March 2, 2018

MEMORANDUM

TO: The Academic and Student Life Committee:

Barbara J. Fried, Chair

Elizabeth M. Cranwell, Vice Chair

Mark T. Bowles

Whittington W. Clement

John A. Griffin

Robert D. Hardie

Tammy S. Murphy

Jeffrey C. Walker

Frank M. Conner III, Ex-officio

Margaret F. Riley, Faculty Member

Bryanna F. Miller, Student Member

Allison S. Linney, Consulting Member

and

The Remaining Members of the Board:

Robert M. Blue Babur B. Lateef, M.D.

L.D. Britt, M.D. John G. Macfarlane III

Thomas A. DePasquale James B. Murray Jr.

Maurice A. Jones James V. Reyes

FROM: Susan G. Harris

SUBJECT: Minutes of the Academic and Student Life Committee Meeting on March 2, 2018

The Academic and Student Life Committee of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, March 2, 2018, in the Board Room of the Rotunda. Barbara J. Fried, Chair, presided.

Present: Frank M. Conner III, Elizabeth M. Cranwell, Mark T. Bowles, Whittington W. Clement, Robert D. Hardie, Tammy S. Murphy, Jeffrey C. Walker, Margaret F. Riley, Bryanna F. Miller, and Allison S. Linney

Absent: John A. Griffin

Robert M. Blue, Thomas A. DePasquale, Maurice A. Jones, Babur B. Lateef, M.D., James B. Murray Jr., and James V. Reyes were also present.

Present as well were Teresa A. Sullivan, Patrick D. Hogan, Thomas C. Katsouleas, Melody S. Bianchetto, Jonathan D. Bowen, Susan G. Harris, Donna P. Henry, Patricia M. Lampkin, W. Thomas Leback, Mark M. Luellen, David W. Martel, Melur K. Ramasubramanian, Barry T. Meek, Debra D. Rinker, Nancy A. Rivers, Colette Sheehy, and Carla G. Williams.

Presenters were Kellen Larken, Devin I. Rossin, and Phoebe A. Willis.

Ms. Fried opened the meeting and introduced the consent agenda items.

Consent Agenda: New Degree Program: Master of Arts Degree (M.A.) in Media, Culture, and Technology in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

On motion, the committee approved the following resolution and recommended it for Board approval:

DEGREE PROGRAM: MASTER OF ARTS (M.A.) IN MEDIA, CULTURE, AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE COLLEGE AND GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES

RESOLVED, subject to approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Master of Arts in Media, Culture, and Technology is established in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

Consent Agenda: Modified Program Format: RN to BSN Online Degree Completion Program at UVA-Wise

On motion, the committee approved the following resolution and recommended it for Board approval:

MODIFIED PROGRAM FORMAT: RN TO BSN ONLINE DEGREE COMPLETION PROGRAM AT UVA-WISE

RESOLVED, the RN to BSN Online Degree Completion Program is established at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

Action Item: Establishment of the George A. Overstreet Jr. Distinguished Professorship in Real Estate in the McIntire School of Commerce

On motion, the committee approved the following resolution and recommended it for Board approval:

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GEORGE A. OVERSTREET JR. DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORSHIP IN REAL ESTATE

WHEREAS, George A. Overstreet Jr., Professor of Finance at the McIntire School of Commerce, is a distinguished and long-serving member of the faculty; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Overstreet has focused his research and teaching in the area of real estate finance, specifically valuation measurement and management, and the use of operational research techniques in financial management; and

WHEREAS, a total of 35 donors have contributed to a professorship in Mr. Overstreet’s name to attract and retain a senior scholar with exceptional teaching and research credentials to lead a world-class academic program in real estate in the McIntire School of Commerce;

RESOLVED, the Board of Visitors establishes the George A. Overstreet Jr. Distinguished Professorship in Real Estate in the McIntire School of Commerce; and

RESOLVED FURTHER, the Board of Visitors, the University, and the McIntire School of Commerce express their deep gratitude for the generosity of all of the donors to the George A. Overstreet Jr. Distinguished Professorship in Real Estate, and congratulate Mr. Overstreet on an exceptional scholarly career at the University.

