<p>Don't know if this has already been discussed on another thread or within this or another forum, but have heard rumor that UVa is planning to go private because state of Virginia is holding back funds and going private would give it the funds and freedom it'd need to keep moving forward. Apparently the rumor started last year and that the privatization movement was triggered by the results of schools like Duke being private and how that autonomy can give a college or university the flexibility it needs to succeed the way it wants to. Any validity to any of this? (BTW, the recent cuts in staff and funds at the University of Florida could be jeopardizing another excellent Southern school; it could add fuel to the UVa privatization fire?)</p>
<p>No, it isn't going private.</p>
<p>Oh god I hope it does.</p>
<p>I believe recent budget in the commonwealth gave some state schools more autonomy in direction of fundraising monies.</p>
<p>It wasn't the "budget" that did that, but you're right about the autonomy. UVA cannot and will not go private, so that's out of the question.</p>
<p>This was just in Chronicle of Higher Education about UVa's fund-raising efforts:</p>
<p>"The University of Virginia, $949.2-million as of July 31 (increase of $16.4-million in the last month); the goal is $3-billion by 2011." </p>
<p>That may offset some of the current negativity about facilities and faculty and allow UVa to regroup. In the meantime, gotta go with Cavalier's assessment. Perhaps a few rich alums will help out, like what's been going on at a couple of other large public universities, notably Texas, Michigan and Missouri.</p>
<p>Collegeparent, you might want to read about the Restructured</a> Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act.</p>
<p>From that page:
[QUOTE]
The University of Virginia, along with Virginia Tech and the College of William and Mary, have been granted the highest of three levels of autonomy available under the new system, which University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III has described as "a framework for transforming public higher education."
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>I'll add one of the</a> FAQs from that page as well.
[QUOTE]
Q: Will U.Va. become a private institution?
A: No! All participating schools and universities remain state institutions. University employees will continue to be state employees, employed by a public university. It simply is a new operating framework giving increased autonomy to any school that applies and qualifies. Covered institutions would maintain full accountability to the Commonwealth, adhere to performance and accountability measures - including approval of new programs, and continue the commitment to meet certain management standards as determined by the Commonwealth.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Thanks Dean J -- that definitely clarifies some things -- thanks again --</p>
<p>CollegeParent- UVa, like William & Mary, has watched helplessly over the past couple decades as bland, "upstart" private schools elsewhere in the South have "overtaken" the Virginia schools in terms of financial resources and flexibility. UVa has smartly decided to create a hybrid model with a core public undergraduate school and a privatized b-school, med school/hospital and law school (partially privatized). Unfortunately, the bureaucrats in Richmond have heretofore restrained the potential of UVa and W&M by falsely convincing them that state funding is enough (Virginia doesn't have a major private university like most other Southern states). That is not true as you can see when Ivy League schools start picking off the best teachers because the two Virginia schools cannot pay competitive salaries. President Sullivan of W&M was the principal architect behind the latest charter initiative; however, I hope W&M follows UVa's example when it comes to money raising and privatization of its b-school and law school.</p>
<p>It's not really about the funding. UVA has a nice big endowment. It has more to do with the fact that an in-state school takes at least 66% in-state kids. UVA has maxed out in terms of a public school. It is plucking the best kids from the state of Virginia and some of the brightest kids from the rest of the country. Meanwhile its private competitors aren't handicapped with the need for taking so many kids from inside the state. If UVA was to turn private it would simply be taking the best kids from everywhere in the country. The move would send the school's rank flying upwards. An increase in rank would bring in more applications and we'd suddenly competing against the ivies academically while still providing the best undergraduate experience. How would you like the value of your degree to triple?</p>
<p>There are other things UVA could do to improve its reputation and academic prowess. It's not at its limit as a public school. Take Berkeley and Michigan, for example - two public schools with superior graduate programs.</p>
<p>What is the cavalier302 plan for excellence?</p>
<p>Do what's necessary to improve UVA image in the public eye and in the eye of those in academia. Increase fundraising to support this. Market more. Analyze and adopt successful admissions strategies used by other schools. Correct things that make applicants feel uneasy. Keep in contact with throughout the admissions process. Switch to the common application, but retain a supplement if necessary. Offer merit scholarships. Lots of merit scholarships. Fund departments at a higher level. Go "big game" hunting for big names in every field. Bring up departmental rankings to a respectable level. Improve professional schools even further. Improve sciences. Increase the yield of OOS students (complicated issue that would be affected by things already mentioned). Slowly increase the percentage of OOS students in the class.</p>
<p>I could go on, but as it is that's just a collection of unorganized thoughts, not really a formal plan. It's a complex thing to increase the ranking and perceived academic gravitas of an academic institution and it requires a great deal of commitment on the part of administrators and the powers that be. So far I haven't seen that commitment.</p>
<p>Cav, some of the things you mentioned are already happening. Those that involve funding take time. Those that involve VA/OOS ratios are not likely to change anytime soon, as they are set by the state government. </p>
<p>I'd love to hear from all of you about admission strategies other schools are using that you think are successful and about what UVA does to make applicants feel uneasy. We get a lot of positive feedback about our style (personal emails, holistic review process, etc.), but there's always room for improvement.</p>
