College Dean Edward Ayers is meeting this morning with the department chairs in the College of Arts & Sciences to discuss faculty concerns regarding the Semester at Sea program.
In December, the University announced its partnership with Semester at Sea, a study abroad program that allows students to travel aboard a cruise ship to multiple locations throughout the world while taking courses.
The meeting between faculty members and Ayers was partly in response to a declaration drafted by the Council of Chairs of Arts & Sciences expressing uncertainty over the academic integrity of the program. The Council of Chairs consists of the chairs and directors of all departments and programs within the College.
A draft of the declaration was sent over e-mail to all the members of the Council Friday. Chairs were asked to circulate the statement among their tenured faculty and send comments or suggestions to the Council by Tuesday, according to Bob Hueckstedt, chair of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures.
The declaration, a copy of which was obtained by The Cavalier Daily, addresses a number of concerns raised by faculty members.
"The Semester at Sea program was adopted by the University without any meaningful consultation of the faculty, including the faculty of Arts and Sciences, the school of the University most likely to be affected by the program," the declaration reads. "No attempt has been made to convince the large number of faculty members who have grave doubts about this program that its adoption by the University is a good idea."
The statement, as well as numerous faculty members, said the lack of consultation violated their authority to determine academic content within courses or the curriculum.
"Because the faculty is in charge of curriculum, the faculty felt, or at least some felt, they should play an important deciding role in what kind of curriculum choices the University makes," said Council member Ellen Contini-Morava, chair of Anthropology. "I have my doubts about the rigor of the program. I haven't seen any examples of any syllabi and I don't even know who's going to be teaching in it."
Ayers said he called the meeting this morning, as well as a full faculty meeting for Thursday, to discuss faculty problems with the Semester at Sea program.
"I think it's important to emphasize that every faculty member is going to have a chance to talk about it this week," Ayers said.
Both Ayers and faculty members emphasized the meeting was intended to be an opportunity for faculty to discuss their concerns.
"It is part of a friendly conversation," Randolph Pope, chair of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, said yesterday.
In response to the suggestion that faculty were not adequately consulted, University spokesperson Carol Wood said the Faculty Senate as well as all the deans were briefed on the Semester at Sea program before the University decided to begin the partnership. Minutes on the Faculty Senate Web site indicate Provost Gene Block discussed the Semester at Sea program with the Executive Council of the Faculty Senate in November.
According to Leigh Grossman, vice provost for international affairs, the Semester at Sea program was discussed with the entire Faculty Senate multiple times in the past year.
Grossman also said the Semester at Sea program was thoroughly reviewed by a number of offices in the University administration, including the vice president and president's offices, the provost, the Board of Visitors, the University counsel's office and the International Studies Office.
Grossman further stated that at least four tenured faculty reviewed the program: Engineering Prof. Milton Adams, vice provost for academic programs; Assoc. College Dean Karen Ryan, professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Biology Prof. and Provost Block; and Grossman herself, a pediatrics professor.
"The decision was never made by one person," Grossman said. "There were all different corners of the University involved in the process in terms of making sure the ship is safe and that this was something we should get involved in from a business standpoint."
Grossman added the University weighed several factors in consideration of the program.
"There are so many aspects to a program like this, safety, legal, risk management, looking into the academic credibility and making sure we can truly turn it into a U.Va. product that is up to the standards we have," she said.
University faculty are currently facing a "time crunch" when it comes to approval for this summer's courses, according to Adams. Usually there will be 12 to 15 months for planning. However, for the summer 2006 voyage, faculty are just now beginning to look over proposed curricula.
"We'll have more time for [planning] the voyages for the courses that are a year away," Adams said. "There will be more time for those to be planned, reviewed and proposed and for the selection of the faculty who will do that."
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