Sullivan stepping down as UVA President

Follow the money. My condolences to all the faculty and staff who value academic interests first. One more example of the control that money has over our lIves.

My hope is that wealthy UVa donors will make their voices heard and stop this . Only they can make a difference. Sometimes being #1 is more than meets the corporate eye.

UVa failed to reach there overreaching ( in the face of ongoing economic uncertainty ) fundraising goal. And Sullivan is now being blamed.

Big egos small minds -UVa may be rich in dollars but poor in spirit.

" Oversized Check From Reality
January 5, 2012 - 3:00am
By
Kevin Kiley

In the last eight years, the University of Virginia raised about $2.6 billion in private giving.

Given the state of the economy, the volatility of the stock market, and the low rates of giving during the past few years, most institutions would trumpet that kind of giving as an outstanding achievement.

But for Virginia, the total is still $400 million short of the $3 billion goal the university said it would hit by Dec. 31 when it established the campaign in 2004. While administrators have extended the campaign until they reach $3 billion, the “Campaign for the University of Virginia” is one of the most high-profile fund-raising drives to fail to make its deadline in recent years.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/05/university-virginia-falls-...
Inside Higher Ed

My D is a student there, loves it, and told me this morning that most everyone there on campus is not a fan of the President. Her idea is to turn UVA into another sprawling Michigan or Wisconsin, which is not what Jefferson really had in mind.

And by the way Alumna, you won't be sending your D to UVA? Narrow minded and BTW, thought it was you D's choice, not yours. Another helicopter parent imposing their views.....

And if you read the article from Inside Higher Ed it is clear that UVa intended to roll out yet another over the top fundraising campaign and my guess is Sullivan said no - someone needed to blow the whistle on this out of touch - it's all about money university . Thank you Dr. Sullivan I respect your values and your decision not to go along with those who have dollar signs for eyes.

We should have seen this coming when Sweeney was moved to the lawn.

" He also said the effort has left the university in a good place for its next campaign, which will likely be more ambitious than the current goal and tied to the university’s bicentennial in 2019. He said the institution has created a cadre of significant donors in their 40s and 50s who will likely be in position to give more next time around, as well as a significant volunteer structure.

Sweeney said the university is in talks about several potential gifts of at least $100 million. He said an optimistic scenario would be meeting the goal by June 30.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/05/university-virginia-falls-...
Inside Higher Ed

Would the comnenter above list some of the women who have been run out of UVA over the past five years?

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that the next president has already been (secretly) named? It's Edward L. Ayers, currently (on sabbatical as) president of the University of Richmond. Doh.

Welcome back, Ed Ayers!

It would appear that NancyDrew has a serious axe to grind regarding our Governor (and perhaps Republicans in general). My guess: She voted for Creigh Deeds.

Oh Nancy, take the Occupy junk elsewhere please.

...and why is anyone surprised? Uva is a 21 century plantation that operates on the "good 'ol boys" network system. The university is a wanna be Ivy League quasi- government capitalist business...that hates diversity...especially AA's and women in leadership positions!
UVa outs anyone who get in their way and/or questions or refuses to support their agendas and their own economics $$$.

Nancy, I'm curious. If you are so knowledgeable about the situation, why are you spending your Sunday afternoon posting on the Hook.

UVA has lost its way -- if something doesn't change, it will end up morally bankrupt like its founder.

EJ -- if you look at the list from the UVA Commission on the Future of the University and google the women listed, you will find that most have been replaced. Often by men. There turn out to be many more than the four I know of personally.

In the 2010 salary listings for UVA (latest available) only TWO women make the top 25.

And how are women doing in UVA Leadership Positions?
Dean of Students – male
Dean, College – female
Dean, Medical School – male
Dean, Darden School – male
Dean, Law School – male
Dean, McIntire School of Commerce – male
Dean, School of Engineering – male
Dean, Curry School – male
School of Nursing – female
UVA Alumni Association – male
CEO, Hospital – male
Provost – male
COO – male
CFO – male
Development and Public Affairs – male
Investment Management – male
Human Resources – female
Admissions – male
Athletics – male

Dr. Christine Peterson 1, Dr. Teresa Sullivan 0.

Just the beginning..

Antoinette W. Roades: first-rate comment. Thank you.

The Old Guard on the BOV is watching as their numbers dwindle, and it turns out that Dr. Sullivan has a conscience after all. Looks like they finally realized that they had hired a practicing Catholic to run an abortion/medical misinformation infrastructure. And she was doing a pretty thorough job of replacing the Casteen/Sandridge goons with people who were not interested in towing the line of keeping UVA a partisan, liberal party school with a private militia in the UVA Police to keep bad publicity a secret. They made their move while they still have a majority on the BOV for the moment, figuring they have to get old school Ayers into her office before they all become dinosaurs.

The BOV says it acted on behalf of “the quality and care of our faculty and staff.” I think that faculty and staff wear white robes and work in the hospital. Face it, folks - the people who currently run the state don't have a problem with expansion, fund raising, alumni (many of them are), the VQR scandal, or building projects. But obviously they DO have a BIG problem with a publicly funded state university beheading infants, lying to their own students about "little" things like preterm birth and cancer, and not being able to produce a record of their abortion funding stream the last 20 years either.

It may not matter to any of you, but it most decidedly matters to the Attorney General, the Governor, the General Assembly, and - indeed - to a rather devout Catholic woman who inherited this mess and then was repeatedly told she had to tow the Old Guard's line.

Sean Cannan...notice that your abortion tangents still aren't catching on. That's not what this article is about. Counterfactual "scientific information" about abortion has an echochamber somewhere else.. Bye bye

Ed Ayers will never return to UVa. He is a terrific man with a clear eye on what is good for everyone, and had a deep and very quiet conflict with some deep power bases at UVa. My interpretation is that he was forced out and will never be asked back, despite all the overt good intentions toward him about which one hears. Go ahead, UVa--prove me wrong! I'll be the first to cheer about the news.

@ Nancy Drew and Ms. Roades: You are SO on target. Congratulations for your thoughtful comments. There's already word on the street out of state: UVa will pay dearly for this >>>> alumni with megabucks have already decided that $$$$ that was headed this way will go elsewhere. AND, don't anyone underestimate the underhanded maneuvering by the government in Richmond in this debacle.

As mentioned, U.Va. presidents have been expected to be primarily fundraisers since the early 1990s. I saw that Sullivan taught some sort of fluffy sociology class about managing work life or some such. That probably didn't go over well with the Board.

Sean Cannan is still delusional and solipsistic. Yes, Sean, all existence is about you and abortion.

Yes, Ed Ayers is the obvious candidate, if not choice. I can't imagine that the Board would look fondly on his doing the "History Guys" shows and whatnot.

SO ................ what were the health care disagreements, if not the very obvious ones? Because Charlottesville media doesn't cover something, a lot of you seem to think that makes it vanish.