<p>When polled, students (including those who turn down our offer of admission) say that the amount of communication they get from us is "just right". Sometimes, I wish we had more glossy print material like Duke or WashU, but when I think about how much of that is tossed immediately, I think it's better to have put an emphasis on redesigning the website, getting chat room technology and putting audio/video on our site.</p>
<p>I think it would be very interesting to talk to you, Dean J. We should do lunch.</p>
<p>Well I think I heard DeanJ say something about print material and since I've recently received both a prospectus from UVA and a viewbook/prospectus type thing from William and Mary I'd like to post my thoughts on this.</p>
<p>First of all the UVA prospectus book, I thought, was by far the best I've received from a college so far (and I've received quite a few). It does a really nice job of displaying the great history that UVA has and the pride the students take in UVA. Also, the photos in this book are superb, you get to see how beautiful UVA is. Not only does it make the school seem very classy but the students as well. All the students featured have a nice story about why they are at UVA and their experiences so far and all of them seem very hardworking and intelligent, it also does a good job of expressing the diversity of ideas, backgrounds, and interests (as well as ethnicity/race) of the students. Finally, the UVA prospectus provides much of the information you need in an organized and quick to find way. Overall, I thought the UVA prospectus handout was excellent.</p>
<p>Now, allow me to critique William and Mary's. W&M's prospectus seemed to be going after different type of kids. It tried to give a sense of great pride in the history of the school but it didn't quite work; rather than focusing on the school's history they focused much more on alumni that have graduated from the school. Next it focused extensively on current students who kept talking more about themselves and all the great internships, research, and opportunities they've gotten at W&M. But like I said the W&M catalog seemed like it was trying to attract different kids than the UVA catalog. If I described the UVA catalog in one word it'd be "classy" if I had to do the same for the W&M catalog it'd be "goofy." The W&M prospectus seemed like it was trying to attract a much nerdier, goofier, weird type of student body. That was fine but then instead of trying to highlight academics they then tried to highlight how much fun you could have at W&M and began to show photos of nerdy kids doing a whole bunch of goofy looking stuff and even putting in photos of students at a party, where most of the girls were ugly and wearing really slutty outfits. Then all the average stats and info were nice and organized in the back. But the idea that the prospectus of the school gave me was nerdy, cheesy, tacky, and really weird kids.</p>
<p>UVAs book gave a much more classy and elegant look at the school and the students.</p>
<p>UVA's prospectus >>>>>>> W&M prospectus</p>
<p>UVA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> W&M, just because.</p>
<p>Is that a vote for W&M? If so, could you e-mail Henry Broaddus, the Dean of Admissions at W&M, and let him know your concerns? I think his e-mail address is <a href="mailto:Admiss@wm.edu">Admiss@wm.edu</a> .</p>
<p>I don't actually recall much about W&M's prospectus, but it sounds like they were trying to counter its reputation among many as an academic grind school packed with over-achieving nerds with nothing to do on weekends but study. Doesn't sound like it worked with you. I'm not really sure they should stray too far from their strengths, anyway - it <em>is</em> something of a geek school, (and I use that term admiringly), and I think most of the students there are proud of it, probably choosing W&M precisely for that reason. </p>
<p>One of MIT's brochures took the same route, but in a less embarrassed way - acknowledging and embracing their geekiness and academic workload, but making sure to tell you that there's more to the school than just its science departments, and went out of their way to assure prospectives that there was more to do at the school than just trying to calculate pi. Brilliantly done, by the way - MIT's outreach simply blew everyone else's away. Of course, with their resources, they can well afford it. But despite their wonderful campaign, it couldn't overcome the sticker-shock of their tuition ...</p>
<p>a prospectus is not necessarily an accurate representation of a school. Does any school interview the kid who parties 5 days a week and sometimes goes to class for what he/she thinks? no. Are those kids at most schools? yes. Non white people in the prospectus doesn't mean a school is diverse.</p>
<p>And as you noted... as a generalization, the school populations are different. As I always say, academically the schools are essentially equal. There are people that will be happier at one school than the other, and people that would be equally happy at both. Personal fit. That's what picking the right school is all about.</p>
<p>Dean J:</p>
<p>As a parent of a daughter who is going through the process, I must say that the UVA approach to printed matreial is about right. We are bombarded daily with multiple pieces of mail from MIT, CalTech, etc. Washington St. Louis is the worst. We are getting daily pieces from them.
Initially we saved them all just for fun but after several boxes, we decided to throw away all of them and promtly discarded the new ones.</p>
<p>However, I would suggest that UVa add one more thing before the prospectus is sent out - a la Harvard style - about a week before the prospectus and application package is sent, a nice 2-page letter inviting the student to apply and to look for a package in the mail, etc..</p>
<p>In addition, I think UVa needs a little more "marketing" in the information session. The one I attended was held in the basement of Newcomb Hall, in a dark movie hall and the speaker had no material. In contrast, at Duke and Penn State , they hold the info sessions in a very open, nicely appointed room. While waiting, the students are treated to taped music performed by their students and a slick power point slides on why you would want to come to Duke, Penn State, UNC etc. Penn State even has a welcome slide with the names of the students in attendance. My daughter walked away feeling more "wanted" at other schools than at UVA.</p>