Executive Vice President and Provost Remarks

Mr. Katsouleas began with a report on three consortia. A Consortium for Democracy and Public Service has been established and consists of the Miller Center, Morven, the Presidential Precinct, Center for Politics, Sorensen Institute, Weldon Cooper Center, Democracy Initiative in the College, the Batten School, and others. Its vision is to make the University a leading institution in the practice, teaching, and scholarship of democracy. The consortium will share space and infrastructure, and will offer shared symposia; a website will coordinate its messaging. He announced that Mr. Larry D. Terry will be the new executive director of the Weldon Cooper Center.

The University convened a group of presidents and provosts from around the country to address life transformative education. Research shows that students who have been able to apply something they learned to real world situations and had emotionally supportive mentors were more than twice as likely to report well being and positive work engagement later in life. The University has the capacity to provide these experiences to approximately 20% of its students. The Gallup-Purdue Index indicated that the University reaches 8% of its students while the national percentage was approximately 3%. The University is considering ways to expand these experiences and will work with the consortium to identify opportunities. Committee suggestions included the use of alumni mentors.

Mr. Katsouleas said he and the provost at Virginia Tech created a consortium to support economic development in the Commonwealth. Participants include representatives from institutions of higher education, GoVirginia, and the Virginia Business Higher Education Council. The goal is to determine how to leverage the diverse strengths of the participants to achieve something that couldn’t be done if the participants acted separately.

Mr. Katsouleas said recent senior hires are attracting faculty who would not have considered the University had it not been for the senior hires. He highlighted a $27.5 million research award Mr. Kevin Skadron in the Department of Computer Science received from the Semiconductor Research Corporation for a Center for Research and Intelligence Processing and Memory. He also highlighted two upcoming events: the UVA/Monticello UNESCO conference interpreting and representing slavery and its legacy in museums and sites from an international perspective, and a pan-America event on free speech.

Mr. Katsouleas concluded with a review of the Academic Dashboard, which uses a range of metrics to assess performance in areas such as faculty teaching, scholarly productivity, faculty diversity, quality of students, and the student experience. Some metrics compare performance over time and to peer groups. A metric comparing the proposed investment mix of the strategic investment strategy to actual investments as of December 2017 showed actual infrastructure investments at 7% versus the target of 40%. Mr. Katsouleas said the flattening of the upward trend in research awards during the first two quarters of the fiscal year may be due to the lower investment in infrastructure; the University may need to rebalance its investments.

The rector asked how much funding would be needed. Mr. Katsouleas said the rule of thumb is for every dollar increase in external research funding an institution must invest a dollar. If the University’s goal is to grow external research funding by $40 million a year, it must invest $40 million. Since some of the investment can be in new faculty hires and some can come from projects, Mr. Katsouleas said $15 to $20 million a year would be needed. He explained that infrastructure needs vary by school or unit and can include physical laboratory facilities, staff support, and support of Ph.D. students. He highlighted the Link Lab in the School of Engineering and Applied Science as a good example of an infrastructure investment. Once the project was underway, engineering faculty were able to write grant proposals that were dependent on the facility.

The dashboard showed an upward trend in the hires of women and minorities, but the actual numbers were still low. For students, the average SAT score remained consistent from Fall 2008 through Fall 2017, and over the past decade the number of completed applications increased from 18,363 to 36,779; the matriculation rate has gone from 48% to 38%.