I've talked to three of my eight colleagues this afternoon, and gotten a number of messages also. To be perfectly honest, this will take a few days to sus out. But we have a pretty good idea already. The nine of us running the Human Rights and Scientific Honesty Initiative at UVA will be issuing a press release sometime late this week or early next. But if you are so sure that Dr. was so enamored of UVA abortion/misinformation program - then tell us all what the health care issues WERE instead.

The math here is real simple folks. We speak to state legislators all the time. One of my colleagues was Delegate Kathy Byron's Legislative Assistant until just recently. Yes, I've got some info - but it not confirmed as of yet. Stay tuned, and check our facebook group wall is the best I can tell you right now. Do you local folks REALLY kid yourself into thinking that McDonnell, Cuccinelli, Byron, Puckett, Colgan, and Marshall had/have NO interest in this Initiative? LOL. Another of my colleagues - a UVA alum - is a field director for the democratic party. Talked to her an hour ago.

Is "health care" the whole story? Who knows at this point? But remember to DO THE MATH. Ms. Dragas herself has TWENTY DAYS left on the BOV, and THREE more of the Old Guard's terms expire on July 1 also - which just so happens to be the same that that Kathy Byron's Ultrasound Informed Consent law comes into effect. Well, guess who it is that will be replacing them (or re-appointing them)? Same guy who will also be replacing/reappointing four more next summer - which means he, THE GOVERNOR, will have put 12 of the 18 board members there at the table. That's how it works.

You folks beginning to smell the coffee yet?
No? OK by me. Not affecting anything anyway.

@NancyDrew: Understood about not taking political sides...I offered my closing comment only to connect the appointment process in alignment with the self-preservationist attitudes of most politicians.....enough protests in Richmond and publicly may help focus the target when it comes to the truth being "daylighted" in the weeks to come. The Governor has the ability/authority...only question is does he have the backbone to deliver a "surgical strike" as a one term Governor with future political aspirations? Toward your point of his prepared release, I assume in a normal reporting line as an appointee, Dragas at least gave him a CYA in advance but underestimated the overwhelming support of President Sullivan after this action. The action has been taken today....addressing the root cause is what can save the institutional integrity. This is only beginning.

@Sean

Can you possibly think that UVA has a financial interest in performing abortions? The reimbursement that the hospital receives for most abortions is miniscule compared to that associated with, say, coronary artery bypass grafting, joint replacements, LIVE BIRTHS... the list goes on.

Try reading something other than the Bible and your own silly screeds sometime. Try USING YOUR BRAIN (I know it'll be hard, but I have faith in you).

Flats, one of UVA's own deans threatened her own students (plural) by warning them that they had better resign from our managing board if they wanted to stay in UVA medical school. They and the rest of the UVA health system are indeed involved in saving many lives every day. I have many friends and colleagues also on the inside. I know much more about it than you I am guessing.. But the bottom line here is that they have deliberately killed almost 3,000 infants inside a state funded university hospital - and they can't seem to come up with any documentation proving that they did NOT use taxpayer, tuition, and student health funds to perform those killings. THAT is where they are really screwed here. As in, wonton violations of state and federal law for over twenty years. I have reason to believe that Dr. Sullivan did not appreciate inheriting this mess, and was willing to place it upon the laps of those responsible. But, again, this has ot been confirmed and I can only call it an educated guess at this point.

Nancy, the old guard on the UVA BOV is still in control. McDonnell has only placed 4 members thereon. There are 18 members if you include the annually appointed student. But 4 more terms are up in three weeks, and four more next July. Clearly, the Casteen/Sandridge goons had to make whatever move they could as soon as possible. As in, before July 1. Ayers is one of them, and they need to get him or another old guard candidate in Madison Hall before they become a minority on the BOV.

Thus, the suddenness of all of this - as well as smoke and mirrors.

Sean - health care issues = money . She wasn't raising money fast enough .
What makes you think Dargas won't be reappointed ?

http://www.virginia.edu/bov/tenurelist.html

@ Sean your link just proves Waldo's point . McDonnell placed 4 members on the board in 2010 and 6 members in 2011 = 10 members out of 18 that are McDonnell appointees. He already controls the board from my calculations

@ Charles, then why were her two top appointees men, Simon and Strine ?
And they came with stellar credentials will they be leaving as well ?
Many people will wake tomorrow in shock and we will see if UVa raises the remaining money to reach 3 billion and then announces an even larger fundraising goal, or if some wealthy donors will finally have had enough of over the top parties to make them feel important.

Where lies the soul of UVa ?

Indeed, there were four terms that started in 2010, and four more in 2011. So the balance of power is switching hands in three weeks. Nine of 18 BOV members were either appointed or survived since McDonnell won by a landslide.

Makes more sense now why this all happened so quickly. Old guard desperately doing what they can with what very little time they have left.

Never noticed before that Leonard Sandridge served on the board of trustees for the University of Richmond. Welcome back Ed Ayers!

Mark, Sullivan fit their prescription for a (anybody but another white male) caretaker/seat warmer for Ayers to hang around for 3-5 years. UVA profs with whom I am friendly have told me this. I had no idea about it - or even who Ayers was until they did. A few things happened since then:

1) McDonnell and Cuccinelli rolled to huge victories. Nobody at UVA saw that coming in 2008/2009. Casteen would still be president of they did.
2) Madame Sullivan also turned out to be a devout Catholic. This is a big no-no among liberally minded, hedonistic academic types.
3) Republicans rolled to big victories in the General Assembly elections also. Pro life comfortably took control of the state senate 22-18.
4) Sullivan was blindsided by the abortion/funding/misinformation mess. Didn't see it coming, and wasn't responsible for putting it in place. Was torn between personal beliefs and trying to get along with her new colleagues. Same could be said of the HB2490 bill. VQR tragedy also.
5) Sullivan replaced a number of high ranking people due to retirements and people going elsewhere. She did much to put her own stamp with her own preferred people on UVA in very short time.
6) She didn't exactly make friends and promote the Athletics Department. Not her thing. This effects fund raising in a negative way. VAF has power, make no mistake.
7) Perhaps most importantly, the old guard realized that their last chance to do something to preserve things was now - before July 1.

Just my 2 cents. I certainly can't think of any other health care related issue that would have had the BOV firing their own president to protect their own faculty and staff from her. Nobody else here can seem to even come up with a relevant alternate theory either.

2/15/11..

Sean, also "some friends of mine said this to me" has never made anything true. Someone pontificates something and it becomes true because you quote it? I don't think so. Next, you pull some abortion-centered theory squarely out of your bum and think THAT theory is gaining steam because no one else reached into THEIR bums and invented any alternative healthcare-related theory? Again, no dice. Finally, "hedonistic academic types"?! Really?! Are you one of those right-wingers who calls everyone with an education an elitist?

"Finally, "hedonistic academic types"?! Really?!"

I have a marvellous proof that will demonstrate that Sean is right on the mark here, but unfortunately this comment box is too small to contain it.

Also, my graduate students have almost finished peeling my grapes, and after that we're going skinny-dipping.

Plus, Sean still hasn't told me where I can sign up for his newsletter.

