Gov. Tim Kaine asked various agencies and higher education institutions to prepare budget reduction plans of 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent Sept. 2.. As the semester comes to a close and the University prepares for 2009, officials are preemptively taking steps to balance the budget and get through the current tough economic times.

Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget, said the possible reduction in state funds from the University’s budget next year is, in part, because the recession has affected the commonwealth’s revenue base.

“Revenue collections are not keeping pace with the forecasted amount for the current year,” Sheehy said, adding that because officials in Richmond must balance the state budget, they need state agencies such as the University to reduce expenditures and costs.

In response to such a request, the University developed a 7-percent budget cut proposal that “will take $10.6 million from the University’s General Fund,” Sheehy said. She added that these proposed cuts would be in addition to cuts the University officially put into place last year. “That was a permanent reduction to the Base Budget Plan and amounted to $9.2 million.”

Leonard Sandridge, University executive vice president and chief operating officer, meanwhile, said the University has been proactive in seeking to accommodate the recent reductions in funding.

“Schools and departments have applied thoughtful strategies to reducing budgets dependent on state funds,” Sandridge said. “The deans and unit heads have made budget reduction decisions that preserve the instrumental mission of the University, protect services to students and avoid employee layoffs.”

Sheehy said revisions to the University budget are still ongoing. She noted that administrators are still compiling the details from each school’s reduction plan, which outlines possible funding cuts to a wide array of programs and services at the University.

“These budgets include cuts in salary costs based on decisions not to fill certain vacant positions, reductions to supply costs and decreases in professional development and travel,” Sandridge said. Sheehy, meanwhile, said the cuts will also cause a reduction in or deferment of maintenance for certain buildings on Grounds.

Sandridge said certain projects such as elevator maintenance and HVAC unit repairs are some of the few projects the University has placed on hold because of the state budget cuts. In addition to these adjustments, Sandridge said there will also be a reduction of custodial services as well as a reduction in landscape maintenance. Employee salaries, though, ­have not been reduced.

Sandridge added that more budget cuts could be expected in the next fiscal year, but noted that the University is unable to predict the impact such reductions could have on tuition in upcoming years.

“Tuition is affected each year [by these cuts] as cost increases occur,” Sandridge added. “For each dollar appropriated by the state for salary increases, the University must raise 61 cents from tuition with the remaining 39 cents coming from state taxes.”

Sandridge added, though, that the University remains committed to its AccessUVa program.

The Board of Visitors will be updated on the budget cuts in its upcoming finance meeting early in February.

“There has not been a meeting of the finance committee of the Board of Visitors since the governor announced the budget reductions, so there were no specific proposals discussed in the October Finance Committee meeting,” Sandridge said, adding, though, that the rector and vice rector have been updated regularly in regards to sources of University funding.

As for the University’s endowment, which recently has suffered in the unpredictable economic climate, Sandridge said he remains confident. In a letter written to the University community, Sandridge stated that despite the financial crisis, the University’s endowment continues to give the University the means to cope with reductions in state support and plan for the future.

“When the economic crisis hit in the late summer, the long-term pool invested by the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) decreased from $5.1 billion on June 30 to $4.2 billion on Oct. 31, which is a 20 percent decrease,” Sandridge wrote. In his letter, Sandridge also reassured the University community, stating, “while we know the University’s core endowment is extremely important to the University’s future and to supporting such initiatives as new academic programs and the growth of AccessUVa — funds from the endowment make up just 4.8 percent of the University’s $2 billion operating budget. We benefit from a very diverse set of revenue sources that stabilize our institution in times such as this sources that include tuition, state funds, sponsored programs, and gifts.”

While administrators use the University’s financial versatility to move through the crisis, economic concerns and possible funding limitations within academic departments were also discussed during Faculty Senate meetings this semester.

For these faculty members asked to cut down on unnecessary costs, reduced departmental spending could mean anything from not purchasing new computers this year or next to a shortage of basic supplies and classroom materials, such as a chalk, Senate Chair Ed Kitch said.

“And as a teacher, chalk is very important,” Kitch added.

Academic departments and schools have also been asked to not fill any existing vacancies in their ranks of employees, Kitch said, which will have a varied effect for the faculty; Kitch said there are vacancies in some places but not in others, making for a mixed picture when it comes to attempting to determine how much the state budget cuts will affect departments’ staffing.

“The bottom line impact will be [determined] very soon school by school and department by department,” he said.

Additionally, economic cutbacks could have a potential impact on proposed salary increases, Kitch said. The salary increase for members of the University classified staff that was set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2009, already has been deferred to summer 2009, Kitch added. It is unclear whether this will affect University employees’ decision to adopt the new employee classification system introduced earlier this semester, he said.

