The Faculty Senate ratified a new statement recently that explains the faculty position on the restructuring of public higher education, including issues such as benefits, diversity and governance.
In a one page statement, the Faculty Senate's ad hoc committee developed four major points to be addressed and referenced by the administration working on the management agreement.
"The kinds of things our statement identifies as concerns are topics we think need attention through negotiating of the management agreement," Faculty Senate Chair Marcia Childress said.
One of the four items of concern covered in the statement is ensuring that staff will still be state employees receiving state benefits.
"We don't see any gain in treating the staff as an economic machine," committee co-chair Alison Booth said. "They help our research, and we understand the staff being treated well is really beneficial."
In the most recent forms of the Higher Education Reform Act, this topic has already been reassessed.
"In the legislation as it is at present, all University employees stay state employees," Childress said. "That was not always the case."
In the statement the faculty said that they hoped higher education remains public education and the student body remains socio-economically diverse.
"The citizens of Virginia should support having public higher education so that it remains accessible to all citizens of the state," Booth said. "We want to reinforce that it is extremely important to faculty to teach a diverse student body."
The final topic of the statement is regarding governance and faculty involvement.
"We would encourage faculty input in that process insofar as the faculty can help the administration," Booth said.
With the revisions of the Higher Education Bill currently in effect, the faculty said they hope to be involved in the rest of the process.
"If we get this permission from the state to acquire more autonomy, then what we have to do is arrive at a management agreement with the state for how that autonomy is going to be put into practice," Childress said. "It's that process of negotiating autonomy with the state that is a really key piece of this change."
The committee also has opted to stay together through the spring as a resource to the Faculty Senate, Childress said.
"The faculty has a responsibility for guiding the future of U.Va. in terms of academic mission in research and education and the many things we do," Booth said.
The arguments of the statement are meant to be long-lasting ideas for the administration to take into account. The committee is working on a longer position statement to flesh out the four points, Booth said.
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