Sean - re #6 above, anybody that knows ANYTHING about Pres. Sullivan knows that characterizing athletics as "not her thing" couldn't be farther from the truth. Way to stereotype...and best I can tell, just make stuff up out of thin air for your own entertainment.

I seem to recall that Ms. Roades also had some rather pointed statements to make regarding Mr. Casteen in another thread about a year ago. She does indeed seem to know much more than I about the internal dramas that are inside UVA.

Perhaps she could be a bit more forthcoming now that this news has us all wondering just what exactly is going on. All I'm getting in my phone and on facebook is a lot of unsubstantiated stuff. This might take a week or two. Naturally, I'm really hoping Dr. Sullivan takes some parting shots and names names.

Having met President Sullivan, I am sure that she had philosophical differences with the Board when it came to Honor and crime. She was not able to contain her minions and because she was not able to rid herself of certain staff (Lampkin, Gibson, Davis, Kaplan, Rivers - just to name my favorites) she was set up to fail. Perhaps once she leaves Mr Jefferson's University she will speak freely about the challenges she faced.

The academic model v. the business model. In this as in everything
else the latter is winning despite its monumental failures
to perform well. Of course that doesn't stop its adherents from
claiming it's a superior "existential" (Dragas' word) strategy.
Maybe one class in the humanities would have helped
clarify!?

Reading between the lines, the outgoing madam president either could not or would not fuflill fundraising expectations set by the BoV. Her predecessor had the personality of a wet dishrag, but paradoxically, he was a skilled rainmaker. Money fell consistently and abundantly on UVA during his reign, um, tenure.

And money is what it's all about. Basektball coaches get fired and have their contracts bought out if just one wealthy alumnus picks up the phone to the athletic department and demands a change. He writes a check to buy out the contract and -- poof! -- the coach is gone.

People pulling the strings behind UVA wield ungodly power and influence over the school. You can scarcely imagine the extent of it.

The graduate business school at UVA booted the last president of the private foundation that runs the school -- primarily for his failure to meet goals for their fundraising campaign, but also for a grating & toxic management style.

Academics is just the mission facade at UVA. The covert mission is to fill stadiums full of money to purchase winning athletic programs and plump up the salaries of faculty fossils who no longer perform meaningful work, but whose past laurels (on which they now rest) still give UVA some sort of cachet.

Jefferson would have these clowns horsewhipped and run out of town.

Money and power: that's all it is.

It is contemptible, frustrating and sad, but not in the least surprising.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but I think Nancy and Antoinette are onto the truth: it's about money.

UVa is indeed, as Dragas says, in real crisis, and will start to see an even bigger exodus of first-tier quality faculty and staff. I think Sullivan's moves since she got here have also demonstrated that she recognized this is the number one issue. I think they agreed on the problem and disagreed completely on how to handle it. And yes, I think that disagreement falls along political fault lines. While this conflict between Dragas and the other McDonnell appointees on the one side and Sullivan (and the Warner/Kaine appointees ) on the other side may have been brewing for some time, the McDonnell people only got full control last year.

Moreover, the traditional profit-centers: Law, Business and Commerce schools are no longer able to subsidize the rest of the University - largely because the "market" blew up and is in terrible shape - anything building and real-estate based (look at what 'market sector' most of our 'business' people in the admin and on the Board are from). The medical center is profitable, but I don't believe it subsidizes the rest of the University.

I believe the McDonnell people - like so many on the right - have a fantasy notion of reality: how much money - how much of the budget gap - can really be addressed using the old revenue sources: endowment and fundraising. The reality is that the donations are lower because the donors are poorer in the recession, and the endowment itself is poorer because like the donors that seeded it, it's not earning so much in the "market". The McDonnell people - rather glaringly: Dragas and Craig (developers) - don't like to acknowledge the failure of the 'free market donation' funding system and the recognition that it will take tax dollars committed by the state to higher education (and not just at UVa) to fix this budget gap. And given the economy and the state budget, that will require raising taxes. That's not just to fix higher-ed, that's to fix VDOT and everything else. They want the benefits of an expansive state institution (increased UVa enrollments) without having to pay for it.

The "right" is determined that there is some way to do this other than raising taxes and providing state support - or allowing, as Sullivan (and better protected and ensconced W&M President Taylor Reveley) pressed hard for - tuition increases (the real free-market solution - let the market determine how much people are willing to pay for a UVa degree) - because they know full well the public will be furious. The cost of a UVa degree would very likely quickly get out of reach of most middle-class Virginians, and access would be limited, scholarships and Access-UVa programs notwithstanding.

I had a suite-mate (long live Webb!) my first year who, after we got assessed the $5 fridge-fee, branded UVa "Nickel-and-Dime U" and he was right; sadly, nothing has changed. But, we've reached the end of the road with 'tweaks' - there has to be a new revenue stream. And Dragas and Co, seem to believe the answer is in asset-stripping (the right-wing economic playbook, for the past thirty years), in this case the academic reputation of the University.

They'd like to tap into the lucrative degree-mill "online education" "market". They'd like to offer to sell a bit of the UVa pedigree/shine in exchange for a few on-line computer tests and a bunch of credit card transactions, and use that to make up the gap. And by the time - five to twenties years along - when the flood of UVa diplomas devalues the brand - they'll be long gone and will try to blame whoever the current occupant is.

I think Sullivan tried, on principle (and not having staked her entire career and life on UVa and Charlottesville, had that luxury), to speak truth to power: that the frantic efforts to deny reality and close the gap with extraordinary fundraising were simply doomed from the get-go, and that any move into the online space required planful, cautious and incremental moves. I don't think it's so much that she insisted on remaining academically active - I'm sure like so many things a president does those were to some degree symbolic - as it was that she simply refused to endorse a broken/failed approach.

I believe this has nothing to do with hot-button social-wedge distractions like representation of women in top level positions or - the entirely ridiculous - abortion. The notion that Madison Hall is populated even by the "old guard" who frowned on Easters while tolerating it is preposterous and a shibboleth of ignorance. The "old guard" who ran things back then are retired and dead mostly; the "old guard" who (appropriately) stamped out Easters (Sandridge) and have overseen the gradual decline and reigning in of the Greeks are also mostly retired. The fact that the last two real budget powers - Katherine M. Reed and Yoke San-Reynolds - are women, and the fact that women have held that role for years, puts the lie to the notion that UVa is somehow captive to boys. The abortion silliness doesn't even merit comment.

I believe UVa employees should expect more death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts to try to make stop-gap closures, while the teaching load increases. We should expect the push for on-line degrees to explode. The people running things have no notion that quality and quality control are what really underlie and provide the foundation for "branding" - they believe "branding" is nothing more than good PR, Advertising and packaging, and that it's an asset to be stripped for value. As great as JMU, VT, GMU and ODU are, they are not comparable institutions; yes, their intro to calculus and ENWR are probably nearly identical, but the quality of the student, TA and Faculty cohort is not, and diluting that at UVa (or WM, also in the cross-hairs) will not improve those two institutions.