The publication of scholarly articles and copyright issues has also been a subject of discussion as a result of potential funding cuts, Kitch said. The publication of scholarly articles is a difficult problem that many universities face, Kitch noted, because when professors produce articles, they hold the copyright to that material, but in order to be published in a scholarly journal, they are required to sign over their copyright to the publication. Most of the journals are privately owned and based on a smaller circulation and charge a significant fee for an annual subscription, which is most commonly an online database, Kitch said.

“For people who are working in the field access to the journal will be absolutely essential, so the University libraries have to have copies,” Kitch said. University libraries then end up spending a large percent of their annual budgets purchasing copies or annual subscriptions to these research publications and academic journals, even though the University originally provided the funding for the professor to conduct the research in the first place, Kitch explained.

“Universities are paying for most of the production cost in the first place [for research and scholarship], and then they have to go and buy it back,” he said. As a result, many universities are encouraging faculty members to push back on the terms of their contracts for the publisher’s demands so they will have greater access to their own work.

“This has become a national issue,” Kitch said. The topic gained attention earlier this year after the National Institute of Health demanded that any scientific journal that publishes work produced by NIH must allow authors to retain their copyrights and make the research publication available for public access, Kitch said.

On the whole, “it’s a very complicated and very intricate problem,” Kitch said, adding that the Faculty Senate hopes to reach conclusions on the topic through the work of a task force and discussions that will take place next semester.

The Board of Visitors will next meet Feb. 5 to 7. Dates for the Faculty Senate meetings during the spring semester, according to the Senate’s Web site, are to be determined. Officials agree, though, that the economy and the state budget cuts will continue to be important on many levels across the University.

Although the current economic recession is affecting the City of Charlottesville, Mayor Dave Norris said that in many ways the city is better off than many other localities in the commonwealth heading into next year. The city will look to advance its affordable housing programs and pursue some new transportation efforts even in tough economic times, Norris said.

“We’re not looking at any substantial service reductions or staff layoffs … or tax increases,” Norris said, noting, though, that the city has frozen hiring. The biggest cuts will be in the capital improvement budget, which funds major infrastructure projects, Norris said

“It will be a tight budget, but it will still be a stable budget,” Council member Satyendra Huja said.

Despite tight budgets across the board, the city will continue its efforts to ensure all citizens have access to affordable housing in Charlottesville. There is still a great deal of work to do before that ideal becomes reality, Norris said, noting, though, that he believes the city’s efforts and projects will “bear some significant fruit down the line.”

Providing housing for the homeless and preventing foreclosures are some of the city’s main goals, Norris said.

“The good news is that we haven’t been hit nearly as hard by foreclosures as other parts of the state and country, but it’s still a problem here and there’s more that we can be doing to keep people in their homes,” Norris added.

Norris said the regional housing task force is addressing this issue. Comprised of city, Albemarle County and University community members, the joint task force represents the first sustained discussion among the three entities to address the issue of affordable housing, he said. He added that the task force’s final report and recommendations will be published in the near future.

While affordable housing was one of Council’s top priorities in 2008 and will remain so in 2009, it is likely that there will be a “pretty significant cut in funding from this year to next year,” Norris said. Huja noted that a majority of Council members do not favor maintaining the current funding levels, especially in the current economic climate. Huja, however, said he still expects the affordable housing allotment during the next fiscal year to exceed $1 million.

Another project in which Council has been heavily involved recently involves trying to create a regional transit authority. Both the city and Albemarle County have expressed their support for such an organization and are currently working for the state legislature’s approval to create the authority, Charlottesville Transit Service Director Bill Watterson said.

“The city and county have both passed resolutions by their governing bodies to pursue legislation to create a regional transit authority and have drafted legislation that they intend to submit to the General Assembly,” Watterson said.

The first piece of legislation would grant authority to Charlottesville and Albemarle to create a governing structure for the authority, Norris said, adding that he believes this proposal will “be pretty noncontroversial.”

The second piece of legislation would allow the city and county to hold a referendum to gauge whether citizens would support a local tax increase to support both the transit authority and other transportation projects such as the building of new roads, Norris said. This piece will likely “face some stiff opposition” because it involves potentially raising taxes, he explained.

Both pieces of legislation will be presented to the General Assembly during the upcoming session in Richmond, Norris noted. If both proposals are approved, the transit authority could be created as early as fiscal year 2009-10, Watterson said.

The current economic downturn, though, may affect the county’s willingness to apply funding to the project, Norris said. He added that the city is “very committed” to the proposal and said a tighter budget would not impact its willingness to budget money for the establishment of the transit authority.