Ms. Murphy asked about the impact of early decisions. Ms. Sullivan said the University stopped offering an early decision option because it was perceived to be unfair to lower income students because they did not have their financial aid packages by the time they were required to accept or reject the offers. Four years ago, the University established a nonbinding early action program under which applicants are not required to make a decision until May 1 after financial aid packages are available. Given that the University’s early admission offers go out in January and that most institutions make their offers before January, the committee was concerned the University was at a competitive disadvantage. Members asked for a presentation by Mr. Gregory Roberts, Dean of Admission, at the June committee meeting to address this issue and related questions, such as: is the University getting the best students? How are applicants evaluated? What are the University’s advantages, i.e. faculty/student ratios? What are the University’s communication strategies? Does the University need to reach out earlier to high school students? Does it need to increase personal contact during the application process? Does it need to strengthen the experience when accepted applicants revisit the Grounds before deciding to accept or reject offers of admission?

The dashboard indicated the University’s four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates are at all-time highs and are the highest among public institutions. The global experience metrics show UVA students have deeper experiences relative to other AAU public universities. The rector asked how much would be needed to expand the Center for Teaching Excellence. Mr. Katsouleas said $2 to $3 million a year would be required.

Honor Audit Commission

Ms. Lampkin introduced Mr. Devin Rossin, a fourth year student and chair of the Honor Committee, and Ms. Phoebe Willis, a student at the Law School and Darden Graduate School of Business, former student member of the Board, and chair of the Honor Audit Commission. Mr. Rossin reported on the Honor System. Ms. Willis reported on the Honor Audit Commission.

Mr. Rossin said the Board delegates the responsibility to adjudicate cases of lying, cheating, and stealing to the Honor Committee. He said the Honor Committee’s overall goal is to maintain a community of trust. The Honor System is a single sanction system; if a student is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the only option is permanent dismissal from the University. Students have the option of informed retraction as an alternative to going to trial and facing the single sanction. Informed retraction allows students to take ownership of their mistakes and recommit themselves to a community of trust following a two semester leave of absence.

Following the events of August 2017, the Honor Committee condemned the acts of white supremacists and pledged that it would be an ally of all students of every identity. This year the committee was constitutionally mandated to hold an assembly to ascertain the opinions of students and to report on the Honor Committee. The Honor Committee leadership emphasized that in addition to not lying, cheating, or stealing, honor stands for the ideals of tolerance, inclusivity, and diversity. Mr. Rossin said recent amendment changes to the constitution replace the he-him or she-her pronouns with the singular they and replaces titles, such as chairman, with the gender neutral title of chair. A change was also made to the informed retraction policy which had allowed a retraction to be taken for only a single event. Students are now able to take informed retraction for any and all offenses they have committed prior to the reported event, provided they admit to every offense and make a good faith effort to make amends with all aggrieved parties.

Ms. Willis said the Honor Audit Commission’s membership included students, faculty, alumni, and administrators. Its mandate was to evaluate the health of the system and to identify risks. Three key risks were identified: the first was the community of trust. When reviewing the survey responses, it was realized that the Honor System was viewed as the sole overseer of the community of trust. This limits the understanding of the community of trust since it extends to other organizations, such as the University Judiciary Committee and the Greek Life governing body, and includes violations to the University’s Standards of Conduct. Two solutions were suggested: the Honor Committee should partner with other on-Grounds organizations responsible for the community of trust, and it should evaluate the criteria of an honor offense in the overall context of the community of trust.

The second key risk dealt with representation. Only 19% of students knew their honor representatives and only 28% said the committee represented the diversity of the University. There was a feeling that minorities and athletes were targeted and convicted at higher rates. Suggested solutions included the use of a voluntary data disclosure form, considering ways to utilize all interested students, and conducting creative engagement around voting and education in all years.

The third risk was faculty support. Three fourths of survey respondents indicate professors often refuse to report students and decide to handle cases themselves. Less than half believe the Honor Committee can accurately determine the quilt or innocence of an accused student. Suggested solutions include one-on-one meetings with faculty, maintaining the student-run nature of the honor system while exploring new ways to engage faculty, and addressing assumptions about timeliness and efficiency concerns.

