<p>
Which raises the question: what is an institution willing to do to maintain its sacred USNews ranking?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you follow the fb page for UVa there have been multiple comments suggesting Bill Clinton as a replacement. If there’s something that man can do it’s raise a ton of money. I bring it up now only because there is another thing he is exceptionally adept at… communication, and I believe he has experience with crisis management. ;)</p>
<p>Please understand I pass this on ‘tongue-in-cheek’. It just struck me as ironic. A little light humor.</p>
<p>William Jefferson Clinton would be awesome for UVA.</p>
<p>So would Condie Rice, who would be more likely politically.</p>
<p>The bigger the name, the less time they spend at the university. Years ago, UVa’s architecture school found that out when they named a famous architect as their Dean. He continued to run his firm in NYC, and wasn’t seen very often in Cville.</p>
<p>"As an alumnus, I am mystified by the actions of the Board and in particular the (non) statement of the rector. Who fires the president on an emergency basis because she hasnt come up with a long-term plan for on-line education? Huh? I am sorry, that doesnt pass any kind of credibility test whatsoever. Did the board direct her to undertake such a plan that she refused to follow? </p>
<p>I am also less than excited to hear in about 30 different ways references to hiring stars and luminaries. You could tell who those stars and luminaries were when I was there by the fact that they taught actual classes maybe once every three years. (Not to mention the obvious tension between getting lots of bright lights on campus just as you are farming off actual eduction to on-line venues.)"</p>
<p>Also Casteen tried the star hiring thing to boost the sciences and found it both so hugely expensive and unproductive the entire plan was quietly scrapped. You have to build your own stars and then take care of them.</p>
<p>Yeah…makes sense…Bill Clinton would really be interested in being President of UVA…give me a friggin’ break…</p>
<p>OOS students currently pay 250% of tuition. Raising everyone’s tuition to that rate means everyone is paying 250% instead of 100%. That would not fly without significant spending - upgrades to dorms (like air conditioning, full preference compatibility, no triples, etc), later hours for the dining hall, new buses, full technology renovation included in Cabell hall reno and advanced timeline, etc. Have you ever been to a private school and seen the facilities? They blow UVA out of the water. This means the revenue would not be at all what you are imagining.</p>
<p>It is all moot… UVA won’t go private.</p>
<p>Interesting update</p>
<p>[Student</a> Board of Visitors representative supports Sullivan’s resignation | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2012/06/12/student-board-of-visitors-representative-supports-sullivans-resignation/#.T9exeU0Qk_o.twitter]Student”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2012/06/12/student-board-of-visitors-representative-supports-sullivans-resignation/#.T9exeU0Qk_o.twitter)</p>
<h2>I’m already surprised that there are so many people paying $38K a year in tuition and fees to sit in a 600 person chemistry class.</h2>
<h2>In the past, UVa was very careful about the exterior architectural quality of buidlings, but built very plain insides of buildings. That was fine with me. Now, the insides of buildings are getting much more expensive and elaborate. One Comm School alum commented to me about how so much money was spent on parts of the Comm School building that did not actually serve academic purposes.</h2>
<p>So two of the supposed reasons for forcing Sullivan out may have been: </p>
<p>1) she was not moving fast enough on something (we are not told what), and </p>
<p>2) fundraising had increased, but not by as much as the board wanted.</p>
<p>It doesn’t take a Darden MBA to know that the way this was handled will cause many alums to hesitate to write checks in the next few months – until some legitimate answers are provided. Strike one for the Palace coup leaders. </p>
<p>It also should not surprise anyone that it will take many months to go through the process of finding a new President - especially because the best candidates will hesitate to apply after the way Pres. Sullivan was treated. She is very well respected in academic circles. That will cause more delays to the actions that the board is trying to fast-track. Strike two.</p>
<p>Now, will the University community be treated with respect and intelligence in how the Board explains the situation to us? Or will that be strike three? </p>
<p>Or are we all supposed to just lay down quietly and blindly trust them.</p>
<p>Uva might have fallen into the same easy money low interest rates that many others did. If you can easily borrow $200 million for a new building and the interest rate is 4% you just say-OK give me the deluxe version–we can swing that. But that usually assumes continued growth in endowment and other funds which might not be true now. They committed lots of their own money to new buildings as the state cut funding that too. Maybe too much. Stocks have stalled again and who knows when they go up again. Same with donations.</p>
