News

Projections call for rise in faculty retirements

The University will face a changing faculty population over the next decade, as nearly one fifth of the faculty is expected to retire. Approximately 277 of 1,500 currently tenured or tenure-tracked professors will retire over the next 10 years, according to a model developed in December, said Gertrude Fraser, vice provost for faculty advancement. The predictions for future faculty retirement are based on University retirement data from 2000-2005, said Bob Lake, director of the Office of Learning and Development for the University's Human Resources. The large number of retirees will create both challenges and opportunities for the University in selecting new faculty members, Fraser said. "The problem is that one has to begin planning for a market where, nationally, other institutions are going to be hiring a lot of faculty too," Fraser said.

"On My Honor..."

There were no Honor trials this past weekend. Two appeals were denied this past week. The Honor Committee is currently investigating 20 cases and has 12 trials and 2 appeals pending.

Senate, House pass affordable housing bill

The Virginia Senate passed a bill to address the issue of affordable housing in Charlottesville by a vote of 37-3 Friday. The bill, sponsored by Del.

Bill to track sex offender enrollment

A bill requiring universities to submit the background information of newly admitted students to the Virginia State Police to determine whether or not they are convicted sex offenders was sent from the Virginia House of Delegates to the Senate last Thursday. According to Del.

U.S. students behind in math, science literacy

The National Science Board released its "Science and Engineering Indicators" 2006 report last Thursday, illustrating below average scores in science and mathematics literacy levels in 15-year-old American students in comparison with those of other countries' students of similar age. The "Science and Engineering Indicators" report is created every even-numbered year for use by both the President of the United States and the U.S.

Correction

In the Friday, Feb. 24 News article "Eleven candidates disqualified," Kendall Fox, an Honor Committee candidate from the College, was erroneously quoted saying "I was given no instruction.

Honor discusses triviality campaign

The Honor Committee voted Sunday night to allow for the community to request a reversal of the order in which counsels are allowed to speak in closing arguments, a change that could occur at the discretion of the trial chair.

College to offer new Computer Science major

Beginning this spring, the College of Arts & Sciences will offer a program in computer science. The Bachelor of Arts program in the Collegeapproved at the faculty meeting on Thursday will be separate from the Bachelor of Science currently offered in the Engineering school. A Bachelor of Arts in computer science, the first major to the combine academic programming of the two schools, was approved in the College of Arts & Sciences faculty meeting last Thursday. According to David Evans, chair of the computer science BA committee, College students will be able to declare a major in the interdisciplinary computer science program in the upcoming spring semester. "For many years students in the College have wanted to take computer science but not with the engineering focus -- they wanted to do additional majors like economics or psychology or something in the life sciences and the engineering degree didn't allow them to do both," said Thomas Horton, member of the computer science B.A.

University professors recognized for achievements in teaching, research

University professors John Arras and Jose' Fuentes were two of 15 recipients of the 2006 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Awards recognizing excellence in teaching, research and public service, presented on Feb.

Student leaders, deans gather to discuss diversity

Forty student leaders participated in the University's second annual Day of Dialogue on Race in the Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room yesterday. The event was intended to encourage student groups to recruit minority students, to address racial stereotypes and to give an equal voice to overlooked minority groups, Assistant Dean of Students Daisy Rodriguez said.

Program fights domestic violence

A small group of Law School students have recently organized a program to raise awareness in the Charlottesville community about domestic violence and assist the increasing number of victims in the area. The students, led by third-year Law student Cristi Head, have established the Domestic Violence Project, which works with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society to support the victims of domestic violence. "Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior to maintain power or control over a partner in the context of intimate or family relationship," said Anne Trainor, a case manager for the Charlottesville Shelter for Help in Emergency. Trainor added that this abuse can be sexual, mental or physical, and that it occurs among families of all races, religions and classes. Four students work with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society this year, as opposed to the six students last semester.

Eleven candidates disqualified

Eleven candidates were disqualified by the University Board of Elections Wednesday night from appearing on the spring election ballot.

A display of graceful talent

Professor wins Microsoft grant

Computer Science Prof. Alfred Weaver was awarded a $50,000 grant from Microsoft this week to fund his Trustworthy Computing course being taught this semester in the Engineering School. Microsoft Research received more than 112 proposals for the Trustworthy Computing program this year and only awarded grants to 15 institutions, according to a Microsoft press release. "I told Microsoft that I wanted to start a new course, and they funded [my] project," Weaver said. Barry Johnson, associate dean for research, said this grant is just one of several grants that Weaver has received from Microsoft for his academic research. "I did win another trustworthy computing award from Microsoft a year ago," Weaver said. He also said he received funding from the company several years prior to winning that award.

Funds for CIOs unspent, never collected

About $150,000 of the funds allotted to student groups by the Student Council Appropriations Committee remains unspent each year, according to various sources.

Faculty air discontent over Semester at Sea

Faculty concerns about the University's recently accepted Semester at Sea program dominated discussion at the most recent full faculty meeting of the College of Arts & Sciences held yesterday by Dean Ed Ayers.

StudCo Exec Board asked VPA to resign over performance concerns

Former Vice President for Administration Okey Udumaga, who is running for his old position in elections beginning tomorrow, offered his resignation from his position last week under pressure from fellow members of the executive board of Student Council, according to Council President Jequeatta Upton. Udumaga, who is running again for VPA in the upcoming elections, maintained he was not asked to leave his position as VPA but instead personally decided to resign upon realizing he was overcommitted. Upton said members of Council's executive board met with Udumaga last fall after he failed to complete a task in a timely manner and told him that he had a history of similar performance issues.

More students list race as "other" on college applications

A study was recently released showing that the majority of students who chose "unknown/other" as their race and ethnicity on their undergraduate college applications would later define themselves as white. The study, "Unknown Students on College Campuses," was conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the James Irvine Foundation.

Nigerian DiplomatSpeaks atUniversity

Faculty members research speech aid

The University is home to the only program in the United States utilizing the B.A. Bar device, a machine which can be used to aid people who are unable to speak or have impaired speech.