Watterson also noted that the city and county are interested in possibly partnering with the University to develop a more efficient transit service. The best way to “make [transit service] a success would be for the University to partner with the city and county,” he said.

Rebecca White, University parking and transportation director, stated in an e-mail that there are “many areas” in which the Charlottesville Transportation System and the University Transit Service are coordinating efforts.

“For example, U.Va. funds a hugely successful program whereby U.Va. staff, faculty and students can show a U.Va. ID and ride any CTS route without paying the fare,” White stated. “Also, as CTS and UTS adjust route alignments, we have eliminated overlap and enhanced transfer capability.”

White added that the University is currently participating in a joint working group composed of city, county, University and Jefferson Area United Transportation Board representatives to advance the idea of a legislatively enabled regional transit authority. According to White, CTS and UTS have also worked together on various community initiatives, including Clean Commute Day, a commuter information Web site and coordinated transport to and from football games.

These transit improvements are one of many ways Charlottesville is trying to become an environmentally-friendly city, Norris said, including city investments made in alternative energy and the city’s promotion of “green buildings” and a “more robust tree canopy.”

“These are all very positive developments,” Norris said, adding that it “felt great” to receive recognition from several independent organizations in regards to Charlottesville’s sutainability efforts. The city has been recognized 12 times in the last calendar year for its efforts to become more “green,” Norris noted.

He added that, along with Charlottesville residents, University students have been participating in these green efforts this semester as well as in other aspects of community life. He cited Student Council as an example of student organizations that have taken an increased interest in Charlottesville issues.

“There’s a real commendable increase in the attention students are paying to local affairs, and that’s a great thing for all of us,” he said. “Too often students live in their own little bubble.”

Both the Honor Committee and the University Judiciary Committee chairs are pleased with the progress their organizations have made this semester and are already looking ahead to the spring semester.

UJC passed a bylaw this semester defining professionalism for its support officers and outlining specific violations of professionalism.
“I think these professionalism standards are so important because it’s [now] transparent to our support officers what standards we do hold them to,” UJC Chair Merriam Mikhail said.

Addressing a concern of UJC members and students alike, Mikhail said she believes the committee also was able to increase its transparency this year by releasing a variety of statistics at the beginning of the semester that showed exactly which standards of conduct had been most violated during the spring semester. The data also showed how many students had been found guilty and how many had been acquitted, Mikhail said, adding that the data helped break down preconceived notions that anyone who comes before UJC is found guilty.

“It shows that we do give a fair trial,” she said.

Statistics detailing UJC demographics were also released this semester. Mikhail said releasing information on the racial composition of the support officer pool in addition to what schools they attend is another way the committee increased its transparency to students.

“For the first time we showed the University who is on the University Judiciary Committee,” Mikhail said.

The Honor Committee also tried to reach out to the University community, Chair Jess Huang said, noting she was most pleased with the efforts the Committee undertook to reach out to students. This semester, members of the Committee began attending meetings of contracted independent organizations and athletic teams to discuss honor with a variety of students. Huang said the Committee plans to continue this educational effort next semester.

“I’m very pleased with the way the Committee has come together in terms of outreach,” she said.

Huang noted that a significant change the Committee made this semester was reshaping the roles of its educators. Previously, educators would work with the vice chair for education to plan one outreach effort at a time. The Committee decided to change that process by encouraging the educators to plan and execute their own outreach and educational efforts, allowing the Committee to reach out to a greater number of students.

“The new model has been working well,” Huang said. “I’m very pleased with the initiatives the educators have put on. The number of projects that we have going is really encouraging.”

In addition to outreach efforts, the Committee passed bylaws that affected its jurisdiction and jury selection. In September, a bylaw was approved to limit the number of days an accused student had to request a change in his or her jury. Accused students may now select a jury of randomly selected University students, a mixed jury of Committee members and students, or a jury of all Committee members. The Committee also passed a bylaw in October permitting it to investigate cases in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies that do not originate in Charlottesville. Under the old system, the SCPS center regional director investigated cases.

Members of both the Honor Committee and UJC hope to continue the progress they have made thus far until the end of their terms next semester.

Huang said the Honor Committee will begin to collect demographics data about its jury composition next year. While the data will not have any statistical significance during her term, she said, it will be useful for future Committee members. She added that the Committee’s new Web site will go online next semester and will feature a new video about honor.

Huang also said the Committee will continue to discuss a bylaw that was proposed this semester. The suggested bylaw would give University students who participate in the Semester at Sea program, are found guilty of an honor violation and are kicked out of the program the chance to stand trial at the University to determine whether they can remain in the University’s community of trust.

Additionally, both organizations will partner in the spring to continue fulfilling each organization’s outreach goals, Mikhail said. She said the partnership will hopefully allow the organizations to answer frequently asked questions about the organizations and to address any overlaps that may exist between the two organizations.

