<p>Zeithaml’s qualifications are extraordinarily lightweight compared to his predecessor. He has been dean – and by all accounts a very successful one – of an undergraduate business school that has a few master’s programs but not MBA or PhD programs. It’s essentially a small, limited-scope college within the university. No dealing with faculty in diverse fields, no dealing with graduate education except for one-year money-making machines like MS Accounting, no dealing with financing, endowment, real estate, hospitals, scientific research, etc. He has a PhD in some made-up business field from the University of Maryland. While his tenure and success at McIntire surely qualified him for consideration as president of a college or university, people rarely jump from a position like that to head of a university as large as UVa. Plus, all of his credentials were in place two years ago; it’s telling that he was not selected then, and seems not to have been a shortlisted candidate. He wasn’t even the first choice now, just the first guy with few enough principles to accept the job.</p>
<p>JHS…I find your post despicable to say the least. This man has agreed to step forward during a tumultuous period and do a job few would given the recent events. He’s agreed to serve as interim president not president. For you to compare him to Sullivan and infer he is unfit and then attack his personal character which you know nothing about (“few enough principles to accept the job”) is abhorrent.</p>
<p>Yes, the William and Mary Board sold out its President too and not so much for money as Virginia political conservatism. </p>
<p>Here is an interesting look at the McDonnell Board appointments and just how indebted he is to them. You’ll get an idea of why he isn’t in a position to do much criticizing. The article compares his appointments to those of Mark Warner, but no mention of Kaine appointments, one of whom was Dragas. Kaine is raising money for his Senate run so he’s not looking to ruffle any feathers either. </p>
<p>[Passing</a> out plums - Daily Press](<a href=“http://articles.dailypress.com/2010-07-09/news/dp-edt-college-appointments-editorial20100709_1_bob-mcdonnell-democrat-warner-big-donors]Passing”>http://articles.dailypress.com/2010-07-09/news/dp-edt-college-appointments-editorial20100709_1_bob-mcdonnell-democrat-warner-big-donors)</p>
<p>McDonnell is currently under fire for his own shenanigans in secret deals so I doubt he’ll be that dismayed by the BOV’s actions: </p>
<p>[Virginia</a> Delegates question McDonnell’s Redskins deal | WSLS 10](<a href=“http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/jun/18/3/virginia-delegates-question-mcdonnells-redskins-de-ar-1995919/]Virginia”>http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/jun/18/3/virginia-delegates-question-mcdonnells-redskins-de-ar-1995919/)</p>
<p>One of the W&M BOV members was in the news herself last week, and not in a good way: [W&M</a> board member convicted of public intoxication | Richmond Times-Dispatch](<a href=“http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jun/06/tdmet03-wampm-board-member-convicted-of-public-int-ar-1968500/]W&M”>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jun/06/tdmet03-wampm-board-member-convicted-of-public-int-ar-1968500/)</p>
<p>Public intoxication on the campus while in town for a BOV meeting is just nuts. A McDonnell appointee. What kind of screening process is there to become a BOV member, one wonders. Hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence lately.</p>
<p>Let’s give the interim President a chance. If he screws up or kowtows to the narcissistic billionaries, then she should criticize him harshly. However, so far, he hasn’t had a chance to do anything wrong.</p>
<p>[McDonnell</a> won’t say whether he will reappoint U.Va. rector | WSLS 10](<a href=“http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/jun/19/mcdonnell-wont-say-whether-he-will-reappoint-uva-r-ar-1998479/]McDonnell”>http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/jun/19/mcdonnell-wont-say-whether-he-will-reappoint-uva-r-ar-1998479/)</p>
<p>Professor Wulf just resigned.</p>
<p><a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice;
<p>My new nickname for McDonnell will henceforth be “little bit.” </p>
<p>Found info in a C’Ville blog that UVA BOV members, as of November 2011, had contributed $1.3m to McDonnell and Kaine PACS.</p>
<p>Wow- I guess this is what was meant when people said that some important faculty will resign. His qualifications and those of his wife make them more qualified to be Rectors or Presidents, and to say the letter is a scathing indictment is an understatement. </p>
<p>Since the link provided earlier didn’t work; here is one that may function a bit better.</p>
<p><a href=“https://gist.github.com/2955870[/url]”>https://gist.github.com/2955870</a></p>
<p>"I disagree with you on this one cartera. With the cost of educating a student escalating every year and the way the economy is right now, parents of Virginia students are scrutinizing their options more and more. It is too expensive of a endeavor not to. </p>
<p>I think this decision is going to greatly affect the way in state students view UVA vs. some of the other schools in Virginia, especially one which draws the same type of applicant: William and Mary."</p>
<p>The worry is not what VA residents think about UVA vs Tech or W&M. At a $20k price point, all three fine schools (which each have had its problems recently) will be able to fill plenty of in-state seats. The risk for UVA is being able to sell OOS seats. </p>
<p>At a $48k OOS sticker price, UVA is only a few grand less expensive than the swankiest private colleges. And after factoring in potential merit aid scholarships, UVA can easily become more expensive than other schools with comparable or higher rankings. Definitely more expensive (after merit) than schools ranked just a little lower than UVA. </p>
<p>And here’s why that is a big problem. UVA gets 22% of its budget from OOS tuition. 11% from endowment, 10% from in-state tuition, 9% from state funding. If those OOS families see UVA’s ratings slip a little bit, they’ll send their tuition dollars to places like Georgetown or Wake or Vandy instead…</p>