<p>As a born and bred Virginian who takes pride in our great public universities, the “resignation” of Dr. Sullivan was/is very disappointing. When she was named President two years ago UVA seemed to be embracing a new type of leader: its first woman, one who wanted to emphasize open communication and transparency, and who would dedicate herself to the academic excellence that our state flagship takes so much pride in.</p>
<p>I think the university is going to look back on this decision with much regret in the next few years. The way it was handled was atrocious. I know Darden graduates are brilliant people, but as my grandad used to say, “they don’t know Jack” about how to handle a high profile change in leadership. Shoot, the school gave Al Groh 9 years before running him out. But, he was an alum…and a man. I guess Terry Sullivan didn’t have the right pedigree or gender to warrant a longer chance at success. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see who they can get to fill this position and perform the financial miracle that they believe is needed to occur. Until this state gets its act together and starts supporting our great public universities, I think you will see not only more presidents leave, but the respect for what we have here in our public universities decline as well. It is very troubling to those of us who care so much about higher education in this state.</p>
<p>While I think UVA let go a fine leader, with the lack of financial support we have in public education in Virginia, this “resignation” may be the best thing for her. I wish her well; she will do great things wherever she ends up.</p>
<p>My goodness… I find all these posts about USNews rankings quite troubling. Why do they even matter? It seems like America has lost its focus on education. Nowadays, everything is about capitalism and making money and competition. Sure, those things can be good… but in such large quantities?</p>
<p>The funny thing is that the top schools are only the top schools because students make them the top schools. What would happen if all of America’s best and brightest attended community colleges?</p>
<p>Forgive me for my rant. I’m just sort of fed up with the current state of things.</p>
<p>One other skill of President Sullivan was that she was a tremendous ambassador for the U. She spread respect and good will for the U. everywhere she went. </p>
<p>Maybe she hesitated to quickly slash programs and staff like the palace-coup leaders may have wanted. Why, they ask, should the University offer academic programs that don’t show a profit? </p>
<p>UVa was probably one of the few public universities that didn’t have layoffs during the Great Recession. UVa staff don’t realize how fortunate they were to get through that financial crisis with having to only suffer pay freezes. </p>
<p>For whatever it is worth, both UVa and UNC dropped several places over the last 15 years in US News rankings. UVa loses points in US News because the rich private universities have higher average salaries for professors, higher average spending per student, and smaller average class sizes. UVa in turn often wins awards for cost-efficiency. The drop in rankings mainly is because US News periodically changes their methodology.</p>
<p>[The</a> Charlottesville Newsplex - Video](<a href=“http://www.newsplex.com/video?clipID=7390970&autoStart=true&contentID=158645285]The”>http://www.newsplex.com/video?clipID=7390970&autoStart=true&contentID=158645285)</p>
<p>Good story after a short ad.</p>
<p>UVa faculty members shocked, appalled and concerned - and speak out on TV news. Faculty Senate released statement saying they never had any problems with President Sullivan.</p>
<hr>
<p>Here’s one other quirk. Kiernan is the Darden Foundation Chair/former hedge fund president who was advising the Rector, as they were preparing for the coup. He apparently was expecting to be nominated by the Governor to be on the Board of Visitors, starting next month. He also reportedly was considered a candidate for the President’s job before Sullivan was hired. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/jun/12/governor-surprised-boards-decision-let-sullivan-go-ar-1983852/#[/url]”>http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/jun/12/governor-surprised-boards-decision-let-sullivan-go-ar-1983852/#</a></p>
<p>“The Tragedy of Macbeth is about a man who kills a king to take power and then commits further murders to maintain his power. The play clearly demonstrates the corrupting effect of ambition, but also deals with the relationship between cruelty and masculinity, tyranny and kingship, treachery, violence, guilt, prophecy, and disruption of the natural order.”</p>
<hr>
<p>“Virginia Watchdog on Monday submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request for documentation, including recent communication between Sullivan and Board of Visitors.” They need to ask for emails between the boardmembers - particularly to see if there was a decision done by email that violated Virginia’s open meeting laws.</p>
<p>[Open</a> Meetings Laws in Virgina | Citizen Media Law Project](<a href=“| Digital Media Law Project”>Open Meetings Laws in Virgina | Digital Media Law Project)</p>
