This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill. Thank you.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

HB780 (text below from Faculty Senate email sent earlier today) This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

The bill advances crucial reforms that limit political influence on the governance of public higher education boards. It also strengthens oversight by granting faculty, staff, and students voting representation, and it obligates boards to establish policies that foster meaningful shared governance and affirm the faculty’s primary authority over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to cast a “yes” vote on this legislation.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

I am writing regarding Bill 780 and urge you to vote “YES” on this legislation. Over the past four years, institutions of higher education have experienced increased politicization within their governing boards, undermining effective and independent governance. This bill makes important reforms to reduce political interference in the governance of institutions of higher education. It strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of governing boards. Furthermore, the bill requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance. I support these efforts to ensure academic freedom, including faculty primacy over the curriculum, as well as the protection of freedom of expression.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

On behalf of George Mason's undergraduate Student Government, we want to share our formal support for HB780, sponsored by Delegate Katrina Callsen. In recent years, Virginia's public universities have been shaken by crises of confidence in our Boards of Visitors. Students don’t feel that Boards are focused on the institutions they’re meant to prioritize, and have put ideology over education. Boards have seen students and the programs they rely on as targets, not partners. This hurts students, but it hurts the Commonwealth too. When students lose confidence in the Boards governing their institutions, it means students don’t participate as much, it closes off opportunities, and means that critical student needs aren’t met, and sometimes aren’t even recognized. This means universities don’t return as much value to the taxpayer as they do when students have confidence in university governance, because that trust opens the door to better cooperation, stronger participation, and respect to students as a key stakeholder for universities HB780 supports this by granting students, as well as faculty and staff,an elected representative to vote on the Board of Visitors. It bridges the student-governance gap, while maintaining the oversight and primary stakeholder role of Virginia’s elected officials, especially from the General Assembly. It also sets and clarifies better goals for institutions that protect First Amendment freedoms, the bedrock of academic innovation. HB780 recognizes that taxpayers who pay into institutions deserve the primary voice in governance, but that tuition payers - students - also deserve a say in how they’re governed, and rebuilding trust and confidence helps everyone.

I am writing to urge a vote in favor of HB780. This bill makes important changes to policy that can protect universities from political interference, strengthen institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and require adoption of policies supporting shared governance and ensure the critical role of faculty insight regarding curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I write in my capacity as a parent and citizen of Virginia who will in the very near future send my high school student to one of the state’s institutions of higher learning and is concerned about the negative impacts of diminishing faculty governance throughout higher education and its potential harm to the future education of my son. I have seen this first hand as I am also faculty, and I am certain some members of the subcommittee are aware of the ongoing issues at ODU that can clearly be traced to a lack of adherence to principles of faculty governance, but I do not provide this comment as a representative ODU in any way.

Governing boards of Virginia universities have become overwhelming politicized as we have seen in recent years. Not only are individual appointees often partisan but often (even usually) lack knowledge of pedagogical understanding that directly influences curricula design and student success. Members of university governing boards can be easily swayed by power politics and have little contact with faculty, the backbone of any university, those individuals with terminal degrees from some of the finest institutions in the world who have been hired with Virginia taxpayer dollars to educate at the highest levels. Given the current structure of the governing boards in Virginia colleges and universities, the voices of the faculty cannot be heard or are heard only second-hand. I write to ask that you support HB780 which would amend current procedure to include faculty, staff, and students as voting members on the governing boards of Virginia universities. This change would bring much needed checks and balances on political interference and administrative fiat that is detrimental to the mission of educating students at Virginia institutions of higher education. A broadening of the composition of Virginia governing boards at Virginia colleges and universities will enhance the dissemination of knowledge about university issues and offer greater potential for the understanding that comes from listening to multiple perspectives. The HB780 proposed change will thus augment wise and informed decision making which is critical to the health of Virginia colleges and universities and to student success. The opinions expressed here are my own personal opinions and do not pretend to speak on behalf of VAC Agency #65 (Old Dominion University) nor any other official entity or Virginia college or university. However, I would like to underscore that I am a lifelong Virginia resident with roots going back to 1643 and as such I consider myself a most concerned citizen with a family history vested in Virginia’s wellbeing.

