A3
NEWS
Friday, November 9, 2012 | The Cavalier Daily
Three-Day Weather Forecast
Provided by the Cavalier Weather Service
TODAY High of 61˚
TONIGHT Low of 35˚
TOMORROW High of 66˚
Sunny skies with a light west wind
Mostly clear skies with a light variable wind
Sunny skies with a calm south wind around 5 mph
TOMORROW NIGHT Low of 40˚ Mostly clear
High pressure will continue to build over the area through this weekend, bringing sunny skies and highs in the mid to upper 60s.
SUNDAY High of 69˚ Sunny skies
To receive Cavalier Weather Service forecasts via email, contact weather@virginia.edu
Salaries | University looks to improve its AAU rankings Continued from page A1 tion of American Universities for average faculty salaries. “We’re lagging behind many of our peer schools in the salary area,” Faculty Senate Chair George Cohen said. The University has set a goal of ranking among the top third of AAU schools for salaries by the 2016-17 academic year, according to a University release.
Increasing faculty salaries has long been one of Sullivan’s priorities, but the recent economic downturn strained efforts to establish competitive salaries. The longevity of the salary freeze has brought the issue to the fore as faculty members have now seen no raises or cost-of-living increases for half a decade. “I think we’re returning to those steps of commitment and
understanding of the administration working to compensate faculty members competitively now,” said Gertrude Fraser, vice provost for faculty recruitment and retention. T w o o f S u l l i v a n ’s s t a t e d goals include retention of current faculty members and the recruitment of new members. Faculty recognize these goals as crucial to the University’s future.
“We are going to have to recruit people,” Cohen said. “We want to get the top people we can and in order to do that we have to have competitive salaries.” Sullivan’s plan will affect prospective faculty members just as much as current ones, McCance said. “U.Va. like other universities is at an important juncture when numerous faculty
retirements are expected in the coming years,” he said. “We believe it’s critical to both retain the top faculty still here, but put ourselves in the best position to attract the absolute best new faculty for a new generation of instruction.” Although the Faculty Senate was not asked to endorse the initiative proposed by Sullivan, Cohen said the body responded positively to the proposal.
Board | New financial model decentralizes budget allocations Continued from page A1 the central administration to be sent from there to individual schools and services and instead directs funds straight to the schools, which then pay a tax to the central administration and also direct payments to service centers. The finance committee’s stated goals of the new financial model are threefold: to align resources with activities, to promote prudent stewardship of University resources and to ensure transparent decision-making.
Sheehy explained the first goal in terms of the current “lack of alignment” that in the past has led to unnecessary spending. The library, for example, collects fines for overdue books, but the money collected does not go back to the library. The lack of incentive to track down or charge for the book led the libraries one year to stop collecting fines. No one in the administration was notified of this decision, and at the end of the year when costs were being calculated the books had to be paid for out of an exogenous fund pool.
One of the Board’s suggestions for addressing such an issue is to increase awareness of financial consumption by localizing it. Granting more power to the individual schools by direct revenue distribution from tuition and the state’s general fund, the Board will allow the deans and governing boards of each school to allocate costs as they see fit. Currently, bills are paid without anyone being held accountable for the accrued expenses. Increasing transparency will incentivize efficient cost-saving practices, the committee con-
tends. During a question period, external affairs committee chair John Nau expressed concern about the potential tension that may arise between the central administration and individual schools. “You are kind of changing the psychology of management,” Nau observed. Provost John Simon made clear that the internal financial model does not grant individual schools unlimited power. “This is not a hunting license ... there are still approval processes,” Simon said.
Though the plan treats different schools as separate cost centers and aims to more closely match spending to revenue generation, the administration still expects different University entities to work as partners. “The University has goals that sit above the schools,” Simon said. Addressing the concern that deans might be reticent to invest in other schools to start programs, Simon took on responsibility for encouraging cross-pollination of resources. “How you force the bridging — that is the job of the provost,” Simon said.
Rally | Police tell protestors to leave building or face arrest Continued from page A1 “We don’t want to risk being arrested,” Chandra said. Chandra then led the group to the Harrison Institute, where the Board meeting was taking place . The protesters waved signs that read, “The crisis is not over,” and “Our accreditation is at risk (Thanks a lot, Dragas).” The group propped open the doors of the building and congregated on the steps and within the entrance. Copies of open letters handed to the Board members called for “a more diverse and representative Board of Visitors” with “the inclusion of distinguished professionals from
many walks of life.” The letter demanded fair compensation for faculty and the formation of focus groups to “foster a closer relationship between the Board and the many men and women who reside and work” at the University. Although the group intended for everyone involved in the demonstration to attend the Board meeting, only seven people were granted admission . By 1:05 p.m., University police arrived on the scene and entered the building. Moments later, the protesters were escorted outside by Associate Dean of Students Aaron Laushway. Police had determined the
gathering posed a potential safety issue, University spokesperson McGregor McCance said. The protesters who remained at the entrance were asked to leave the building or risk facing consequences, including arrest or expulsion. Laushway read the students a statement of standard procedure stating the consequences for not complying with the authorities. McCance acknowledged that students were disappointed there was not enough room for all 30 of them at the meeting but said the protesters had successfully relayed their message. “They did their demonstration and they made their points,”
McCance said. “That communication has been received.” B u t d e m o n s t ra t o r s w e r e quick to point out that there was room in the meeting for all of them. Fourth-year College student Krista O’Connell said there was plenty of standing space and that the meeting room could accommodate more than 300 people, according to a fire code on the wall. “We saw police officers trickle into the building, fully armed and with bags full of handcuffs, I assume,” O’Connell said. “I just think it’s so ironic that Thomas Jefferson fought for freedom of speech and we were denied.” Most students who passed by the demonstration seemed to
share the protesters’ opinion that the Board’s actions in June have not been dealt with properly and transparency remains an issue. Second-year College student Megan Dumond said she was uneasy having University Rector Helen Dragas in a position of leadership. Other students, such as thirdyear Engineering student Tim Carroll , thought differently. “We have a Board of Visitors for a reason,” he said. “The only reason [students] want involvement now is because they disagreed with them on one thing.” Second-year College student Nicholas Radulescu just wondered “how bad Dragas actually is.”
Transfers | ‘Our transfer student community is vibrant,’ Casteen says Continued from page A1 The University enrolls roughly 500 transfers each fall and another 30 to 35 in the spring semester, Associate Dean of Students Laurie Casteen said. “A very large number come from the Virginia Community
College System,” Casteen said. “We admit many students from Northern Virginia Community College and Piedmont Virginia Community College in particular.” The University’s transfer student peer advisors program, run through the Office of Ori-
entation and New Student Programs , provides peer-to-peer mentoring for incoming transfer students as well as periodic programs to inform transfers about resources at the University. “Our transfer student community is vibrant, diverse and
C M Y K
active in the University community,” Casteen said. Carrie Kisker, who studies community colleges for the clearinghouse, stressed that students who transfer from community colleges to four-year universities work hard to do so. “Students don’t start at com-
Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
munity college because they want to ... They do it because they don’t have a lot of other options,” Kisker said. “To make it as far as they do — to a fouryear institution — they aren’t going to give up easily. Their struggles aren’t over, but they know how to keep at it.”