<p>The rector and vice-rector were both classmates of mine. I don’t know the basis of their decision but I can say that they both are very intelligent and ethical people. Of course, smart people are capable of mistakes.</p>
<p>As for the political conspiracy theorists, your concerns MAY be borne out, but so far, there is nothing concrete on which to base them. As to the Rector and Vice-rector, Dragas was appointed by Tim Kaine (D) and although Kington was recently appointed by McDonnell, he is a friend and business associate of Mark Warner (D), who previously appointed him to the BOV in 2002.</p>
<p>One of the few specifics that the Rector provided in her statements was that UVa was not moving forward in offering online degrees. </p>
<p>One of the other interesting tidbits is that in April it was reported that the College of Arts and Sciences was negotiating with climate researcher Michael Mann to have him return to UVa in an endowed professorship. That must have caused Cuccinelli and his buddies to blow a gasket.</p>
<p>The following is coverage of that matter by a climate change denial website:</p>
<p>Interesting article from years back about how former President Casteen almost got fired early in his term for being too much of an academic leader and not enough of a CEO (i.e. politician and fund raiser).</p>
<p>I get the sense that Ms. Sullivan may not have been able or interested in going down the path that Pres Casteen did. [Both initially taught a college class; Casteen gave that up.] Also seems like she wasn’t on board with some of the business changes being demanded by the BOV and Richmond that would have been distasteful from an academic/prestige perspective – bigger enrollment, staff and budget cuts, bigger classes, more in-state enrollment, less financial aid to OOS students, online classes, etc.</p>
<p>UVA now only gets about 5% of its budget from the state. That compares to 17% at UM, 20% at UNC, and 26% at Cal. Seems like UVA needs to go fully private (as its law and business schools have done) or become more public (lots more state money in exchange for bigger enrollment, bigger classes and more resident students). Currently UVA is stuck trying to be both Princeton and Penn State at the same time.</p>
<p>As I say a lot,
5% of a lot of money… is still a lot of money
Alums would not be happy if UVa went private, alum donations drop, bad move overall.
Wait until the entire alum base is calling for it. Otherwise it is a financially poor move to go private.</p>
<p>Hazel – financially, going private is a no brainer. If it wasn’t, why would Darden and Law have done it? If you gave up state money and charged 100% of the students the current OOS tuition rate, revenue to UVA increases by 50%!!</p>
<p>UNC has a lower OOS enrollment than UVA but much more state support. That works. UM has somewhat more state support AND also has a higher OOS enrollment than UVA. That works too. What UVA currently has does not work unless you have huge fund raising and huge endowment earnings (which is what private schools do). </p>
<p>Casteen managed to pull both of those off (albeit in much flusher economic times). I can see why the academically inclined Sullivan would rather go back to UM or work at Duke or Chicago than at UVA.</p>
<p>The anger is definitely multiplying among many different groups affiliated with the U.</p>
<p>The matter was handled by a “quorum of 3” - only 3 members of the Board of Visitors were at the meeting dealing with the forced resignation.</p>
<p>El Rector then walked out on the steps of the Rotunda and held a press conference in which she refused to answer any questions from the Press.</p>
<p>Here was a great line posted on the UVa facebook page:"</p>
<p>"For here, at UVa, we the Board of Visitors are unwilling to tell you what happened because of where it may lead, and we will not tolerate any questions so long as reason is left free to combat our answers. "</p>
<p>Quote from the Wash. Post story linked above:</p>
<p>"The Faculty Senate chided the board for an “inadequate and unsatisfactory” explanation of Sullivan’s departure. “[W]e are entitled to a full and candid explanation of this sudden and drastic change in University leadership,” the group said in a statement.</p>
<p>“The faculty is in shock. The faculty is hysterical. This is like a death in the family,” said Gweneth West, a drama professor and former chairman of the Faculty Senate. “She was everything we had hoped for and more. And she remains so today.”</p>
<p>Prominent figures in the university community affirmed Sullivan’s record.</p>
<p>“I think history will show that she performed in the time that she was here in an extraordinary manner,” said Leonard Sandridge, a former chief operating officer at U-Va. who served under Sullivan’s predecessor, John T. Casteen. Sandridge said Sullivan understood the operations of a major research university “as well as anyone I have ever seen.”
"</p>
<p>I’m confused by northwesty’s statement that Law and Darden have gone private. From the websites, it looks like Virginians are still given a tuition break, even if minimal. I, personally,would hate to see UVa ever become a totally private institution.</p>
<p>A few interesting quotes from the article AVA posted…</p>
<p>
Gives an idea of the timeline. This obviously blows the ‘mutual’ bs out of the water (if anyone still believed that).</p>
<p>
I’m sorry, this just made me lol! Vindicated? Seriously, that’s your concern right now?</p>
<p>
So let me get this straight. Being a mega donator to your campaign (which is how one gets on the BOV) makes one uniquely qualified to know what needs to be done in the best interests of the university, and it’s their job to run the university? Somehow that’s what I thought the University administration were hired to do. You know, as their profession.</p>
<p>Lastly, just in case we thought the BOV acted rashly…
No, they’d been discussing this for months. Months that they could have had a plan to make a better transition then this. At least have an interim president named. No, they didn’t act rashly, they acted foolishly. They had the time, this wasn’t spur of the moment, they just didn’t bother to make any plans. What’s it to them if the university community is in limbo for a month while they name someone?</p>
<p>The question of the day: When did the full Board of Visitors meet to vote to demand President Sullivan’s resignation? Or didn’t they ever vote? Was everything done at a bar somewhere? Or did a couple boardmembers bully the rest into going along with their scheme? </p>
<p>What are the relevant requirements of the Va. open meeting laws? Do they prohibit decisions by email, for example?? </p>
<p>As noted above, Sullivan found out for the first time Friday night that the Board wanted her out. The Governor was told a couple days earlier. </p>
<p>The only public record available is that Sunday afternoon, the Rector and 2 members of the Board met to handle the resignation. The other board members told everyone to direct questions to the Rector, who then refused to answer any questions.</p>
<p>I read public minutes that are available for the Board and its committees and they do not provide any hint of trouble with the President or her policies. The Board does go into Executive Session for personnel matters, but the last one only lasted 20 minutes.</p>
<hr>
<p>To restore a tiny bit of trust in the system, it is time to insert a little democracy into the process. I propose that the Va. Legislature be asked to amend UVa’s governing documents to allow 2 additional boardmembers to be popularly elected by all members of the UVa Alumni Association. That process is in place for Penn State’s Board, and was helpful in restoring some trust after the Sandusky debacle.</p>
<p>UVA’s business and law schools have both become “financially self-sufficient” aka gone private. </p>
<p>They both raised tuition by eliminating most (but not all) of the in-state tuition discount. They also both greatly scaled back the in-state admissions preference. They stopped taking state money and instead pay a portion of their tuition back to UVA instead. They are still part of UVA but are financially on their own like a private school is.</p>
<p>Since the state funding got so low, those schools figured they would be better off with no state money/no state strings attached. </p>
<p>Since UVA gets so much less state support than its peers like UNC, UM, Cal and UCLA, you wonder if the rest of UVA should do the same. The low level of state support is a big drag on UVA’s US News ratings. As it is, UVA gets more of its budget from its endowment earnings than it does from the state.</p>
<p>If VA taxpayers aren’t going to support UVA at the level of its peers, then it would make sense for UVA to get more leeway in how it operates (i.e. higher in-state tuition and/or fewer in-state admissions spots).</p>