UJC will also discuss several issues the Issues Subcommittee proposed this semester. Mikhail said UJC will discuss the wording on a student’s transcript when he or she is suspended. Currently, the transcript reads “Enrollment discontinued” if a student is suspended, which is what the Honor Committee uses when a student is expelled.

Mikhail said the Issues Subcommitte may submit a referendum to UJC to define what a student is and when a student is officially held to the standards of conduct. She cited so-called “gray areas” where UJC has difficulty deciding whether a student can be accused of violating a standard of conduct. Rising first-year students who have just enrolled in classes during summer orientation or upperclassmen working in Charlottesville during the summer but not enrolled in classes are both examples of these gray areas, Mikhail noted. If a referendum is submitted and voted on, it will need two-thirds of the committee’s approval to pass.

Finally, UJC will continue its discussion about increasing the number of representatives in the College from three to five, Mikhail said. The committee recently voted to allow the Issues Subcommittee to draft a proposal as a spring referendum.

Douglas Emory Loyd, a University Information Technology and Communication faculty technical advocate for the Law School, was arrested Wednesday morning by the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. He was charged with three counts of attempted indecent liberties with a child and three counts of use of electronic communications device to solicit a juvenile, according to a Stafford County Sheriff’s Office press release.

University spokesperson Carol Wood confirmed that Loyd, 61, is a University employee. She said Loyd most likely will remain an employee until he is either convicted or acquitted of the crimes, but has been suspended pending the investigation.

According to the press release, Stafford County Detective Darryl Wells posed as a juvenile child during two months of Internet communications with Loyd.

“Loyd had been talking about having oral sex and intercourse with the child,” the release states. “Douglas Loyd set up a meeting in Stafford for Wednesday, December 3 for the purpose of having sex with the juvenile.”

Stafford County detectives staked out the spot where Loyd was planning to meet the juvenile and arrested him without incident at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the release states.

Wood said it would have been difficult for the University to have known of Loyd’s alleged criminal nature prior to or during his employment at the University. She also noted that it is often difficult to prevent a person who commits an act such as the alleged one from gaining employment at the University if he or she does not have a prior history of arrest.

“In the past, there have been several other incidents like this,” Wood said. “And I believe that in each of those instances, the employee was terminated.”

The University and its police department, Wood said, is currently cooperating and working closely with the Stafford Sheriff’s Office’s investigation. Loyd is being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, according to the release.

—compiled by Thomas Madrecki

A bicyclist traveling eastbound on McCormick Road struck a vehicle Wednesday night and had to be transported to the University Medical Center, according to a University Police Department press release. The bicycle was not equipped with a headlight — a violation of Virginia road safety law — the release states.

“In Virginia every bicycle, when in use between sunset and sunrise shall be equipped with a white light on the front emitting a white light visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a red reflector visible from a distance of at least 600 feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlights on a motor vehicle,” the release states.

According to the release, University Police want to remind community members to follow safety precautions and be aware that “both bicycles and motorists must share the road.” Bicycle riders should always wear a helmet, remain alert, make sure their bicycle is fit for riding and obey all traffic laws.

The injured cyclist was treated and released from the University Medical Center, the release states.

—compiled by Thomas Madrecki

When and why was the Office of Economic Development created?

The University officially created it about … two years ago and the impetus for it was goals that were established as part of the restructuring initiative … The University in addition to Virginia Tech and William & Mary went to the state for additional autonomy in finance, financial and administrative areas … The state in return asked that they meet 12 goals and those ranged kind of all over the place from ensuring access to ensuring quality to an increase in research dollars just to make sure that we maintained ties to the state. Well, one of those 12 goals was economic development, and I think it was felt that it was important to have somebody that was paying attention to that all the time. It doesn’t mean we weren’t doing it in the past; it just was probably hard to fill out to different people’s jobs and this brought it into greater focus.

What are the other goals and other missions of the Office of Economic Development?

Our main goal is to link the assets of the University with communities and companies to address their economic development needs — in a nutshell, that’s what we do. And that can happen in lots of ways. If you’ve visited the Web site, you’ve probably seen kind of lots of different projects and programs. We want to be good partners with the local community, with the state as a whole and we also, as part of restructuring, [are] committed to partnering with a lag area or a lag region … that [fell behind] in things like employment, income, maybe education. And since we have … U.Va,’s College at Wise … we decided that made sense for us to choose a seven-county southwest Virginia area as our partner in that.

How does the Office of Economic Development go about fulfilling those goals?