The commission identified two broad themes regarding single sanction debates and mistrust and apathy. It recommended that the Honor Committee participate in community discussions regarding the single sanction and that there should be informed debates which include the history of the single sanction and discuss the merits of specific alternatives. To address mistrust and apathy, the Honor Committee should continually engage with the community; collect consistent data on reports and trials; conduct outreach to improve transparency and trust; and have a regularly convened audit committee to continually evaluate the honor system.

Ms. Sullivan said the Honor System may be the best example of student governance at the University, but the concept of student self-governance is under attack. There is a wide spread belief that students are not sufficiently mature to serve as jurors or peers.

Athletics Director’s Report

Mr. Katsouleas introduced Ms. Carla Williams. Ms. Williams said the University’s Student Athlete Mentor program, where upper-class athletes match up with first years, is unique in college sports. She said the Athletics Department’s student development program, which has the goal of enabling athletes to maximize their university experience, has five components: academics; leadership; career; personal; and community. To support the academic component, the department is enhancing and expanding existing services and focusing on staffing, assessment tools, student database portal, facilities, summer bridge program, and an enhanced department wide recruiting program that promotes the academic achievements of students, faculty, alumni, teams, and departments. The leadership component will be comprised of a leadership academy utilizing existing University leadership programs and leadership grants designed to encourage students to seek opportunities for leadership and career advancement. The career development component will be a four-year program that will work with the Career Center and utilize faculty and alumni mentoring, employer relations, and professional development trips. The personal development component will include programming speakers, etiquette training, psychological counseling, and sports psychology. The community engagement component will focus on service learning and an elementary school outreach program.

Student Comment Period

Ms. Miller introduced Mr. Kellen Larkin, a student at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Mr. Larkin reported on health, athletics, and enrollment. He said the health center will be upgraded to a primary care facility and will be open to students, as well as faculty and their families. The college has three certified counselors for mental health. In the past two years, the number of people seeking their services has increased dramatically. The College at Wise competes at the Division II level. The athletics program has facilities that are nicer than most of its competitors. Enrollment took a big hit last year due in part to competition from larger institutions in the region, such as Virginia Tech, Radford, and East Tennessee State University (ETSU). To attract out-of-state students, ETSU expanded its in-state tuition radius to 250 miles from its campus. Mr. Larkin recommended the College at Wise extend its radius in response. The atmosphere at the College at Wise is personable; smaller classes allow closer contacts with faculty, and faculty also have an open door policy.

Committee discussion included pursing a strategy to be competitive with ETSU and a suggestion that the committee on the College at Wise have student presentations.

The chair read a commending resolution for Ms. Bryanna Miller, which was approved.

RESOLUTION COMMENDING BRYANNA F. MILLER

WHEREAS, Bryanna F. Miller of Lewes, Delaware, a fourth year Echols Scholar and student in the College of Arts & Sciences, seeking a major in History, will complete her term as the student representative on the Board of Visitors on May 31, 2018; and

WHEREAS, during her time in the College, Ms. Miller has served on the Honor Audit Commission and as President of the Black Student Alliance; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Miller is an active member of Student Council and the University Guide Service; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Miller is a Meriwether Lewis Institute for Citizen Leadership Fellow; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Miller’s active engagement in the important work of the University this year includes participating in the Deans Working Group to assist the University community in recovering and responding to the events of August 11 and 12, 2017; organizing Jeffersonian dinners of faculty, administrators, and students; and promoting and facilitating a student comment session at each of the Academic and Student Life Committee meetings; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Miller has used the knowledge gained from her interactions with students and other members of the University community to offer the Board thoughtful, wise counsel;

RESOLVED, the Board of Visitors thanks Bryanna Miller for her devoted service to the Board and the University, values her friendship as an esteemed colleague, and wishes her great success and happiness in all of her future endeavors.

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The chair adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m.

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These minutes have been posted to the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors website: http://bov.virginia.edu/committees/179.