<p>As an OOS parent, I totally agree with northwesty. Our daughter is a rising 4th year, but if we were to do over again, the other schools she was admitted to (all nine schools she applied to) would have gotten more consideration. These included Northwestern, Duke, UNC, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt. Because of what we thought UVA stood for concerning honor and the academics (Echols scholar), she choose to attend UVA. Up until now, I have enthusiastically recommended UVA to prospective students…now I am not so sure I would unless one is hoping to be admitted to McIntire.</p>
<p>^ very good points northwesty… but many in state kids look at UVA and WM as the being the places to go if they are very bright and liberal arts leaning. Choosing between the two is often dependent on whether they want a larger school, ACC sports, etc. because the two are seen as being mirrors of each other in the area of academic rigor in the social sciences. </p>
<p>Now, should more turmoil continue and there be faculty strikes, resignations, etc., if a high achieving student choosing between the two sees the comparable departments at UVA suffering negative impacts due to the BOV, its agenda and their demands of the new president, the kid isn’t going to have as much of a choice. That is what is so sad about all of this. It is like blueiguana so rightly said in one of her posts, the kids are the ones that are going to suffer the most because of the asinine moves that were made last weekend. </p>
<p>I don’t want to see all of our schools be proficient in the same fields. There are kids who want the STEM fields; good for them. But there are many who are still holding on dearly to the prospect of going into majors that aren’t technologically driven. Don’t pigeonhole them and reduce their options.</p>
<p>At $20k a year, either UVA or WM is one of the best screaming deals for college in the country. Those schools could sell unlimited seats to smart VA kids all day long no problem. The point is, if VA residents don’t want to pay a lot more in taxes and/or in-state tuition, then you really need to convince parents like me and Bluegirl that UVA is worth paying for. </p>
<p>At a $48k sticker price, UVA’s cost/value proposition is frankly a lot weaker than it was when I attended OOS. That was back when UVA was ranked a lot higher and was a much bigger discount to full private school freight. If we stop sending our kids to UVA, then UVA gets more crowded and more expensive for in-staters.</p>
<p>I guess I need to go back and put a comment of mine into context. There was a suggestion that the BOV be elected by the citizens of Virginia. My comment about most Virginia citizens not giving a hoot about the UVA Board was in support of my opinion that such a vote makes no sense. Of course, parents with an eye to in state tuition are paying attention.</p>
<p>Kington has just resigned! Breaking news-Washington Post.</p>
<p>
1 more to go</p>
<p>and now Joe Morrissey is getting involved…</p>
<p>[Morrissey</a> wants lawmakers to investigate U.Va. resignation | WTVR.com ? Richmond News & Weather from WTVR Television CBS 6](<a href=“http://wtvr.com/2012/06/19/morrissey-wants-general-assembly-to-investigate-u-va-resignation/]Morrissey”>http://wtvr.com/2012/06/19/morrissey-wants-general-assembly-to-investigate-u-va-resignation/)</p>
<p>This is truly embarrassing. It breaks my heart that a renowned CS professor just resigned like this: </p>
<p>Dean and Interim President Zeithaml,</p>
<p>By this email I am submitting my resignation, effective immediately. I do not wish to be associated with an institution being as badly run as the current UVa. A BOV that so poorly understands UVa, and academic culture more generally, is going to make a lot more dumb decisions, so the University is headed for disaster, and I don’t want to be any part of that. And, frankly, I think you should be ashamed to be party to this debacle!</p>
<p>Needless to say, I will not be teaching the course that I was scheduled to teach this Fall.</p>
<p>I urge my fellow faculty to join me. The BOV needs to understand that there are real and immediate consequences to their actions.</p>
<p>Since you probably don’t know me from Adam, I’ve included below a very quick synopsis of my bio and that of my wife (included here since our experiences are shared ones).</p>
<p>My wife (Anita Jones) and I are in Computer Science and we both hold the title University Professor — the highest rank at UVa. Of the 3300 faculty at UVa, roughly 13 hold that title.</p>
<p>Between us we have had quite a varied career. We were both academics at Carnegie Mellon and Uva. We jointly founded and I was CEO of a high tech startup. My wife was a Presidential Appointee as an Asst, Sec. of Defense in the 1st Clinton Admin. and oversaw science and technology in DoD. I was an Asst. Director of NSF, and oversaw the transition of the Internet from a government-only network to today’s public one. I was President of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 11 years. The NAE is a private 501(c)(3), but was chartered by Congress to advise the government on issues of science and engineering. Being President was a full time job in DC and placed me at the nexus of science, engineering and public policy. I am a member of the Academies of 8 foreign countries, and hold 5 honorary
doctorates.</p>
<p>We both have extensive board experience in both the non-profit and for-profit worlds; three examples of the two dozen I could give: (1) my wife in currently on the Board of a $11+ billion dollar/yr enterprise, (2) I chair a non-profit Board focused on promoting international understanding, and (3) Anita served on MIT’s Executive Committee (their version of the BOV).</p>
<p>In short we have extensive experience that spans academia, executive positions in the private sector, government, and board memberships. So we deeply understand the proper conduct of academic administration and the proper oversight of that administration by a board. In my opinion the BOV has perpetrated are the worst example of corporate governance I have ever seen.</p>
<p>To repeat - I resign. I want no part of this ongoing fiasco.</p>
<p>Bill Wulf</p>
<p>Wm. A. Wulf
University Professor, Dept. of Computer Science University of Virginia and President Emeritus, National Academy of Engineering</p>
<p>Dragas must resign immediately, as should other BOVs that voted to oust Sullivan. They have essentially mocked the university and its students, alumni and faculty by placing the undergraduate dean as interim president. Corporate leadership continues at this university by appointment of the McIntire dean. Dragas does not listen and she will not work the community. </p>
<p>Shame on her. Shame on the BOV. Shame on Zeithaml for accepting the interim presidential nomination.</p>