Ok, this rant is insanely long. As an alumnus and employee, I do not believe this bodes well, at all. Yes, Dragas gets a chance to demonstrate that she genuinely means what she says about stopping the hemorrhaging, but I'm putting my money on it being a fine example of cynical double-speak.

To clarify an earlier comment about revenue sources, the UVA medical center contributed 44.3 percent to the UVA budget in 2011-12. State allocations accounted for 5.6 percent and student fees and tuition covered almost 18 percent. The rest comes from other comparatively smaller sources.

The med. center is overwhelmingly the cash cow for UVA's operating budget.

Source: http://www.virginia.edu/budget/Docs/Budget%20Summaries/2011-2012%20Budge...

@ non-resident: Yes, your comment is long, but thoughtful. And, I suspect it contains much truth.

Helen Dragas, the rector, and the carrier of the rhetorical spear used to slay the messenger,was a Kaine appointee to the Board. See, for example: http://uvamagazine.org/university_digest/article/university_notes

Nonetheless, it is true that Dragas is a UVa Darden school alum, and the Darden school is not well-known for open-minded, critical, reflective thought. Anything but (and sadly, perhaps ominously, the Darden school is partnering with the education school to push more of the so-called "data-driven business model" onto public schools).

What's interesting is that as Rector, Dragas had to come front-and-center and "explain" away the firing of Teresa Sullivan, and she did so in words that can – at best –– be described as opaque, and at worst as outright distortions of the truth.

Consider what Dragas said in a 20 Questions interview with the Darden alumni news:

* Question: "What characteristics do you look for in people?
Dragas: "Emotional intelligence, integrity, motivation and initiative."

Now, either Teresa Sullivan lacks emotional intelligence (she doesn't), integrity, motivation and initiative, or Dragas doesn't really believe in what she says when push comes to shove. Her statement shoved Sullivan straight out the UVa door (and down the steps).

* Question: "How do you unwind?" '
Dragas: "I escape to Albemarle County with my family. We have a 'no technology' policy there that we do a fair job of sticking to."

Ah, technology. On-line "learning." Virtual schools. A no technology policy for her family, and a forced, and flawed, technology policy for UVa.

* Question: "How do you deal with conflict?"
Dragas: "I seek understanding and try to encourage others do the same. Awareness and understanding go a long way toward taking the negative energy out of a conflict."

Perhaps Dragas should take the time to tell students, faculty, UVa employees, and citizens of the Commonwealth the honest truth –– in the spirit of promoting "awareness and understanding" –– about why Sullivan was pushed out as president.

@SusanR:

Right idea, wrong people. Further up the org chart to influence BOV action.

non-resident taxpayer -- how can you say that fundraising is futile. It is one of the, if no the, primary job of the president of any school. Some people are much better at it than others. It just isn't her strong suit. She has no background in it at all. They should have known that when they hired her, so it was a poor job of vetting by them. Perhaps they just thought they could bridge the 5 or so years she was intended to be president (she was always intended to be a bridge president) without a strong fundraiser in place, but that was foolish given the slashing of state support by the GOP legislature.

This was so well writtent hat I had to post it again:
Let's see... President Sullivan is blamed by some for a fundraising shortfall (during a recession) for a Campaign that was initiated well before that economic collapse by another Administration. In reality, her progressive thinking matches up with everyone except a Board loaded with inept leadership and spineless followers. The Board is mediocre not the University.

Yet, in response to the universal financial problems the entire planet is facing, President Sullivan directed the U to streamline to create financial efficiencies; proposed a new budget model that will result in increased funding for the Academy through incentives based teaching, research and service; actively and personally pursued unprecedented outreach efforts locally, nationally and abroad with students, employees, alumni, friends, neighbors and politicians. All of this happened in just her first and only 22 months! Madame President hasn't been still long enough since arriving on Grounds summer before last for anyone to accuse her of anything other than establishing priorities and initiatives to solve problems she inherited and for being selfless to the point of caring for our beloved UVa more than the BOV corporate pirates and political minions.

Shame on the BOV for bringing such dishonor to themselves and our once esteemed institution. This has harmed UVa globally for many years to come. Two years and out? T.J. would have kept TS and tossed the Board. Maybe our Governor will consider the same with public pressure. With such a contentious climate in the boardroom, what reputable and proven presidential candidate of sane mind would step into that rattlesnake den?

Red you're right I meant Nacy Drew (which was in your comment)

to 'Hoo from '92-

You're reading the budget incorrectly. The Medical Center doesn't provide 44% of the academic budget, instead, it spends 44% of the overall budget. The actual profit generated by the MC is less than 5% of the academic budget even if it went to that, which it doesn't.

My guess is - in the short term this will hurt their fund raising not help it, unless of course they name Donald Trump the next President of UVa.

I doubt that the majority of donors to the University had anything to do with ousting President Sullivan. My bet is that a few unhappy donors, either on the Board, or who had the Governor's ear, drove this bus.

Now we'll learn how the majority feels when they go for their next hand-out.

So, per Helen Dragas's statement:

"At the core of [Jefferson's] legacy is the quality and care of our faculty and staff."

I guess that's why none of us has gotten a raise in--what, four years? five years? If the budget cuts Sullivan was reluctant to make constitute faculty and staff "care," then please neglect us.

And don't misintrpret the growing presents of the Mooslims at UVA and in Charlottesville. Because they are every where around here! And because termenating a woman president is a neccesary first step to establishing the Sharia law.

The comments so far have served to show that we are still learning at UVA

Staffer June 11th, 2012 | 1:38pm

I am NO fan of Sullivan (way too "touchy-feely" for me). No, not everybody thinks she was great! My analysis of her handling of the VQR crisis was that she just wanted everybody to get along and not make a stink for good ol' U.Va. But I am curious what Dragas means by saying challenges pose an "existential threat." What the heck is an existential threat?
____________________________________________________

They need more money to pay faculty to remain elite. Otherwise they become just a regular school, which is an existential threat to what UVA was intended to be. It is not supposed to be aq normal state school.

She was great at doing provost duties, but they have a provost for that. She was poor at fundraising, and that is a huge part of the position. She will undoubtedly get another position at a very good school as a provost type. She seems like an excellent person and is really good at the provost/acedemic side of things.

Oh, please. UVA has a ginormous development department that winds up the UVA VIPs and sends them out to raise money. It's not like the President has to come up with her own fundraising strategy. Blaming her for an unrealistic development campaign begun before her tenure in better economic times is just bogus. They wouldn't have hired her if she hadn't been able to produce a fundraising track record. No, this stinks of politics, of the continued right wing hatred of education and critical thought and particularly of their hatred for spending tax $$ on higher education. Sullivan probably went to the BOV, who are just proxies for McDonnell (alumnus of that crackerjack institution of higher ed, BJ College, now Regent) and said "The well is drying up; realistically, you need to raise taxes to keep us where we need to be, and you only give us 8% of our budget anyway" and they freaked out.

