University of Virginia

U-VA seems to be in repeat mode

The University of Virginia seems to be in something of a repeat mode, according to Inside Higher Ed.  If you have been following our posts on this drama, the head of the university’s Board of Visitors fired the U-VA president and then unfired her when protests erupted.  At a critical point, the state governor became involved with a seeming threat to fire the whole board, including the head, if the issue was not resolved. Now that the president has not been fired, neither has the head of the Board who the governor has now reappointed.  Inside Higher Ed has a…

Love Birds at U-VA

Those who have been following the University of Virginia drama of the firing and unfiring of the university’s president by the Board of Visitors (equivalent of the Regents) may be surprised by one aspect of the outcome. The unfired president and the head of the Board who led the charge in the firing are now – in public at least – acting like love birds. Exactly how happy the ending of this story really is will undoubtedly emerge once the media attention dies down. Inside Higher Ed has a detailed story today at:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/27/uva-board-reinstates-president-sullivan-and-prepares-strategic-planning-effort I guess all you need…[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ98qac2UIM&w=320&h=195]

Yes, Virginia. There is a controversy – and apparently a showdown tomorrow.

Inside Higher Ed carries two items on the ongoing controversy set in motion by the firing of the president of the University of Virginia by its Board of Visitors (the U-VA’s equivalent of the Regents).  One item suggests that a high-up underling – the chief financial officer of the university – was in cahoots with those members of the Board who carried out the firing.  See http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/25/questions-about-uvas-coo-strine-show-complicated-loyalties-administrators. The Board is due to meet tomorrow – possibly to undo what it did.  However, now it faces a missive from the state’s governor that says: “Let me be absolutely clear: I want…

The U-VA Story Ain’t Over

The U of Virginia story just keeps rolling: Nearly two weeks after Teresa A. Sullivan was forced to resign as president of the University of Virginia, a push to reinstate her appears to have traction. The Board of Visitors [equivalent of the Regents]announced Thursday that it would meet on Tuesday to “discuss possible changes in the terms of employment of the president.” The announcement follows a statement Thursday from the college’s deans, who voiced support for Ms. Sullivan’s reappointment. The Faculty Senate has also endorsed her reinstatement… Full story at http://chronicle.com/article/What-If-Sullivan-Is/132517/ The University of Virginia library staff is archiving materials…

Plots at U-VA

For those following the University of Virginia saga of the fired president, there is this from the Washington Post: Sullivan supporters plot to reinstate her as U-Va. president: Several members of the University of Virginia’s governing board spent Wednesday quietly counting votes and plotting a move to reinstate Teresa Sullivan after the popular outgoing president informed them that she wants to remain if Rector Helen E. Dragas resigns, according to current and former board members briefed on the conversations. Sullivan holds such broad support among professors that the Faculty Senate chairman held out hope that she could be reinstated following the resignation…

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E-Mail Detectives at U-VA

Inside Higher Ed and other sources have gotten hold of emails involving the University of Virginia growing brouhaha that developed when U-VA’s equivalent of the Regents fired the university’s president.  The vice chair (vice rector) of that board has now resigned.  See earlier posts on this blog. From Inside Higher Ed today:E-mail messages were flying among leaders of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia in the weeks leading up to the ouster of Teresa A. Sullivan as president of the university. The e-mail messages show that one reason board leaders wanted to move quickly was the belief…

Etwas ist nicht ganz koscher

An earlier post on this blog noted the surprise ouster of the president of the University of Virginia.  A report in Inside Higher Ed today indicates that the Board of Visitors (U-VA equivalent of the UC Regents) fired her because she allowed too much German to be taught.  “…One of the most specific disagreements between board members and Sullivan was their view that she ‘lacked the mettle to trim or shut down programs that couldn’t sustain themselves financially, such as obscure academic departments in classics and German.’  To faculty members and others at the university who have been puzzled and…

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U of Virginia Implements Strategy of Faculty Raids

An article in today’s Insider Higher Ed quotes U of Va. Dean Meredith Jung En-Woo of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: “What we wanted to do was take advantage of the very anemic environment that’s out there, [luring] very good people that would be difficult to hire in other times,” she says. At the outset of the economic crisis, many anticipated that the institutions that found resources could actually take advantage of the downturn. With extreme candor, Woo says that’s exactly what Virginia did. “The part of [the strategy] we think is wonderful is the ability…