HB780 strengthens higher education governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of Boards of Visitors. As a current faculty representative to a board and someone who studies effective governance practices, I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

I proudly write to you in support of HB780 in my individual capacity as an education policy student at George Mason University. HB780 is a brilliant, comprehensive bill that will improve higher education governance by, among other changes, equitably and responsibly elevating the importance of students' needs and perspectives within their institution of higher education's (IHE) governing boards, making them full members of those boards. This includes not just the right of voting but the authority to participate fully in parliamentary procedure and the responsibility to be duly oriented for the role as other members are. At George Mason University, students live on campus. We eat at dining halls and restaurants and may purchase groceries at on-campus convenience stores. We utilize recreation facilities, health service offices, vaccine clinics, libraries, and other on-campus services. Students may even acquire health insurance from their IHE. These services are funded by general operations appropriations from the General Assembly and from tuition. As tuition-payers, students have a financial stake in their IHE as they pay the higher education equivalent of taxation: a mandatory financial payment that is returned to us in value through the services, academic and otherwise, provided to us. It is a common practice for such services to have student advisory boards and other mechanisms for students to relay feedback. This is structurally insufficient. As we honor the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, I kindly remind the General Assembly of a maxim our founders held dear: no taxation without representation. I have heard it characterized that students are merely clients of a service provided and thus should have no relation to the governance of that service. The analogy posed to me was that a consumer of Hershey's chocolate bars would be misguided to demand a seat on Hershey's corporate board. However, that analogy misunderstands both the relationship of students to their institutions of higher education and the public charge of those institutions' boards. Students do not exist solely as the clientele of an IHE. Our relationship is deeper than just a recipient of the education provided. Modern institutions of higher education, particularly those with a high residential population, are functionally equivalent to municipalities. Around the commonwealth, students have the right to vote for county officials who govern how local tax revenue is spent and what laws they are subject to as residents of a locality. Thus, students should be represented in the governance of how their IHE’s revenue is spent and what policies they are subject to as students. The General Assembly rightly and naturally expects a return on investment for higher education appropriations by its institution. And thus, governing boards are codified as under the control of the General Assembly. HB780, by providing students the right to be represented by one of their peers through an appropriate appointment and confirmation process that engages students, the legislature, and the governor's office, best proves a mechanism to ensure students have representation and can participate in securing that return on investment for their education outcomes and the General Assembly’s interests.

My name is Walt Heinecke, I am associate professor of education and have been teaching at a Virginia public for 30 years in research, statistics and evaluation. I have served on the faculty senate. We at the American Association of University Professors at UVA urge you to support HB 780, HB 1069 and HB1473 on Monday. HB 780 which serves as a hub for the other bills is the most exemplary bill I have seen in higher education in Virginia. It fixes the problem we encountered at UVA and other publics by addressing university control over legal counsel, it allows for staggering terms for BOV members prohibiting the one party domination of BOVs., It clarifies appointment processes that maintain the oversight of the GA, It has much needed language on the mandatory appointment of faculty, staff and student voting members on BOVs a much needed improvement for authentic shared Governance. We suggest you roll Del. Laufer's bill into this bill as it has a more democratic process of faculty, staff & student member selection to maintain the independence of constituent voice. Allowing the BOVs to pick from multiple names is a nominations not an election. The removal of professors section in HB 780 comports with AAUP national best practices essential for shared governance and exemplary not found in any other proposed bill. Unlike any other bill it includes a requirement for BOVs to define and implement shared governance that will improve the quality of decision making at our universities, an AAUP national standard. The bill, like HB 1473, has language to protect free speech and first amendment rights of faculty, staff and students. that have proven to be essential in the current era. You might think about rolling Del. Schmidt's 1473 bill into this bill strengthening this aspect of HB 780. These three bills 780, 1069, 1473 considered as a whole are exactly what is needed to bring balance and improve our institutions of higher education. If you want to strengthen and improve our institutions, I urge you to support all three bills. I speak from being on the front lines of the crisis experienced at UVA last year and teaching for 30 years. The other bills concerning BOV reform are not as comprehensive as 780 and associated bills. You have an opportunity here to really make dramatic improvements in our system of higher education. Please support HB 780, HB 1069 and HB 1473 on Monday and advance them. The bills will improve shared governance without which there can be no academic freedom and we need academic freedom now more than ever as our universities are under siege. Thank you.

