sense of community, Smith said faculty representation on the Board would aid understanding and communication.
"We can help to fill out your view of what's really going on out there in Faculty Land, and, I'm convinced, deepen your understanding of the hopes and concerns of the people who make a university what it is -- its faculty and its students," he told Board members.
During the past two sessions of the state's General Assembly, the Faculty Senate of Virginia has unsuccessfully proposed two bills that would make it mandatory for all Virginia universities to appoint faculty representatives to their Boards, said James G. Lollar, marketing professor at Radford University and president of the Faculty Senate of Virginia.
In the state Senate this year, the University's newly elected Vice Rector Thomas F. Farrell, II, spoke out against the bill on behalf of the Board.
"The bill in the state Senate required all Boards to have faculty representatives," Farrell said. "We believe it should not be a state requirement."
Instead, all schools should be able to decide voluntarily whether or not to appoint a faculty member, Farrell added.
Smith's proposal is the first formal request for faculty representation made to the Board at the University.
There are currently three Virginia schools with faculty members sitting on their governing boards in non-voting advisory positions.
The Boards of Radford University, Virginia Tech, Mary Washington College and Longwood University have all voluntarily voted to accept faculty representation.
At James Madison University, the Board does not have a faculty representative, but faculty members sit on all Board committees, according to Lollar.
"Having a faculty voice [on the Board] is absolutely essential," said Edward H. Sewell, the faculty representative on Virginia Tech's Board of Visitors.
This voice both allows the Board to know what faculty are thinking and gives faculty the same representation as students, Sewell explained.
"As a non-voting member, you really are a spokesman for faculty and faculty concerns," he added.
Currently, the University faculty is involved in every level of University governance except for the Board, according to Smith.
"We are asking for consistency in the model of shared governance," he said.
At each Board meeting, the chair of the Faculty Senate is asked to give a report on faculty activities to members.
However, Smith said these reports do not give members enough exposure to faculty concerns and perspectives.
"There is a big difference between giving a report and participating in deliberations," Smith said.
Discussion of Smith's proposal is not currently scheduled for any upcoming meetings.
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