Thinking specifically about companies and sort of a traditional economic development model, you can attract companies to an area, you can support the ones that are currently here and help them grow or at least keep them profitable or you can grow your own … Supporting faculty entrepreneurship is one way that we do that. … Statewide, there’s something called the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and [it is] the state’s recruiting arm to bring in jobs to Virginia and, locally there’s something called the Thomas Jefferson Partnership for Economic Development and [it does] the same thing on a regional basis. I think they have somewhere between five and seven counties that are part of that. So one example of how we work with them is … we recently worked with the state and Virginia Tech to recruit Rolls-Royce to Virginia … so that’s kind of a new model that helps people see how universities and economic development work together. Our relationship with Virginia Tech was a big draw for Rolls-Royce and helping them decide to land their jet engine facility in Petersburg, [Va.] So they want access to highly trained workers and they want access to research. They don’t really have a large [internal research and development program], they work with the universities to get that … And, the trend lately has been to outsource more of that because it’s very expensive to keep scientists … on-staff and support the facilities so now companies are finding that if they can tap into that through universities or small start-ups, then that’s a better way for them to go. So, everybody got something out of this deal. The state got Rolls-Royce to come to Virginia and bring some really good-quality, high-paying jobs. Rolls-Royce gets access to the research at the … Engineering [School] here at U.Va., the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech and the [University’s] … Commerce [School]. And there’s money for sponsored research, there’s money for student internships, there’s money for faculty members. All those things are ways that the University certainly can grow and improve so everybody won on that deal.

What are your duties as director of economic development?

I think probably, most concisely, just to serve as [the University’s] primary point of contact for economic development-related matters and that’s, you know, with community groups and corporate groups … We work with the county of Albemarle, we work with the Small Business Development Center. So any of those groups that — the Chamber of Commerce — any of those groups that want to partner with the University, I can help them get to the places they need. And the same with companies, if the companies want to hire students, I can point them in the direction of career services. If they want to sponsor some research in a particular area, I can help them find the right faculty member. If they want to get some advice on how to run their business, we can direct them to the … Commerce [School] or the Darden … School … both of which have executive education programs and consulting faculty to assist with things like that.

How does the Office of Economic Development go about creating and facilitating research projects as well as community and industry partnerships?

…What we do is really develop relationships with the groups that can put these pieces together — so knowing the people, knowing the agencies or the resources, having a good idea of what we have to offer at the University and knowing what else is out there in the state, the region, the country and making sure we’re clear on what each group’s goals are so that as we move forward in a partnership everybody is getting something out of it, because that’s really critical to any successful collaboration.

Could you please tell me about the T100 Alumni Mentoring Program?

This is a pretty neat program and it’s … unique. We’ve been looking and we haven’t found another program like it in the U.S. It was the idea of … an [alumnus] named George McCabe who recognized that there were a lot of young alums out there like himself that had achieved a certain measure of success in the technology world and that they wanted to give back to the University and in ways that involved more than just writing a check, and so what we are able to do through his leadership is put together teams around faculty startups so these could involve alumni [who] are lawyers, marketing people, [and venture capitalists] to help them find money … And this group of three to five mentors gets together with the faculty startup once a month and they have an hour-long conference call and they talk through the issues, they talk through the goals of the company. They help them identify next steps and what they need to do, what milestones they need to achieve to keep their company moving forward and they serve as sort of a pre-board of directors as these companies are getting up and running and advice — a source of advice — a sounding board. They open their Rolodexes, they’ve provided a number of valuable connections. They review documents, they just really do an extraordinary amount for these companies in addition to donating $3,000 to the program, which we then turn back to the company in the form of grants to help them do things like set up a Web site or if they need to hire somebody to do a marketing analysis … they as a group decide is needed to get them to the next step.

Could you please describe the partnership with the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority?