<p>The Board of Visitors is bound by the Va. Open Meetings Law. The above reference source describes how there must be a public statement about business that was covered in an executive session. I don’t think that has been met.</p>
<p>I know there are plenty of sharp UVa alums who are lawyers. Someone should follow through on that matter. Did the board illegally make a decision over the phone or by email, outside of an advertised public meeting? Are the board’s emails subject to right to know laws?</p>
<p>It is clear that the Board never voted to remove her at a public meeting. The palace-coup leaders used the threat of a public vote to get her to quickly resign. They claimed to have every single boardmember on board to force her out, including even the student representative.</p>
<hr>
<p>It would be great if a public rally would be organized to support President Sullivan, when she is town. The main goal would be to show that she is appreciated, and to encourage her and her husband (who is a UVa law prof) to stay in Cville. They both have the right to remain as tenured professors, unless the severance agreement will say otherwise. She would make a great advisor to students, and has great academic credentials.</p>
<p>Does anyone know why she was let go? What were these irreconcilable differences?</p>
<p>cp: There was a Star Trek episode in which Star Fleet was demanding an answer that Kirk didn’t want to provide. Kirk said to Uhuru: “Send them static.” That has been the Board’s response. </p>
<p>Let’s start spreading the most absurd rumors - to get the Board to reveal the truth in order to kill the rumor. Did you hear that President Sullivan was fired because she caught one of the Boardmembers in the Rotunda in a compromising position with a goat? Pass it on. </p>
<hr>
<p>[Schapiro</a> column: Sullivan’s ouster a coup d’etat at U.Va. | Richmond Times-Dispatch](<a href=“http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/state-news/2012/jun/13/tdmet01-sullivans-ouster-a-coup-detat-at-uva-ar-1983807/]Schapiro”>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/state-news/2012/jun/13/tdmet01-sullivans-ouster-a-coup-detat-at-uva-ar-1983807/)</p>
<p>“Dragas and Kington, for example, are members of the board of directors of utility giant Dominion, whose chairman, president and chief executive officer, Tom Farrell, is a U.Va. alumnus and former rector. Farrell, mentioned for the university presidency during the search that produced Sullivan, is a lifelong friend of Bob McDonnell, the Republican governor remaking the school’s board through his appointive powers.”</p>
<hr>
<p>Washington Post Editorial Board demands answers:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/virginia-trustees-should-open-up-about-presidents-ouster/2012/06/12/gJQAVI8UYV_story.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/virginia-trustees-should-open-up-about-presidents-ouster/2012/06/12/gJQAVI8UYV_story.html</a></p>
<p>"But the way in which the board blindsided the university community, and its subsequent inadequate explanations, raise questions about the wisdom of the decision. </p>
<p>They are also likely to make the search for Ms. Sullivan’s successor difficult: What educator of any stature would want to work for a board seemingly so capricious?"</p>
<p>[College</a> chairs, program directors issue letter to “protest” Sullivan’s resignation | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2012/06/13/college-chairs-program-directors-issue-letter-to-protest-sullivans-resignation/]College”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2012/06/13/college-chairs-program-directors-issue-letter-to-protest-sullivans-resignation/)</p>
<p>33 chairpersons of departments and programs of the University jointly sent a letter to the Board demanding answers about the coup.</p>
<p>Excerpt:</p>
<p>“Our surprise and concern arise directly from the fact that we have been very pleased with the direction in which President Sullivan and her administrative team have been leading UVA and with her accomplishments thus far. She is an extraordinary academic leader, with superb administrative abilities, the heart of a faculty member, and evident strength of character. Her superlative judgment—the hallmark of any great leader—was seen most conspicuously in her filling the top two administrative vacancies with what everyone agrees are excellent choices in John Simon and Michael Strine. We were optimistic about her plans to retain as well as attract excellent faculty. We in Arts and Sciences are direct beneficiaries of important initiatives that she personally spearheaded, such as the new financial model, which promised to increase the transparency and effectiveness of resource allocation; the sizable grant recently won from the Mellon Foundation to hire new faculty; a sensible plan for accommodating increased enrollment; and cutting-edge innovations in science and technology”</p>
<p>[U-Va</a>. president’s ouster puts spotlight on governing board - The Washington Post](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/u-va-presidents-ouster-puts-spotlight-on-governing-board/2012/06/12/gJQABMpPYV_story.html]U-Va”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/u-va-presidents-ouster-puts-spotlight-on-governing-board/2012/06/12/gJQABMpPYV_story.html)</p>