Plan it for the planet
Effective collaboration increased the impact of Earth Week activities
Across Grounds and across the country, Earth Day celebrations took place yesterday, and the collaborative efforts that have surrounded “Earth Week” at the University offer an excellent example of how effective coordination can spread a wider message with stronger support.
The events taking place during this year’s Earth Week are far beyond the scope of a single student group. Facilities Management, the Miller Center, the Medical and Architecture Schools and University Dining are among those supporting Earth Week through a series of speakers, events, contests and activities. Students can participate in any number of ways, perhaps attending an event without knowing beforehand of its connection to Earth Week.
For any group trying to bring greater awareness to a cause, exposure is key. In this economy, it is difficult for a single group (or even a single cause) to obtain all the resources it might hope for to plan an event, bring in a speaker or create a new resource to promote understanding of a particular issue. The Earth Week events show how a little can go a long way: By getting many different departments and organizations to contribute as they are able, the message of Earth Week has the potential to reach far more members of the University community.
Effective collaboration is the goal of the University Unity project, which will, coincidentally, take on the issue of environmental sustainability during the 2009–10 academic year. One lesson Student Council might take from this year’s Earth Week celebration is that while collaboration entails many people contributing in their own way, ideas about how to contribute can come from anywhere. Council will likely undertake its own initiatives for the University Unity project, but it could also suggest ideas to departments and CIOs about how they could participate.
Worth publishing
Publishing faculty salaries has multiple benefits
Sometimes, the numbers speak for themselves. For the past few years, The Cavalier Daily has printed an annual pull-out supplement listing the salary of University employees who earn more than $30,000 each year, and Tuesday, our readers could once again examine faculty compensation figures and draw their own conclusions.
The Cavalier Daily publishes this feature each year because we believe in the value of information. As an independent publication, we can access these numbers more comfortably than a faculty member might be able to because we aren’t on the receiving end of a paycheck. A professor might hesitate to ask for information about his or her colleagues’ salaries, but he or she can certainly make good use of these numbers if they are available.
Current and prospective faculty members alike can use this information to make better career decisions and determine opportunities for advancement. The publication of compensation figures also keeps the University under pressure to provide competitive pay to attract and retain top-quality faculty. If salary information is more widely available to those seeking employment at the University, departments might be encouraged to remain competitive relative to peer institutions.
Providing faculty with information that can allow them to make informed career decisions is important, but just as important is establishing an accessible record of faculty salary information in which, over the years, patterns can be observed and analyzed appropriately. A newspaper — an archived and accessible public record — is ideally suited to provide such a service.
Read More
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | April 25, 2024Instead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
EDITORIAL: Celebrating and reflecting on The Cavalier Daily’s independence
By Editorial Board | April 18, 2024Our independence grants us the ability to ask the hard questions and to say what University representatives cannot.
EDITORIAL: Pedestrian safety is an institutional imperative
By Editorial Board | April 15, 2024Amid a national crisis of pedestrian safety, Charlottesville and the University are also struggling to properly maintain pedestrian safety.