[It is] the agency in Southwest Virginia that we work closely with to make sure that we’re working on the right projects that are going to be of value to the community and make sure they’re in line with what’s already happening … We were sort of starting from scratch, there [were] just a few lines in the legislation talking about stimulating economic development so it was quite broad. And as a result of the number of focus groups, interviews and visits with key leaders in the area we came up with three focus areas that we thought made sense based on what we heard the needs were and based on what we were able to offer as a university. So one was access to health care, one was K-12 support and the third was business support. And, you know, at first glance some people may wonder how access to health care is related to economic development, and if you look at the old model where it’s just about creating jobs, it is hard to see that connection. But when you think about what the employers really need when they’re considering establishing a base in a region or expanding their operation, they need healthy workers … [An organization called] Remote Area Medical Clinic [goes] all over the world. They go to jungles of Africa and South America and bring in a team of doctors and nurses for a finite period of time, whether it’s a couple days or weeks and provide health care. Well, they’ve been doing that in Wise for six or seven years at the Wise County Fair Grounds and it’s amazing to see the number of people that come the night before. They spend the night in their cars so that they can get in line to see a doctor or a dentist. VCU brings up a big team of dentists, we send a big team of doctors and nurses, there [are] a number of other groups that contribute and volunteer that effort. And I think we all recognize that while that was that was very valuable work and extremely appreciated, it was really just a Band-Aid and to help provide additional access, you know, throughout the year, not just for a weekend in July. We’ve been exploring ways that we can really extend our health services to that area. [Pediatrics Prof.] Karen Rheuban has been working with telemedicine efforts in that area for years and years and years. Our pediatric group, our neurology group have been seeing patients in that area at speciality clinics for decades. And so we’re trying to figure out what other models we can use because telemedicine is great but having in-face person-to-person contact is obviously ideal. So we’ve started through the help of some funding from the President’s Office and also some funding that we’ve received from the Tobacco Commission … So this is just getting started, and the idea is for these to come down three or four times a year. The doctors would see the patients, do a lot of screening, help train some of the workers in the area to do some of the procedures and really kind of build the capacity in that area and then follow up with the patients in between visits in telemedicine. And working with local doctors, a lot of them are general practitioners who do things called tumor boards where the doctors can get together via a satellite link and look at X-rays together and look at MRIs, talk about what pathology slides revealed and make recommendations about treatment. So it’s not just about bringing them all up to Charlottesville to get treated, which is what happens with a lot of the patients, but to help, you know, build the infrastructure in the area that people can get served in their region and just continue providing whatever support and expertise that we have that we can.

What are some of the University’s most recent start-up enterprises and companies?

There are a couple that might be [of] interest. The one that’s gotten a lot of press lately is a company called Adenosine Therapeutics, and that’s not a new startup, but the reason people are excited about it is because it’s a very successful startup, and the success rate is not great for any new ventures I think, it’s between 40 and 70 percent for any new business not necessarily tied to a university. This is a company that’s been around for a number of years. It’s based on the research of faculty members at U.Va. and [it was] recently bought by a company called Clinical Data, which is a global biotech firm. It’s a good model because over the years as the company was ramping up, [it] used knowledge that was created in the labs at U.Va., went into the company where [employees] were developing real-world applications for extending this out in the community — they were taking the information they got during that application process to then feed back into the lab. It was sort of a circle, an iterative circle between the basic research happening in the lab and the implied research happening in the company. And over the years, Adenosine sponsored more than a million dollars worth of research at U.Va. and have a number of licenses from the University, so it’s a nice circular iterative process, which we like to see.
…One of my favorites is PluroGen, which was started by [Plastic Surgery Profs.] Adam Katz … and George Rodeheaver … They have both developed a product … [that is] a topical antimicrobial cream. They’ve been using their own concoction on patients for years in the burn unit and they found that it really did a nice job of healing the skin better than anything else they could find on the market. And at some point somebody decided that maybe they ought to be looking into commercializing this so it could be available more broadly …

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

I guess something that we sort of started with … combining forces and looking at new ways of partnering with communities and companies, not just to help them, but to help us. We learn a lot as we’re doing this. Again, it reinforces our knowledge, it creates new knowledge and it helps both parties. … I think the communities are really starting to realize that universities are a great asset. Just by sort of sitting here we contribute to the Charlottesville [Metropolitan Statistical Area], … through paychecks, the payroll, it’s through paying for the construction of new facilities, visitors who come in who spend money at the restaurants, the shops, hotels — that’s sort of half of it, that sort of is just the impact based on being here. But the economic development piece is a much more proactive, directed approach and the people like [at] Rolls-Royce [who] are very interested in cutting-edge technology and research that’s coming out of the universities are looking at universities in a new way. And I think economic developers across Virginia and across the country are looking at universities in different ways as a real partner and working with companies. It used to be about, you know where can you find the cheapest land, where can you find the cheapest labor so that traditional manufacturing companies could be profitable. That’s no longer the model; it’s really more about helping the companies find high-skilled workers and access to cutting-edge knowledge. They’re going to base their decisions on where to locate or expand based on how easily they can access that and so I think people are recognizing that higher [education] can be a really critical asset in attracting new investment.

Conducted by Stephanie Kassab

At this point in the season, the Virginia men’s basketball team is right where it should be.

The Cavs’ 3-3 record is certainly not pretty. It puts them squarely in last place in the ACC, and they now have two long weeks off for final exams to think about it.

And indeed, dead last is the appropriate slot for Virginia, right? It’s where the ACC media picked them preseason.

That is not, however, where I picked Virginia:  I had them 11th. A bold prediction, I know.

