UVa Going Private?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
21

<p>"(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>Don't worry about UF, it is only our College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) that is being cut (specifically the humanitites, whereas the hard sciences are actually going to increase). CLAS gets the Lionshare of Community College students transfering into the University so it has been running completely overcapacity for quite some time. Also it brings in the least amount of research as well. As an alumni I am glad that our administrators are holding the college accountable for the debt that has accumulated over the years. Also keep in mind that we jumped 3 spots in the latest US News ranking.</p>

22

<p>Fellow wahoo alumni and future alumni,</p>

<p>the university has slowly slipped in the national university rankings from 21 to 24/25 ish in the past 2 decades. Other institutions are surpassing UVa for two reasons: per capita student size of endowment and control of the instituion's future. I know in my gut that Mr. Casteen would take UVa private if given the opportunity. The University is essentially private now--close to 100% of the annual operations are privately funded; ie, not by the state of Virginia.</p>

<p>I agree with the response below that the value of the UVa degree would skyrocket if the University went private. We would climb in the ranks, gain prestige, and possibly be invited into the Ivy League. Unfortuately, Mr. Jefferson pursued a public institution in a different time in our history. Today, the name of the game is private universities, with massive alumni fundraising efforts to get that endowment into the billions and billions of dollars. If you don't believe me, check out the endowments of Harvard, Yale and Princeton...they have more cash than more corporations, and some nations.</p>

<p>The University cannot and should not be compared to UC Berkeley, nor should the University follow Cal's model. Cal has its own uniqueness that makes it a great university that UVa could never compete with--location (SF Bay Area), Nobel laureates, incredible compensation packages for professors, and federal funding for science and engineering programs such as, um, our entire nuclear energy management system. Cal is a research machine, and has been for decades and decades.</p>

<p>In order to increase the prestige and rank of the University, Mr. Casteen must work to take our beloved institution private, hiring the best research professors, and invest heavily in science and engineering programs that are on the forefront of 21st century thinking.</p>

<p>Sooner is better than later. Other private institutions are already ahead of UVa by $1 to $20 billion at this time. For those who wish to keep the University public, I urge you to do real research on the subject, and start fighting for your University, as opposed to trying to keep with an outdated, unproductivity ideal that is proving to be a "losing" strategy. Mr. Casteen knows this, and that's why he's on a decade long mission to seek out billions of dollars in alumni gifts to keep the University in the tier 1 category.</p>

23

<p>You are completely wrong, skirojo. Rofl.</p>

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<p>I think it was just a joke when I read "the university has slowly slipped in the national university rankings from 21 to 24/25 ish in the past 2 decades. "</p>

25

<p>What has happened in the last two decades?</p>

26

<p>At least UVA has an endowment. Look at W&M's its tiny compared to UVAs and I think it shows.</p>

27

<p>I cannot disagree with you more. The moral responsibility of the University is to be an excellent higher learning institution, not to achieve a higher ranking in the US News artificial poll as you implied. Yes, the University can gain more external funding through enlarging its faculty in the College of Medicine or the School of Engineering, but such moves would only divert resources away from fundamental programs in humanities and social sciences, programs that are vital to the education of students. The Jeffersonian ideal has served the University well, making it one of the premier institution of higher learning. It is the single most important entity that graduates of the University take pride in.</p>

28

<p>viscious... it shows in what way? WM's US News ranking?</p>

<p>I will admit it is depressing that WM comes in 110+ in the funding rankings. Where we could be with funding equal to the top privates...</p>

29

<p>It shows in the fact that W&M could have decent freshmen dorms, decent and not overcrowded class rooms (I'm in two where a student can't sit at a desk), and they could pay the staff a decent, living wage. Maybe they can with their 500 million dollar endowment but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.</p>

<p>W&M could provide more merit and financial aid, I have no idea how much our professors make but I bet you its not nearly what they deserve, and the school could invest in its own image, I'm from Northern Virginia and basically everyone from my school applied to UVA without even thinking about W&M. When I told them I was going to W&M they immediately assumed I hadn't gotten into UVA. W&M could fix that with proper marketing.</p>

30

<p>The freshmen dorms are fine... and this is coming from someone who lived in Taliaferro. They have wireless internet, lounges, kitchens, laundry, enough bathrooms, and some even have ping pong tables and such. There's not much more you could ask for, except AC in all of them (though other schools don't have this either), and maybe slightly bigger rooms, but who doesn't want a slightly bigger room?</p>

