The board met Thursday to discuss issues including talent retention and recruitment at the medical school, challenges with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the possibility of investing in on-campus startups. The board heard from student and faculty representatives on Friday before going into closed session, which lasted more than 90 minutes.
Thursday’s meeting was divided into three segments: “Something Great,” “Something Challenging” and a discussion of a project called the University-wide Entrepreneurship Initiative. Release In 2023, we aim to help foster more entrepreneurial ventures on campus for students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Thursday’s meeting included a discussion of issues surrounding the FAFSA. Experienced Massive delays to the admissions cycle across the country and technical issues with submitting and completing forms are causing problems for many new students with their scholarship applications.
The FAFSA Simplification Act, passed by Congress in 2020, overhaul The online FAFSA form is intended to be more accessible and convenient to fill out, and Vice President for Admissions Steven Farmer said the changes that caused the delays are meant to make the process easier, and he believes they have the potential to do that, but that technical issues with timing, submitting the form and long wait times have made the rollout problematic.
But Farmer said the university responded well to the FAFSA issues and addressed students’ needs when applying for scholarships. In particular, Farmer said that Steve Kimata, assistant vice president for student financial services, and his large SFS team reduced the average response time to aid requests by one-third, despite seeing a roughly 20 percent increase in the number of questions and concerns from accepted students and parents.
Farmer also said the new student body included a high proportion of low-income students and that the number of scholarship packages processed by SFS had increased by 10 percent compared to the same period last year, which he attributed to the hard work of Kimata and the SFS team.
“[The delays affect first-generation students] “We’re definitely seeing improvements across the country,” Farmer said. [Kimata] It’s all thanks to him and his team and the corps of college advisors that we have.”
Dr. Babur Lateef, Trustee and Chairman of the Prince William County Board of Education, concluded the discussion on FAFSA by telling the story of a Prince William County school class president who was granted early admission to college, but FAFSA delays increased his financial insecurity and jeopardized his admission. He noted that Virginia Tech offered the student a significant scholarship, but the work of the university’s SFS office allowed the student to receive the aid he needed to attend college.
“[The FAFSA rollout] “It’s a big fiasco nationwide,” Lateef said, “and it affects people every day, but the university has done a great job. These are some of the students we really want to attract, and their efforts have allowed us to win that competition.” [SFS]. “
Before speaking about the FAFSA challenge, the board engaged in a presentation and discussion on medical research and faculty recruitment and retention as “something good.” Dr. Melina Kibbe, dean of the School of Medicine, introduced two researchers: Evan Scott, a professor of biomedical engineering and microbiology and immunology at Northwestern and a new recruit, and John Lukens, an associate professor of neuroscience who has been with the School of Medicine since 2014.
Kibbe said the researchers will play a key role in advancing the university’s research, particularly in its future engagement with the Paul and Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology, a medical research institute that is part of the university’s 2030 strategic plan. Become In 10 years it will be the top public university.
Scott is Hired Lukens is director of the university’s Nanoscale Science and Technology Advanced Research Institute (nanoSTAR). work He will serve as the founding director of the Harrison Family Translational Research Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. nanoSTAR and the Translational Research Center are the only two centers currently part of the Manning Institute, Kibbe said. Kibbe said the university will continue to invest in those two centers to help Scott and Lukens recruit top faculty.
“They both have the resources to hire other great people,” Kibbe said.
Following the discussion on the FAFSA and the School of Medicine, the board discussed the University-wide Entrepreneurship Initiative, a project that leaders hope will help promote and support entrepreneurship across the university, as well as possible investments in plans to stimulate more innovation and entrepreneurship on campus, said Michael Lennox, professor of business administration. Delivered Presentations on these topics discussed the past and future possibilities of entrepreneurial support at universities.
Lennox spoke about smaller planned projects he called “low-hanging fruit,” including a “clubhouse” for student entrepreneurs, a biotech accelerator to support innovation and entrepreneurship, and a partnership with Licensing and Ventures Group to support entrepreneurs. He then discussed longer-term ideas, including possible future partnerships within the Commonwealth, thematic incubators for different types of startups, and a building that could become a “new gateway for entrepreneurs” in the Emmett Road and Ivy Road corridors.
Some board members were vocally skeptical of Lennox’s presentation, particularly the overall cost and potential use of government funds, which they believed were likely a waste, as entrepreneurship is not the product of facilities or resources, but rather the product of innate skill and passion. Board member James Murray said it was unclear whether using government funds to invest in facilities and programs that foster entrepreneurship would truly have the intended effect, and that real entrepreneurship and innovation comes from being surrounded by entrepreneurial people.
“I don’t really believe that government money can create great entrepreneurs any more than it can create great artists or great musicians,” Murray says. “These are innate human skills that can’t be taught… It’s foolish to think that. [the University] You put a lot of money into it and all of a sudden you’re creating entrepreneurs.”
Lennox said the goal of the university-wide entrepreneurship initiative is not to provide all the resources to students and faculty, but to spark entrepreneurship, inspire student and faculty ideas and help them realize them.
Lennox said the university will probably never become a startup hub like Silicon Valley, but examples of smaller startup hubs such as Boulder, Colorado, home to the University of Colorado Boulder, show that investing in startups leads to more businesses being created through the university and its alumni.
“Boulder has a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem that has launched numerous businesses and built relationships with the university. [of Colorado Boulder]”I think that’s our model — the issue of scale can only be overcome by continuing to nurture and inspire entrepreneurs to create the next great business that will inspire the next entrepreneur,” Lennox said.
Friday’s full board meeting was short, with few items discussed in open session.
The board first voted to commend the service of outgoing board faculty representative and education professor Patricia Jennings, and also voted to honor the late former board member and U.S. representative Thomas Briley, who passed away in November 2023. The board then gave a standing ovation to the five outgoing members – Mark Bowles, Elizabeth Cranwell, Thomas DePasquale, Lateef and Murray – and then heard from the new student and faculty representatives who were elected this semester to their respective positions.
Lisa Kopernik, a student member of the board and a college senior, spoke about her values and priorities. include Student safety, socio-economic diversity, civil dialogue and student self-governance. Kopernick previously served as chair of the University Judicial Committee and said he wants to work hard to represent a diverse student body and uphold a culture of dialogue and self-governance.
“I truly believe that our culture of respectful dialogue is what makes the University of Virginia special in so many ways,” Kopernick said, “and we must work to ensure that this value is not eroded.”
The faculty representative on the board, Faculty Senate Chair Michael Kennedy, professor of education, spoke on the Faculty Senate after Kopernik. Kennedy told the board about changes to the council’s rules aimed at increasing representation. He also spoke about the May 10 council meeting. passed it May 4 resolution calling for an external investigation clear the establishment of a pro-Palestinian camp on the grounds, and a solidarity resolution in support of academic freedom.
After Kennedy’s report, the Board went into closed session, running approximately 30 minutes longer than scheduled. Once in closed session, President Robert Hardy announced that a portion of the session would be held as a “super executive” session, with only voting Board members allowed to attend, meaning faculty and student representatives, and University officials such as Provost Jim Ryan, had to leave the room. The Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee held a similar session, but in both cases it was not announced what would be discussed.
During the board’s closed session, the board confirmed all action items voted on at the committee meetings on Thursday and Friday, and the board unanimously confirmed all items except for Hardy recusing himself from a vote to name the new Football Operations Center (which the board visited Thursday) after him and his wife, Molly.
The Board will reconvene at its next meeting. September.