But then again, it is rather bold. Most people aren’t even giving Virginia a chance to compete in the conference; I, however, am suggesting that they can.

And after what I saw the past two days, I’m sticking to it. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Strength of schedule: Everyone in the ACC must deal with the ACC/Big 10 Challenge early in the season. Virginia, however, was the only team that had to play a Syracuse team four nights before that was fresh off two straight wins against ranked opponents.

And, of course, the ACC/Big 10 Challenge was no treat, either. Minnesota is no Michigan State, but nor is it Northwestern, who Virginia had the pleasure of throttling by 42 points last season at John Paul Jones Arena. Throw in the fact that the Cavs were playing in Minneapolis, and we’ll say they broke even in the drawing for this year’s opponent in the Challenge.

With that in mind, let’s now consider how they fared in the two games. Certainly, 0-2 doesn’t invite optimism; I can picture Virginia coach Dave Leitao now saying something about how it’s hard to be encouraged by anything after a loss.

From the standpoint of a competitor, I always understand that perspective; but of course there is such thing as a silver lining.

Indeed, the Cavs very nearly stole one from Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, and that is certainly worth something. In the first half of that game, Virginia shut down one of the best point guards in the country in Jonny Flynn on its way to a 13-point lead. It took lights-out shooting by the Orange and two of Virginia’s hottest-playing guards to get in foul trouble — freshmen Sammy Zeglinski and Sylven Landesberg were both forced to the bench in the second half — for Syracuse to scurry away with a 3-point win.

What about the loss to Liberty the game before, you say? Admittedly, like you fans out there, I was considering the possibility that night that Virginia could go winless in ACC play. The Flames shot a ridiculous 69.6 percent in the second half on their way to an 86-82 win. It would appear that if Liberty can find holes in Leitao’s defense, Virginia might as well throw in the towel in the conference.

But, Virginia’s performance against Syracuse shows that the Cavs can hang in with a premier opponent. Chalk that Liberty embarrassment up to youth and give a little credit to Liberty’s Seth Curry, the brother of Stephen Curry of Davidson and the one who put up 26 points against Virginia. If another Curry comes around, perhaps teams from the major conferences will figure out that maybe they should recruit him.

But that’s a tangent; the point is, Virginia is young and still figuring itself out, and playing against a Curry certainly spiced things up.

2. Freshmen who can play: While Landesberg has gotten most of the attention as Virginia’s leading scorer, Zeglinski is quickly becoming a fan-favorite, and for good reason. He is filling Virginia’s obvious need for a point guard and then some. While he is easily the best ball-handler on the team and hits the open jumper as a starting point guard should do, he has also shown the ability to get into the lane and create. Defensively, he is an annoyance to the opposing team’s point guard in a similar fashion to Singletary last season.

Throw in the 7-foot, hustling freshman center Assane Sene ­— who has started the last two games after he was ineligible early in the season because of problems with pre-college enrollment — and Virginia has gotten some contributions from the youth.

3. Jerome Meyinsse: He is a reason unto himself because he deserves it — against Syracuse, the junior nearly put up double-double numbers while coming up with huge offensive rebounds in the second half, keeping Virginia in the game despite a stagnant offense. Though undersized, Meyinsse does not look overwhelmed as he did at times in his first two seasons.

With Sene, Meyinsse and the experience of 6-foot-11 senior center Tunji Soroye at the five, and a versatile, rebounding fiend in Mike Scott at the four, Virginia’s bigs are still far from anything to brag about. It appears, however, that they can at least hold their own.
So, Virginia is 3-3. Already, I have seen fans who, if they haven’t cashed it in for this season, have at least opened the register. And frankly, if you’re one of these people, you’ve got good reason.

On the other hand, it looks like Virginia’s season might not be a train wreck. That, in my book, is reason enough to stay tuned.

The roller coaster ride that was the 2008 Virginia football season came to an end Saturday when the Cavaliers lost to Virginia Tech to finish the season 5-7 and bowl-ineligible for the second time in three seasons. Unlike the 2006 season in which Virginia showed some promise in the month of November, the Cavaliers faulted down the stretch and lost their last four games in a season for the first time since 1982.

When the season started, the Cavaliers were dealing with a lot of uncertainty. Not only did off-the-field issues plague the football team, but Virginia fans did not know who the starting quarterback would be for the season opener against Southern California. As it turned out, sophomore quarterback Peter Lalich earned the starting nod, and he did not have a great outing, completing 18 of 35 passes for 155 yards with an interception. Virginia was embarrassed by its 52-7 loss, which set a tone for a turbulent September.