Someone forgot to tell Dr. Sullivan that she wasn't "really" the president. The BOV are really running the show and you do as they say. I guess that's what they mean about “philosophical difference of opinions". I guess Sullivan had one!

Stepping down?? I suggest it was a firing...............................

still waiting to hear her list accomplishments

Fundraising is part of all colleges and universities and UVA's has been notoriously mis-managed for decades not the funds I speak of but the goals and various other backend items.

She was not raising money fast enough for the board. A quorum of only 3 people (out of a board of 18) was needed to accept her resignation. I also believe our governor had a hand in this all too. Many of the comments here - one thing we all know about C'ville - there is the news out there and then you want the truth - keep your mouth shut and listen...

There are no requirements for membership on the BoV. You do not need an background in higher education - you don't even need to have a college education. The Governor appoints the members according to his whims. What UVa needs even more than a new President is a a new way to appoint the BoV-a merit based process where members are selected based on their qualifications rather than their good favor with Governor.

No one can possibly meet the expectations of the BOV ( Governor) -
more Virginia students, low tuition, high donor giving (to make up for low state support.) Oh, and no new taxes, please, don't even ask, it will make the Governor look bad and he wants to be president someday and Cuccinelli wants to be Governor.

Good luck to whoever will replace her. It will have to be someone who is out of a job and needs some cash, let's see, fired bank executive or out of work investment trader . Just make sure it is someone who knows how to follow orders - from the Governor.

How sad for the faculty, staff and students. The BOV has given up a quality president and is looking for a lackey.

And one more requirement for the new prez to meet - direct from the Rector, Ms. Dargas:

We remain guided by Mr. Jefferson’s inspirational vision:

“The great object of our aim from the beginning has been to make this Establishment the most eminent in the United States.”

No one has mentioned that Sullivan and Elizabeth Warren, MA senator hopeful, we're questioned about scientific misconduct for a study they published. Maybe this was not part of the vetting process when Sullivan was originally hired and now that Ms. Warren is in the spotlight, the info came out.

@NoWireHangers - this comment of yours makes no sense whatsoever:
"Elections are only a few months away. Votes will speak volumes, and through the process, the community can remove this cancer that plagues us. The Governor, the AG, and the BOV can be replaced..."

Um, do you even live in Virginia? First, Governors can only serve one term in Virginia, so obviously the Governor would be replaced. But most importantly, Governor/Lt. Gov and AG aren't on the ballot until 2013.

"existential threat" really? Look it up.
Interesting choice of words.

Strine is now at the helm -- smells like a coup to me.

Pam how do you know Strine is at the helm ? He was brought here by President Sullivan and the Post article claims that the leadership team had no idea this was coming, that would include Strine.

@Pam, you're right the Post article says her duties have been divided between Simon and Strine but I'm not sure they will stick around .

From the Post :

“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.”

Mr. Jefferson -- ever the chameleon -- and however we all like to co-opt him for our own admiration and purposes... must be rolling over in his grave on Monticello to turn over the earth. I'll stop there.

As far as new candidates, the list of possibities is endless:

Barack Hussein Obama will soon be looking for work.
As will:
Eric Holder
Marion Barry
John Edwards
John Kerry
RFK Jr.
PuffDaddy/PDiddy
Creflo Dollar
Justin Bieber
Beyonce (our first lady's "role model")
Elizabeth Warren
Tom Cruise
John Travolta
Howie Kurtz
Joy Behar
Chris Matthews
Elvis
Elmo
Roseanne Barr
Rosie O'Donnell
Charlie Sheen
Cher
Bill Maher
Jeremiah Wright
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton
Michael Bloomberg
Madonna
Lady Gaga
Lindsay Lohan
Miley Cyrus
Bill Press
Axelrod
Pat Robertson
Howard Dean
Tim Kaine
SpongeBob SquarePants
Sean Penn
Alec Baldwin
Hosni Mubarak
Saddam Hussein
Moammar Qaddafi
Arlen Specter
A Teleprompter
Anthony Weiner

We could go on and on and on...

Democracy: a democracy accomplishes nothing (witness: Greece, or the current US Congress) I think you must mean Republic.

But you raise valid points. Which begs the question... who really is in charge of the UVA? Is it everyone? Is it no one? Is it the tenured faculty? It certainly is not we the taxpayers. And I hope it is not the hoity-toity, holier-than-thou tailgaters wearing green sportcoats and plaid ties and sipping Chardonnay who look down their noses at anyone who shows for a UVA football game in blue jeans as if "you don't have stars on your bellies!"

UVa will end up a ghost town as students go to places where
they can train for jobs and/or train their brains. Those places
can keep overhead way down since they are not going in
a million different directions at once and don't have to buy
into the b school mentality. Dragas' jargon laden totally weird
and meaningless epistle is so typical. What's interesting to me
is everyone I know right and left strongly believe this is a huge
black eye for UVa. The faculty may as well strike as they are
about to be replaced by computers.

There will be some follow-up in the Chronicle.

http://chronicle.com/article/UVa-Faculty-Push-for-Specifics/132211/

Now it's time for investigative journalists to hit the ground running, with the Goldman Sachs connection front and center it's time to follow the money.

Exactly what investments do the two former Darden graduates, now Rector and Vice Rector, Dargas, and Kington want the University to move toward, and don't forget who the third party was at the firing Hunter Craig.

IMO, Democarcy's comments are spot on.

UVA will remain the flagship University of the State - whether or not it is run openly with transparency. As one wo has challenged the leadership, I extend my sypathies to Theresa Sullivan. Now she knows how it feels to have Honor and Integrity thrown aside.

My advice to her is the same I have given all the hundreds of campus rape victims - do not allow them to silence you. If you remain silent, nothing will change.

One comment made me laugh "'don't turn Uva into another a sprawling state university".Wake up! Look! That horse bolted out of the barn under the great builder/Beaver.'Castor' Casteen. In infrastructure, the only difference between Uva and most land grant universities is that the land grants actually work and look BETTER (except for the beleagured Lawn)

Money and greed make people do strange things..... The undercurrent of UVA would make another great Grisham novel! As long as the student population turns over every 4 years, this large corporation can run anyway those in charge wish it to run.

Yep, Ms Russell. This is the way the big boys ( a few girls) play ball- hard ball. Was Sullivan soo lacking in vision or was so incompetent that it was needed to act into her third year? Or was this really about politics and personalities?

I meant ghost town figuratively (always the explaining). Rich
kids, athletes, and/or the connected especially will always be here.
The Goldman Sachs thing is
not so far fetched--it happened in the Nature Conservancy.
It's not dramatic because it's insidious and has been going
on slowly for decades in many sectors not just education. If
an education doesn't help people get a job why bother except
for learning for learning's sake. Is UVa providing either much?
Maybe none of it would matter except it's so expensive now
so the value of a UVa education needs to be carefully considered
compared to other places.

@ sara, This is so sad that one has to resort to hyperbole, so how's this?
To kick off the next capital campaign the Board of Visitors could announce that :
The Office of Presidency could have naming rights, so it could be called the Goldman Sachs Presidency of the University of Virginia.

