The Board of Visitors two-day winter meeting opens today in the Rotunda with an agenda that includes the selection of a new student member, discussions of the proposed single-sanction reform status and the search for a Chief Diversity Officer.
The last time the Board met in October of 2004, it approved a plan by the President's Commission on Diversity and Equity that called for hiring a Chief Diversity Officer to oversee diversity at the University. The position has yet to be filled.
Discussion of changes to the University's Honor system is also a scheduled highlight of today's meeting.
"Most people on the Board think single-sanction is at the heart of the Honor System," said Alexander "Sandy" Gilliam, secretary of the Board of Visitors.
While maintaining the Honor system is important to the Board, members said they also are concerned with upholding the tradition of student self-governance.
"Forty generations of students think that single sanction is right," Vice Rector Thomas Farrell said. "But one of the most important aspects of the honor system is that students run it."
The Board's schedule also includes a presentation by Vice President for Student Affairs Pat Lampkin, who will review changes to the sexual assault policy.
"I feel like there has been a lot of concern about sexual assault policy," said James Head, the Board's student member. "I want that to be really aired, and I expect it will be."
Friday afternoon the Board will announce Head's successor as student member. Lampkin and Gilliam have asked a diverse group of students to participate in the selection committee, which will decide the student member in a closed-door session.
The Board will also hear reports from the External Affairs Committee, who plans to discuss the University's Capital Campaign, which the University hopes will ultimately raise $3 billion dollars.
The Finance Committee will report to the Board on the proposed 10 percent increase in the prices of first-year housing for next year and the state of the University's endowment, according to the proposed rate schedule.
The Endowment recorded an 8.5 percent return for 2004.
This winter's meeting is scheduled to end Friday. Past Board meetings have run through Saturday, including last February's meeting.
The new format and shorter meeting is the latest step in an effort to include more substantive discussions at Board meetings, Gilliam said.
Part of the effort will include a 90-minute policy discussion Friday afternoon on deferred maintenance of University facilities. While the Board is not expected to take action on the issue, members will be able to explore possible ways to update some aging University infrastructure.
"I think it's going to be a full two days," Head said.
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