August 4-5, 2017

Members of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met for new member orientation and in retreat at Morven in Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, August 4-5, 2017; Frank M. Conner III, Rector, presided.

Friday, August 4

New Member Orientation

An orientation of new members of the Board of Visitors began at 9:00 a.m in the Main House at Morven. Participants were Rector Conner, Vice Rector James B. Murray Jr., Robert M. Blue, Elizabeth M. Cranwell, Robert D. Hardie, Margaret F. Riley, and Bryanna F. Miller.

Also participating were Teresa A. Sullivan, Patrick D. Hogan, Archie L. Holmes Jr., Richard P. Shannon, M.D., Roscoe C. Roberts, and Susan G. Harris. David W. Martel, Debra D. Rinker, Nancy A. Rivers, and Farnaz F. Thompson attended.

Rector Conner welcomed the new members and gave opening remarks, emphasizing his desire for inclusiveness and the importance of adhering to the requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in all interactions. President Sullivan spoke about the president’s portfolio and the reporting relationships of vice presidents and other senior administrators. Mr. Patrick Hogan, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, provided a portfolio overview, reviewed the University’s financial position, and spoke briefly about opportunities and challenges for the University in the next few years. Dr. Richard Shannon, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, spoke about the structure of the UVA Health System and issues the Health System will be facing in the near future. He told members that the Health System is devoted to improving processes and services to generate value. Mr. Archie Holmes, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, explained the Provost’s role and responsibilities, including appointing deans of the schools, overseeing faculty hiring, and overseeing tenure decisions. Also in his portfolio are academic planning; global, arts, and outreach activities; and the University’s academic budget.

Mr. Roscoe Roberts, University General Counsel, spoke briefly about the attorneys representing the University, all of whom are appointed by the Virginia Attorney General, and provided an overview of laws of significance to members of the Board of Visitors, focusing particularly on the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

The orientation session concluded at 11:10 a.m.

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Retreat

The Board of Visitors began the annual retreat at 12:20 p.m. in the Meeting Barn at Morven. Rector Frank M. Conner III presided. Present were James B. Murray Jr., Robert M. Blue, Mark T. Bowles, Elizabeth M. Cranwell, Thomas A. DePasquale, Barbara J. Fried, John A. Griffin, Robert D. Hardie, Babur B. Lateef, M.D., John G. Macfarlane III, James V. Reyes, Jeffrey C. Walker, Margaret F. Riley, and Bryanna F. Miller.

L.D. Britt, M.D., Whittington W. Clement, Maurice A. Jones, and Tammy S. Murphy were absent.

Also participating in some or all sessions were Teresa A. Sullivan, Patrick D. Hogan, Richard P. Shannon, M.D., Archie L. Holmes, Susan G. Harris, Donna P. Henry, Melody S. Bianchetto, Peter M. Grant II, W. Thomas Leback, Michael J. Lenox, S. Pace Lochte, Mark M. Luellen, David W. Martel, Debra D. Rinker, Nancy A. Rivers, Roscoe C. Roberts, Colette Sheehy, Farnaz F. Thompson, and John M. Unsworth.

Presenters included Ian B. Baucom, Scott C. Beardsley, Craig H. Benson, Ila L. Berman, Dorothy K. Fontaine, Risa L. Goluboff, Steven E. Laymon, Robert C. Pianta, Craig Volden, David S. Wilkes, M.D., Carl P. Zeithaml, and Kristin O. Palmer.

Retreat Overview and Introduction of New Members

Rector Conner opened the retreat and outlined several key issues. These included a proactive engagement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, collaborative coordination among schools, “incessant innovation”, enterprise risk management, and global engagement. He said the University is special for a number of reasons. Of these, the student experience is paramount.

Session with the Deans

This was an opportunity for the deans of the schools to highlight the opportunities, challenges, and resource needs of their schools. All eleven schools were represented. Common themes were the importance of attracting and retaining excellent and diverse faculty, which can be especially difficult in Charlottesville because it is not an urban environment and there are limited opportunities for spousal employment; funding challenges: faculty salary support, research infrastructure and technology support, and financial aid, which go hand-in-hand with recruitment and retention; and the need for more and better space. Several deans also spoke about the importance of a stable financial model that will not fluctuate with changes in state funding.

Dean Baucom said for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, investing in graduate education is fundamental: right-sizing graduate programs and providing financial assistance to attract the best and brightest graduate students. This is a key component to faculty retention and an area of real vulnerability for the University. Cluster hires in strategic areas, blending star faculty with early career tenure-track faculty, salary competitiveness, and better research facilities are all necessary to take the university to the next level. He spoke about a “four-campus strategy”: home, global, lab/innovation, and digital. For the College, a core need is a stable financial model with coordinated pan-university strategic planning on revenue sources and robust and long-term institutional co-investment.