I hope my daughter ends up with half the balls of Teresa Sullivan. Thanks for sticking to your values, beliefs and more importantly, your vision.

Why do we always hire "experts" and then "non-experts" (our BOV) fires them when things don't go their way. If it's about money, then hire an excellent development team. Terry brought the UVA community together.

Terry - you will be missed.

Maybe President Sullivan when faced with grandiose fund raising demands merely said, the emperor has no clothes and that perhaps the State should pay for its flagship university rather than corporatizing it.

The real issue is how BOVs are appointed. They are political payoff appointment for big money contributions to campaigns. These people don't know a lick about education or higher education. The BOV should consist of at least a majority of parents, faculty, and students. Then maybe the University governance would not be a political football and would not be vulnerable to the venality of the MBA types who now run it for the elites in this State.

Raise taxes, pay for the University and be free of corporate/donor elite control.

Maybe this is what Sullivan stood up for?

Not sure what to makeof this:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/11/The-Academic-Scandal-...

Here is much more discussion on this topic. Some of this discussion on the fourth page includes a theory that Cuccinelli targeted Sullivan for removal because of the Michael Mann climate change fight. After UVa's legal team defeated Cuccinelli in the State Supreme Court, UVa reportedly had the chutzpah to offer Michael Mann an endowed professorship to get him to return to UVa. That must have made Cuccinelli blow a gasket. UVa also recently asked the Va. legislature to reimburse the U. for the costs of defending themselves against Cucci.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/1351249-presiden...

Re: the Breitbart.com link, anything with the Breitbart name attached needs to be viewed with skepticism; it's all in service to the right wing/tea party agenda.

It's fascinating to see all of the personal agendas that are "thought" to be the "real" issue in this matter. What a wonderful way to get public attention to so many otherwise uninteresting issues.

Ms. Roades,

Excuse me, "centered on" your right to observe and not act. My anominity and your incorrect assumption about my involvement aside, please know I've not meant to heckle you or anyone. We are in agreement about the unfair treatment of President Sullivan by the BOV.

If you'll look back on previous postings by both of us, I've pointed out a few of President Sullivan's accomplishments during her brief tenure, as have many, many others. I've also offered actionable ideas to ensure this type of dishonorable travesty can be avoided in the future, however far fetched some may believe those ideas to be. Others have too.

You however, have focused on how the U has negatively effected you personally and while I regret that to be the case for you, the issue at hand is about the injustice to Madame President by several individuals that appear accountable to no one..

I know you've expressed your experiences over many years but the issue of President Sullivan's sudden departure, I believe, can be connected to a very small number of new individuals in positions of authority and shouldn't be attributed to rampant institutional appathy, corruption or community aggression. We've witnessed quite the opposite since Sunday's announcement. The UVa community, both on and off Grounds, is uniting to demand answers and if we don't keep pressing until we receive them, then shame on us as well. This issue is about governance of the collective, not about any of us individually.

among the facts that we can know with certainty so far, those that intrigue me are:

-- whatever the BoV did, it did not fire Sullivan but "persuaded" her to resign. This suggests something deeper than "philosophical differences." Had there been nothing but differences of vision involved, and even a vote to fire her for such differences, this decision would have been subject to significant public airing, presumably a drawn-out administrative process, and contractual obligations that the resignation avoids.

-- that agreement clearly included a renegotiation of the contractual terms that would, ordinarily, provide no severance package to the outgoing President.

-- such a scenario might ordinarily look like circumstances of malfeasance were uncovered, making the situation too uncomfortable for the incumbent President to remain in office while the malfeasance was investigated. The facts that (a) the decision appears to have been in the works for months without Sullivan's knowledge; (b) at least four distinguished Universities immediately made offers to Sullivan; and (c) no malfeasance was alleged in Dragas's statement, all suggest that this was not the case.

-- one of Dragas's main concerns was the speed with which Sullivan was not implementing important changes to UVa; she was asked to resign for going too slowly. Yet the process of hiring a new President will take months and possibly more than a year, under normal circumstances; these circumstances are no longer normal. The likelihood of implementing changes more quickly post-Sullivan than they could have been implemented with her--if they are changes she and other UVa constituents wanted--seem dim indeed.

I am trying to stick to facts and not to draw conclusions too far beyond them: BUT the only way to connect these dots seems to me to be that the BoV was exercising power, not judgment, in the sense that it wants something that many, perhaps most, of UVa community members do not want; that what it wanted Sullivan to do was contrary to her own inclinations so much so that she saw no point in continuing to be employed at UVa; that the BoV has little if any buy-in from other University constituencies for whatever plan it has in mind; and that whatever Sullivan's goals were, they were in line enough with higher education as it is generally practiced in the US that other Universities (all of whom have deep connections into the powers that run UVa) see her as a figure of integrity and good reason rather than the opposite. All of which points to something deeply political and likely quite contrary to what the likes of Berkeley, Chicago, Michigan and other top-tier institutions see as the mission of higher education in the US.

We've never seen, as far as I know, a good example of a clash between the Faculty Senate and BoV as sites of real power at UVa; what follows may be interesting.

Furthermore, the way this has fallen out has been quite predictable, and the attempt to hide it on a Sunday summer afternoon only shows that the BoV predicted it. How they think this can possibly lead to a *quicker* implementation of the unwelcome changes Sullivan was resisting remains to be seen. I await Rector Dragas's "vindication" of this catastrophe eagerly, but doubt it is forthcoming.

Need help please - so, typically a quorum is "at least five members of the board" unless there is a special meeting? and then 2/3's vote of Visitors Present? Wouldn't you think that this was an important enough even to have required more Visitors to vote?

http://www.virginia.edu/bov/meetings/BOV%20Manual/BOV%20MANUAL%20REVISED...

SECTION 2.33 SPECIAL MEETINGS—Special meetings of the Board may be called by the Rector or by any three Visitors at such dates, times, and places as may be specified in the call for the meeting. No matter may be considered at any special meeting that was not included in the call of that meeting except by a two-thirds vote of the Visitors present at the meeting.

SECTION 2.35 QUORUM—A quorum for the conduct of business by the full Board of Visitors shall consist of five members of the Board (as required by statute) except in those instances where other statutory provisions, as, for example, in the consideration of revenue bond issues, may require a larger number for the transaction of particular items of business. A quorum for the Executive Committee and all standing and special committees of the Board of Visitors shall consist of one-third of the appointed members of the committee, except that in no case shall the number be fewer than two members.

@CharlieSchm: My focus has always been on campus crime, so I'd like to add my 2 cnts to your point. Thanks for reminding us of her comments to the BOV.

I'd like to remind pople about the the timing of when she gave this speech - it came a day or two after she apologized to my daughter for having been raped on the campus, and ten days before the Virginia Crime Commission heard testimony during the reviw of HB2490 about campus rapes. The momentum of the Penn State scandal was front and center in all the papers and the Richmond Times dispatch had cover stories about UVA covering up campus assaults. George Huguely was still awaiting trial.