I am a student at George Mason University. GMU has recently been subject to much strife due to the political biases of our former Boards of Visitors. This problem had been common among many other Virginia universities as well. HB780 will prevent this in the future, ensuring stability for Virginian schools and allowing our universities to be focused on education rather than partisan politics. Virginians will benefit from our educational institutions being focused on our needs and what will benefit our students rather than being beholden to whatever issue the current party in power cares about at any given moment. Please pass HB780 to protect Virginian education.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

Thank you so much for considering my input on HB780, especially regarding proposals to address board compositions and appointments, as well as to articulate board members' responsibilities in the area of shared governance and academic freedom. As I understand it, HB780 seeks critical reforms to how the boards of public higher education institutions in Virginia function, significantly strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and academic freedom. Doing so will ensure members of the faculty retain primary responsibility over curriculum (including assignments, assessments and modalities of instruction), given the significant role curriculum plays in supporting student success. These are issues of great urgency at Old Dominion University, where the current administration and BOV have violated their own policies regarding shared governance, as well as faculty members' academic freedom, in the rushed and ill-conceived mandates associated with the "Forward Focused Digital Transformation Initiative" (FFDTI). The Executive Committee of the ODU Faculty Senate recently shared a press release (dated January 21, 2026) with our regional delegates, as well as with the Governor's office, describing the ongoing crisis. If faculty and students had voting membership rights on the ODU Board of Visitors, the current regrettable state of affairs at ODU could surely have been eased, if not completely avoided. Our unfortunate situation highlights the compelling need for legislation such as HB780. I strongly support HB780 and urge you to give its passage your most serious consideration. Thank you for your service to our Commonwealth. I am writing to you in my capacity as a resident of Norfolk, VA, and as a citizen actively engaged in the democratic process. The opinions I expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the views of other individuals, of Old Dominion University or any other entity or group.

This past year has seen terrible political interference at UVA and other Virginia schools. We need this bill to make critical reforms to keep politics out of the operations of the Board of Visitors of our public higher education institutions. This bill will strengthen institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards. It will also require boards to adopt policies that promote shared governance and make sure the faculty have a key role in the curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. Please vote yes on this bill!

I write as a Full Professor at University of Virginia. Though my support from bill 780 comes from my experience of the past eight months of administrative upheaval, political intrigue, and flagrant dishonesty at UVA, I speak on behalf of myself and not as a representative of the institution. This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote yes on this bill.

Please vote "yes" on HB780. The shared governance crisis at Old Dominion University* could have been averted with more careful and balanced selection of BOV members. Our universities cannot remain academically or intellectually sound without this codification. Faculty and students must have a voice in the management of curricula and academic affairs; this right should not be treated as an optional courtesy that may be extended by some but not all presidents and Boards of Visitors. *the opinions expressed here are my own personal opinions and do not pretend to speak on behalf of VAC Agency #65 (Old Dominion University) nor any other official entity.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

As a faculty member serving the state of Virginia, I am extremely concerned about how Boards have become political agents to suppress learning and interfere with students' right to learn as well as faculty rights to teach. This bill makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. I urge you to vote "yes" on this bill.