A chart of school strengths, priorities, opportunities, and challenges articulated by the respective dean is included with these Minutes as Attachment A.

The session ended at 5:15 p.m.

Reception and Dinner

At 6:00 p.m., the Board hosted a reception and dinner at the Clifton Inn for all participants in the afternoon session.

Saturday, August 5

At 8:35 a.m., the Retreat resumed in the Meeting Barn at Morven; all members of the Board were present except L.D. Britt, M.D., Whittington W. Clement, Maurice A. Jones, and Tammy S. Murphy. Rector Frank M. Conner III presided.

Business Matters—Approval of Student Comment Period

Mr. Conner opened the session with an explanation of the proposed meeting schedule and structure for full Board meetings. He said there will be two new ad hoc committees and noted that the Ad Hoc Committee on Research will sunset. He stressed the importance of outreach efforts, outlined presidential task forces that will include members of the Board, and reviewed a list of possible groups to join the Board for lunches and dinners.

He asked Ms. Miller to explain her proposal for a student comment period in the Academic and Student Life Committee meetings. Following her explanation, the Board, on motion duly seconded, approved a pilot student comment period beginning with the September 2017 meeting.

Enhanced Technology Learning

Mr. Conner introduced Kristin Palmer, Director of Online Learning Programs. Ms. Palmer provided an overview of online opportunities and explained the recent changes in the way people access educational materials that have an impact on how we provide services and what we provide. She reviewed in detail the competitive landscape for online learning, and the programs the University has in place currently. She presented a basic framework in the form of a pyramid that shows residential degree programs at the summit for cost and faculty involvement, and MOOCs and webinars at the base, with several steps in between.

Ms. Palmer and other faculty did an in-depth review of the online space as the University’s Online Education Advisory Committee, which issued a report in September 2016. The Committee’s findings are summarized as follows: “There is no “one size fits all” for online learning at U.Va. Each school has a distinctive culture and strategy.” The Committee made a series of recommendations, including identifying a single leader to drive strategic digital learning efforts across the university. The full list of recommendations is included in the Minutes as Attachment B. A list of current online programs is included as Attachment C.

Committee Accomplishments for FY 2016 and Work Plans for 2017

Each committee chair or his or her representative was asked to present committee accomplishments for the past year and plans for the coming year. Mr. Walker, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Research, suggested the Board maintain its focus on research even though the committee is scheduled to sunset. He proposed the Vice President for Research make periodic reports to the Board. The committee work plans can be found in the meeting materials located at: http://www.virginia.edu/bov/meetings/'17%20BOV%20Retreat/index.html.

Issues Before the Board for FY 2018

Mr. Conner asked President Sullivan to make some comments. Ms. Sullivan spoke about major matters that the University will be dealing with in the coming academic year. She pointed out a folder of one-page handouts that were developed to assist the legislature and others. Each member received a folder. Mr. Conner also directed members to a memorandum from John Jeffries and Victoria Harker on improving the process for reviewing Strategic Investment Fund proposals.

Closed Session

After adopting the following motion, the members present plus Roscoe Roberts and Susan Harris met in a closed session at 1:10 p.m.:

I move that the Board of Visitors go into closed session to discuss and consider prospective candidates for employment, specifically, to receive a report from a co-chair of the Special Committee on the Nomination of a President on prospective candidates for the position of president. The relevant exemption is Section 2.2-3711(A)(1)of the Code of Virginia.

At 1:40 p.m., the Board concluded the closed session and approved the following motion unanimously by roll call vote. Voting in the affirmative: Mr. Conner, Mr. Murray, Mr. Blue, Mr. Bowles, Ms. Cranwell, Mr. DePasquale, Ms. Fried, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Hardie, Dr. Lateef, Mr. Macfarlane, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Walker, Ms. Riley, and Ms. Miller.

I move that we vote on and record our certification that, to the best of each member’s knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements and which were identified in the motion authorizing the closed session, were heard, discussed or considered in closed session.

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On motion, the meeting was adjourned at 1:40 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Susan G. Harris

Secretary

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These minutes have been posted to the University of Virginia’s

Board of Visitors website.

http://www.virginia.edu/bov/publicminutes.html

ATTACHMENTS

BOV Retreat

Deans’ Priorities

August 4, 2017

Common investment areas across schools:

• Space, Research facilities

• Research support, with particular interest in multidisciplinary research

• Faculty support- salaries, endowed chairs

• Graduate education

• Need- and merit-based aid for students

• Technology, to include tools for faculty, secure cloud, business intelligence, simulation

• Global presence

Common areas of emphasis:

• Impact; Contribution to the Commonwealth

• Excellence and investment in targeted focus areas

• Innovation and disruption

• Online learning

Attachment A

Attachment B

Attachment C