Several republican members of the Crime Commission did all they could to dispel the myth that crime (specifically sexual assault) goes unpunished at UVA. That's another topic for another day, but it shows the involvement between Richmond and the University. Sullivan did not allow her campus cops (or an campus representative) to testify to the Crime Commission - a surprise to all because their (mis)handing of cases was the reason the bill was created. I'm sure that did not bode well with those in power, especially since Penn State was all everyone was comparing UVA to during the Crime Commission meeting.

All of us are speculating as to the reasons why she is leaving. She inherited a lot of baggage from the previous regime. From my little corner of the word, it is clear to me the fact that she met with parents of campus crime vctims shows that she was open minded and wanted to hear what we had to say. For her to acknowledge that crime happens on her campus meant she had to deal with it, not hide it under the rug - a concept her predecessor and the BOV refused to do.

It will be very interesting to watch the rest of this story unfold.

@ the facts so far. Thank you for your well-reasoned and well-written analysis. I don't think this situation ultimately will attain the status of the Kennedy assassination conspiracies, but it is an intriguing mystery non the less.

Don't you know? The real reason she left is because she couldn't stand the heat that Sean Cannon and company were bringing down on her.

HA!!!!!!

By: TED STRONG | Daily Progress
Published: January 17, 2012
» Comments | Post a Comment
Saying he sees Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s attempt to investigate him for fraud as a move intended to silence climate change scientists, former University of Virginia researcher Michael Mann cast himself as a reluctant spokesman in the climate change debate Tuesday.

Mann, now of Pennsylvania State University, was speaking at his old employer Tuesday as part of EnviroDay, a research symposium.

Cuccinelli has been battling UVa for documents related to Mann’s tenure. Cuccinelli began his efforts in the wake of the leak of the “climategate” emails, which global warming skeptics allege showed scientists had manipulated data to show what they wanted. Researchers involved, including Mann, have maintained that the skeptics are taking quotes out of context.

Cuccinelli, a climate change skeptic, has said he is investigating whether Mann used false or misleading data in applying for grants.

The university won the first round, when a judge ruled that Cuccinelli had failed to specify what falsehood or fraud Mann had used in applying for state funds. The case is currently before the Virginia Supreme Court, with a ruling expected in March.

“The University of Virginia took a very brave stance against this yet again obvious effort to intimidate scientists,” Mann said during his talk.

He praised those who had come to his defense.

“The best way that I can get back at my detractors is by being the most effective advocate that I can be,” he said.

The university has been closed-mouthed about the issue pending the Supreme Court’s decision. When the case was heard earlier this month, the university released a statement that read in part, “It would be inappropriate for the University to speculate on the outcome of today’s arguments.”

Mann said in an interview after his speech that he expects there to be some manner of attacks against him “forever.”

“I think that a lot of us are worried that these attacks will have the impact of perhaps dissuading young scientists,” Mann said in the interview.

Mann was critical of skeptics, whom he referred to as “deniers” and “contrarians.”

“One-sided skepticism is no skepticism at all,” he said during the talk.

Mann did say that some advocates of the notion that global climate change is a problem have overstepped, linking specific occurrences to climate change in ways that the data doesn’t support. He compared climate change’s relationship to specific calamities to tobacco’s relationship to cancer: It can’t be proved that smoking caused a specific person’s cancer, but it can be shown that smoking increases the risk of cancer.

The debate our society should be having, Mann said, is not whether climate change exists, but how to address it.

Professor James Galloway, in his introduction of Mann, said climate scientists must figure out how such change works, what exactly is changing, why it’s changing and what the course of those changes will be, among other things.

Mann is perhaps best known for being one of the authors of the “hockey stick” graph, which shows global temperatures rising sharply in the modern era. Mann insisted that the graph is one of many pieces of evidence for global climate change, but said the graph has become a flashpoint after it was used in a report on the issue.

“I’m honored that they think that” the graph is the key evidence behind the theory of global climate change, Mann said.

Mann also decried what he called the “scientization of politics.”

Mann was speaking in front of a clearly friendly audience.

When he showed a photograph of Sarah Palin on the projector, the audience started laughing before he said anything.

Mann called for reductions in carbon emissions, saying that it was a matter of what sort of world will be left to future generations.

“Too often it isn’t framed as the ethical issue it is,” he said.

Voluntary measures alone won’t create the reductions needed to stave off dire consequences, but people can start with low-hanging fruit in their own lives, including driving less and saving electricity, Mann said.

Cuccinelli’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

@Mom of UVA student, I'm guessing this was a quorum of the Executive Committee, on the theory that it can act in the full board's stead -- there's a description of the exco's powers in your link. As you sagely imply, though, having the power to do something doesn't make it good governance. . .

Teresa Sullivan, "The Heart of a University," Nov. 5, 2010
"Because we are celebrating our top-achieving students today, and because we have their most cherished teachers and mentors here with them, I want to spend the next several minutes talking about the foundation of student achievement. That foundation, of course, is the student-teacher relationship.

This idea may seem old-fashioned, or even unfashionable. A relational approach to teaching is fundamentally different from what many people today consider to be education. Today, we have online universities, distance education, video-conferencing, webinars, and technology-enhanced classrooms. We've created a whole new language to talk about these methods of pedagogy. We talk about synchronous and asynchronous technologies for online learning. We talk about "transactional distance" — the cognitive space between a teacher and student in a distance-education environment.

I don't mean to suggest that we should turn our backs on these technologies. Innovation is a core value at this University. New technologies can help us teach and learn better, and help us reach greater numbers of students. One example: Our own PRODUCED in Virginia program, based in the Engineering School, deploys distance-learning technology to allow community-college students all over the state to earn an engineering science degree without ever leaving their home communities. All of our schools have programs that make effective use of new and emerging technologies. That work will continue, and it will continue to get more sophisticated.

But there is not, and never will be, a high-tech substitute for the supremely low-tech bond of direct teacher-student interaction. The fundamental teacher-student relationship is still the foundation on which each great student stands.

But there is not, and never will be, a high-tech substitute for the supremely low-tech bond of direct teacher-student interaction. The fundamental teacher-student relationship is still the foundation on which each great student stands....."

"To all of the great students, great teachers, and proud parents gathered here today, this is my Convocation thesis in a nutshell: the teacher-student relationship is the heart of the university. It's the heart of every university, we hope, but it's the heart of this University without a doubt. The Academical Village is our University's physical heart, and the student-teacher relationship is its metaphorical heart — the heart within a heart.

New technologies will come and go. Today's "state-of-the-art" will one day be "obsolete." Theories of pedagogy will fall in and out of fashion. What will remain is the essential thing: the eager student working under the careful guidance of a dedicated teacher. Mark Hopkins sitting on one end of the log and a student on the other. William Small strolling with Thomas Jefferson in Williamsburg, deep in discussion, some 250 years ago.