HB780 makes important reforms to remove political interference in the operations of the boards of public higher education institutions, strengthens institutional governance by including faculty, staff, and students as voting members of the boards, and requires boards to adopt policies that support and advance shared governance and ensure the key role of the faculty over curriculum, academic progress, and student assessment. Some members of the subcommittee may be in receipt of a press release sent by the executive committee of the ODU Faculty Senate to regional delegates describing an ongoing crisis of leadership and shared governance. If the faculty had voting membership rights on the board of visitors, this crisis could have been mitigated or altogether avoided. I urge you to vote "yes" on HB780. **the opinions expressed here are my own personal opinions and do not pretend to speak on behalf of VAC Agency #65 (Old Dominion University) nor any other official entity.**

Members of the Subcommittee, I write to voice strong support for HB 780, which Delegate Callsen is sponsoring, and which parallels provisions in SB 381, sponsored by Senator Surovell. I am a member of the Advisory Council for Wahoos4UVA and author of the “Constitutional Imperatives” Substack essay entitled, “Undoing Irresolvable Conflicts of Interest and Unshackling University Counsel at UVA and All Virginia’s Public Universities.” The essay is available here: https://richardmarks66.substack.com/p/undoing-irresolvable-conflicts-of. (You may already have seen it.) It has been cited with favor by Wahoos4UVA, and the link distributed to Wahoos4UVA’s mailing list. You are well aware that Virginia's previous Attorney General prevented UVA’s University Counsel from defending against the federal government’s attack on the University's academic freedom. UVA’s Board of Visitors also failed to attempt a defense. These experiences teach the need to specify in legislation that boards of visitors at all Virginia’s public universities have a fiduciary duty to preserve and defend the institution’s academic freedom. Defense of academic freedom and freedom of speech must be part of each institution’s core mission and mission statement. HB 780 and SB 381 specify this requisite of corporate governance. This clarification is an essential complement to provisions in HB 780 and SB 381 specifying that counsel at Virginia’s public universities owe their duty of loyalty to their respective institutions, rather than to some undifferentiated, vague, and hence unknowable general duty to the people of the Commonwealth at large. If we at Wahoos4UVA can help advance this legislation and its companion bill in the Senate, please call upon us. You have our vigorous support for this legislation.

Dear Members of the Subcommittee, I write in strong support of HB 780, legislation that introduces vital reforms to modernize the governance of Virginia’s public higher education institutions. By insulating governing boards from short-term political volatility and centering the expertise of those who live and work within our campus communities, this bill helps ensure that Virginia’s colleges and universities remain stable, competitive, and firmly focused on their educational mission. Key Pillars of Reform Institutional Stability By extending governing board terms from four to six years, HB 780 promotes continuity, institutional memory, and thoughtful leadership. This reform mitigates the “pendulum effect” caused by frequent turnover and enables boards to engage in more effective long-term strategic, academic, and financial planning. Meaningful Shared Governance Requiring the inclusion of faculty, staff, and students as full voting members reflects a common-sense modernization of board composition. These voices bring essential, on-the-ground perspectives to decision-making, ensuring that policies are informed by the realities of teaching, learning, research, and campus operations. This strengthens board deliberations and leads to more durable and effective outcomes. Commitment to Neutrality and Academic Freedom HB 780 appropriately codifies the duty of governing boards to uphold ideological and partisan neutrality. By affirming academic freedom and freedom of speech as core governance responsibilities, the bill protects the integrity of academic programs, safeguards institutional reputation, and preserves public trust in the value of a Virginia degree. Accountability and Transparency Through improved appointment procedures, clarified duties for legal counsel, and strengthened expectations for collective board responsibility, the bill establishes a more robust system of checks and balances. These provisions ensure governing boards act in the best interests of their institutions and the Commonwealth, rather than reflecting any single political agenda. Conclusion The reforms advanced by HB 780 are not merely administrative adjustments they are essential to preserving the excellence, credibility, and long-term vitality of Virginia’s public higher education system. By aligning board composition and responsibilities with nationally recognized best practices in shared governance, this legislation fosters trust, transparency, and academic excellence. I respectfully urge you to report HB 780 out of subcommittee with a “YES” vote. Sincerely, Dirk Burruss Professor, Reynolds Community College

I am writing to urge your support for this bill, which introduces vital reforms to protect public higher education from political interference. By granting faculty, staff, and students voting seats on governing boards, this legislation strengthens institutional oversight and codifies the principles of shared governance. Most importantly, it ensures that faculty maintain primary authority over curriculum and academic standards. Please vote 'yes' to protect the integrity of our institutions.