<p>If students do not have a desk, they should get another desk, or it was an error on the professor to let more people in when there wasn't room. I agree strongly with you that staff and professors should get more money. I want to say the professors are in the 30th percentile range regarding wages of "peer institutions", which to me is unacceptable, and they are working to fix this. W&M marketing does leave something to be desired... in 04 when our football team was really good and got on ESPN, they showed a commercial for W&M (during sports games they always show a commercial for the colleges involved), and it was terrible.</p>

<p>could W&M use more money? yea, but again, like the dorms... so could everyone else.</p>

31

<p>here is one notion I have: I would like UVA to go private, just to stick it to all those ivies, we all know we would be the best college in America, better than harvard, if we were private</p>

<p>A bigger stronger notion: I am a leftist, a liberal, I want world-class education for all, which means affordability as well as academic excellence, so I want it to stay public, and I know that UVA will stay public, so this topic is not really an issue</p>

32

<p>Hey guys (esp. Jags, Cav, Tenniscraze, Untilted, Sv3a et al),</p>

<p>It's been a while since I've checked in. I've been swamped with work, travel & UVa/charity fund-raising, etc. I love College Confidential, but it tends to suck you in to the detriment of your other duties. LOL! </p>

<p>AZboy4politics, I like the direction that UVa is taking of becoming a privately-funded public school that maintains its public mandate. It's like UVa is a becoming a hybrid of what's best in both public and private education. UVa has always been unique. It's never been like any other public school. So, why become like any other random private school? Having already raised a billion of its $3 billion capital campaign goal, UVa has proven that it can find the money it needs to improve itself and provide an excellent education for its students.</p>

33

<p>awww i'm first in the especially department. :*)</p>

<p>long time no see! nice that you're back.</p>

34

<p>
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Location: Paris | France

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<p>Vraiment???</p>

35

<p>Globalist is just living up to his name :)</p>

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<p>I think the fundraising campaign is brilliant......did you all know that Katie Couric came here for the event.....UVA kicks ass</p>

37

<p>Me thinks that a few on this thread have been smoking something. UVA has long aspired to wannabe-privacy and has behaved accordingly. To believe the hype is naive. This is about politics and nothing else. UVA shall remain for worse and for better a funtionary of the state of VA. And they'll continue raising, like every other major university in the land, significant private $$. </p>

<p>Wish as you will, but anything in that direction is mere posturing. Now quit hallucinating and get back to work.</p>

38

<p>whistle,</p>

<p>none of the normal people on this board think UVA is going private - nor do i think anyone cares. the school can and will never go private.</p>

<p>besides, i say why be a middling private university when you can be a top public university. after all, in the grand scheme of things, public schools are better than private schools - its really only a handful of private schools that have given them that "prestige" that has come to be associated with being private.</p>

39

<p>Oui, je suis en France pour un petit moment. </p>

<p>Yes, I heard that Katie Couric, Tiki, and his brother were in C-ville. I wish I could have been there.</p>

40

<p>I think Viscious is a W&M rejectee. All I know is, W&M has an out-of-state acceptance rate equal to UPenn (~20%).</p>

<p>Skirojo is right. Public universities will always be discounted by USN&WR and will probably never break the top 20 as long as they are beholden to state bureaucrats who have some modicum of control over their destiny. Also, most in-state students don't give money to their public alma maters because they come from relatively disadvantaged financial backgrounds (they foolishly expect the State to be the financial steward). All of the recent major donors at W&M have been from out-of-state (in-staters are too busy building more statues to Washington, Jefferson and "2nd place trophy" Civil War heroes). The bureaucrats say that UVa and W&M "are for the people of the Commonwealth" but that fulfills mostly a social policy since Virginia's economy is stagnant and uncreative (everybody always talks about the past; meanwhile, North Carolina is building a 21st century biotech and banking economy). Better to bring in aggressive, out-of-state blood (the governor and both US senators were born elsewhere) from the Northeast and Southeast which will energize and capitalize things. Incidentally, where have all of the Monroes, Madisons, Lees, Tylers, Harrisons, Carters, Randolphs, etcetera gone? Did they move to California?</p>

<p>P.S. The governor of South Carolina just offered every public university and college in his state the opportunity to go private. None of them accepted because they were all too undercapitalized. The privatization initiative is here to stay.</p>