And today, here in Charlottesville, it is the student in the classroom or the student in the laboratory, working side by side with an instructor or researcher. The student in the College, the engineering student, the architecture student, the student of leadership and public policy, the student of business or commerce, the student in the School of Education, the student of medicine or nursing, the law student, the life-long learner in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies — all these students have teachers who will fix the destinies of their lives just as surely as William Small fixed the destinies of Thomas Jefferson's life.

Today, we celebrate these students and their teachers. Thomas Jefferson set a high standard for the students who came to his University. He wrote that he wanted students here to go on "to destinies of high promise." The students gathered here today have begun the journey to reach those destines. Their teachers and mentors stand close by, showing them the way."

Charlieschm- I quote.......... "The full board of visitors is not required to vote on the matter. The executive committee - which held an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon - accepted the resignation with a 3-0 vote." NBC 29

Skip does that apply even if they were using personal email addresses ?
And would an organization be able to access the server ?

I'm thinking that the Darden School should be renamed the Darden School of Cruelty.

@Citizen Party, "The BOV should consist of at least a majority of parents, faculty, and students. Then maybe the University governance would not be a political football and would not be vulnerable to the venality of the MBA types who now run it for the elites in this State." Parents, faculty and students all have special interest. Parents want cheap tuition, faculty members want higher salaries and students want everything. Why would anybody want them running a University? Parents and students know little about education and most faculty know little about administration. Very bad idea. We have people with their kind of expertise running city government and they hired a person with no credentials spelled out in the city manager's search to be the head of government.
For those of you who keep harping about Democrat and Republican, the Rector (2010) and Vice Rector (2005) were not appointed by a Republican Governor. Why would you think they were doing Gov. McDonnell's bidding? Idle minds often engage in idle thoughts.
@ShameOnUVA, "The UVa community, both on and off Grounds, is uniting to demand answers and if we don't keep pressing until we receive them, then shame on us as well. " So what if you are making demands. What's going to happen if they are not met? You and yours have no power over the BoV any more than the starving protesters do over the "living wage" crap. Do you suffer from delusions of power? Ms. Roades apparently does not.

Ms. Rhoades, I'm a huge admirer of yours, but in this case I'm afraid I can't see what your point is in making a fuss over another person's comments. I've seen no evidence of anyone heckling you. You are the one who has dragged that petty squabble on and continued to make noise that distracts from the topic at hand. Please stop and go back to being the witty and entertaining woman whose posts I usually love to read.

@Cville eye,

...Not a delusion of power but a belief in the impact of public pressure on an elected official (our Republican Governor with future political aspirations) that will readily "jump ship" especially if he knew about a plot prior to the action in order to look like a hero by not renewing the Rector's appointment since Kaine (a Democrat) appointed her to her first term on the BOV...Kington too, the Vice-Rector. The Governor can rescind a BOV appointment.

We may not have an impact in the end, but we certainly will not if we don't try.

Perhaps you should join your observant colleague and just watch. Words without action are nothing more than amusing conversation. Don't worry about writing me....write the Governor.

Since I do not know why Dr. Sullivan resigned, I have no intentions of writing to the Governor about it. If you, ShameOnUVa, have written to the Governor, would you be kind enough to share your writings with us? I shall thank you ahead of time.

Agreed that the next thing to watch is the Governor, and the declared gubernatorial candidates. Reputation matters and how could any of them sit timidly on the sidelines and watch any more of this. It's both a tragedy and now apparently a Darden-scripted comedy; but the BOV remains a state institution, not a private club.
Dragas got one thing right: online learning environments matter a lot. Go watch the Dragas video again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh6VsLByAXE). Does anything in it give anyone any confidence the BOV know what they're doing or talking about? At least, there's something unwittingly appropriate about the peeling paint backdrop used for the public statement. (Or simply google "Marcellus, the state of Denmark, Act. 1, sc.iv).

For those following this story, you won't want to miss this interview with former UVA President Robert O'Neil on WINA Tuesday morning, June 12. O'Neil speaks quite candidly here, on the record for the first time, expressing his dismay and disappointment over the BOV's actions. http://bit.ly/LBipvm

Great letter. Is there any hope that you will also post his replay? Do you think it is a good idea for you to initiate a letter writing campaign or perhaps a petition? I believe there a free online petition websites.

@Cville Eye

Thank you. Not sure if it's appropriate to post a verbatim reply out of respect for the position of Governor in response to my personal letter but I'll accurately paraphrase any reply here. I suspect he has writers to handle such unsolicited correspondence and probably will never see the letter but there should be some type of reply.

As far as a letter writing campaign, I encourage anyone reading any of these posts to write the Governor. Just a three line letter is enough. He's concerned about citizen perception for his career down the road more than lengthy letters. There are many,many far better writers here but if someone just wants to deliver a quick message, anyone can feel free to copy, paste, edit or modify any portion or all of mine above. Quantity matters, not quality. Politicians don't worry about the content of these type letters after reading the first sentence...they worry about receiving large numbers of them.

It's my understanding there are already several petitions circulating around Grounds....health system and faculty are two I know that will each have several thousand signatures.

I defer to your knowledge of how to initiate a campaign and wish you well.

Cuccinelli 2012!

Ah, Helen Dragas, the UVa Rector. She says she deals with conflict through "awareness and understanding."
Yet, The Post reports this:

"The campus erupted in protest at the board’s decision to remove Sullivan after less than two years, one apparently made in quiet conversations over several months. Faculty, staff and alumni are demanding explanations. But board members have said little. This week, they have referred calls and e-mails to the board’s leader, rector Helen E. Dragas. On Tuesday, two days after the ouster of Sullivan was made public, Dragas did not respond to a request for comment."

Sometimes, actions do speak louder –– and more convincingly –– than words.

And, The Post makes this point, which some commenters here have alluded to:

"Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) said last week in an interview that he looks for those who share his goals of reducing college costs, increasing slots for in-state students and making schools more efficient. ' If you’re going to have a new vision for higher education and you’re going to have new major reforms that you want to put in place, you need new managers to carry out that vision'. "

It doesn't take a while lot of reading between the lines to make the assumption that McDonnell was, indeed, involved in some way in the firing of Sullivan.

The Post notes that " the board is regarded as a relatively conservative and pro-business group. There are no educators on the panel."

And finally, The Post reports, "The board does have a nonvoting student, Hillary Hurd. On Tuesday, the Cavalier Daily student newspaper quoted Hurd as saying that the board’s decision on Sullivan 'will prove in time to have been a wise one'.”

Presumably, the plot thickens...

The world is watching and if the Board thought this move would elevate UVa to #1 there seems to be some disagreement.

from Dragas's statement:
“The great object of our aim from the beginning has been to make this Establishment the most eminent in the United States.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/virginia-trustees-should-open-up-...

I'll bet the question of the week for the BOV is - How are donors feeling about our decision ?

from Virginia Business

"The real issue here, in terms of how it will impact fundraising, is how will the donors react to the resignation? Are they okay with it? I know there are some concerns within the faculty about the decision, but how are the donors going to react?”

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/what-happened/319...