The Board of Visitors left the Rotunda this summer and traveled to historic Williamsburg for their annual summer retreat where Board members and administrators used the retreat to discuss progress on committee goals set at last year's summit.
Goals include preservation of the Academical Village, maintenance of the University's environmental sustainability, implementation of a diversity marketing strategy and safeguarding of student self-governance.
Student board member Lizzie Mullen said the retreat, held at the Williamsburg Inn on the weekend of July 28 and 29, was used to set goals for every committee for the coming year, as well as a review of what each committee had accomplished in the previous year.
According to the most recently appointed Board member, Daniel Abramson, goal-setting is really "the purpose of the retreat," however, Board Secretary Sandy Gilliam said this function of the retreat has only come about within the last year.
"This is an exercise that we just started at the retreat summit a year ago," he said. "Committee chairs were asked to come to the retreat with rough outlines of the goals of what they hoped to accomplish in the forthcoming year."
Gilliam added that the goals are then presented to the whole board for a general discussion.
"It's actually a very helpful way of setting committee work and agendas throughout the year and I think it will continue to be," he said.
Abramson added that the informal atmosphere of the retreat allows for a larger dialogue about the goals.
"The retreat is a little more free form than the formal Board meetings," he said. "So there tends to be more open discussion of issues."
While the retreat, however, takes place in "a more casual environment," Abramson also described it as being "quite rigorous."
The Board's regular meetings usually span three days, but the retreat took place in only two.
In fact, according to Abramson, Board members stayed in session until 10:30 p.m. the first night of their meeting. Yet, despite long hours, Abramson still described the retreat as worthwhile.
"It was a great experience," he said.
According to Mullen the Board will meet next at the end of September, coinciding with the kick off of Capital Campaign weekend.
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