After looking less than impressive in a 16-0 victory against a Richmond squad led by former defensive coordinator Mike London, the Cavaliers then faced a big blow when Lalich violated the terms of his probation. He would not travel with the team to Connecticut, where sophomore quarterback Marc Verica started, and the Cavaliers lost to the Huskies 45-10. Lalich would be dismissed from the team before Virginia took on Duke. What has been a victory for ACC teams ended in disaster for the Cavaliers as they lost 31-3 to become Duke’s first ACC victim in the Blue Devils’ last 25 ACC games. With the hot seat squarely under Virginia coach Al Groh, he and his team needed an October to remember, and that’s exactly what happened.

Under the primetime lights, the Cavaliers played by far their best and most spirited game of the season in a 31-0 victory. Verica was very efficient, completing 25 of 34 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns while also providing a rushing touchdown. The defense held the Terps to 79 yards on the ground, and the win gave the Cavaliers confidence going into the East Carolina game. Just as the Cavaliers seemed to be letting the Pirates get into the game, however, the Cavaliers scored on a fake field goal when senior quarterback Scott Deke threw a touchdown pass to senior tight end John Phillips giving Virginia the 35-20 victory.

When Virginia seemed dead in the water against North Carolina, down 10-7 late in the game, Verica led the Cavaliers on a beautiful drive across the field, capped by senior running back Cedric Peerman’s touchdown with 47 seconds left. Peerman also scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime as Virginia upset then-No. 18 North Carolina 16-13. The Cavaliers made another statement the following week when they went on the road and upset then-No. 21 Georgia Tech 24-17. The competitive nature the team displayed is something that senior linebacker Clint Sintim noted that the team did throughout the year.

“Every game we’ve played, with the exception of USC and UConn, was a competitive game — we could have won those games,” Sintim said. “We were a very competitive team this year. Obviously, we didn’t come through when we needed to, but this team was very competitive.”

The Cavaliers, at 5-3 and 3-1 in conference, were in control of their destiny in the ACC but would come crashing back to earth in November. During homecoming against Miami, Hurricane quarterback Jacory Harris led his squad on a 15-play, 95-yard march down the field to tie the game with 55 seconds left. After a costly Verica fumble caused the game to go into overtime, Miami scored a touchdown on its possession in the first overtime. Peerman fumbled on the first play of Virginia’s turn and the Hurricanes recovered, handing Virginia a heartbreaking 24-17 loss.

The following week, Virginia looked flat in the first half against the Demon Deacons in a 28-17 loss. Miraculously, the Cavaliers still had a chance to win the Coastal Division, but those dreams were squashed when Verica had his second consecutive three-interception game in a loss to Clemson on senior night 13-3. Facing Virginia Tech with bowl eligibility on the line, the Cavaliers unleashed Vic Hall in a formation similar to the Wildcat popularized by the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Hall provided two rushing touchdowns, but a costly Verica interception late in the fourth quarter sealed the Cavaliers’ fate in a 17-14 loss that cost a bowl bid. Verica realizes that while he did some good this season, he made some mistakes that must be fixed in 2009.

“There’s a lot of good things to build off of and be excited about for the future,” Verica said. “At the same time, there’s a lot of things to learn from, a lot of mistakes — decision-making, things like that — just a lot of things to really try and improve upon in the future. If those things can be eliminated, and we continue to do the good things, we should do pretty well.”

Looking back on the season, Groh realizes that what the Cavaliers went through in the last month was tough but hopes his players learned some lessons.

“It’s difficult,” Groh said. “Hopefully a lot of players learned that it’s an interception here, a missed tackle there [that can make a difference].”

As far as whether Groh will return, Sintim said, “he’s definitely back. I don’t feel as though he didn’t do everything he possibly could to help this team out.”

For many Virginia students, Winter Break is a time for rest and relaxation to recover from a difficult semester. Not so for the Virginia women’s basketball team.

The team will play seven games during break, excluding yesterday’s game against Illinois and tomorrow’s game against East Carolina; however, the Cavaliers are staying focused on the tasks at hand and approaching one game at a time.

“We’re not going to talk about any [one] game right now,” senior center Aisha Mohammed said. “So when the time comes to play those games, we’ll talk about it and we’ll work on it.”

Virginia will kick off Winter Break at home against Monmouth and Mount St. Mary’s, two smaller schools that are not to be taken lightly. Monmouth sits at 4-2 and is led by senior forward Jennifer Bender, who boasts a scoring average of 19.4 points per game and also leads her team with 9.2 rebounds per game. Mount St. Mary’s is 3-2 on the year, having most recently suffered a heartbreaking 55-54 loss to Loyola (Md.).

Virginia continues its home stand with the Marriott Cavalier Classic, where it will face Rider and the winner of the Louisiana Tech/University Maryland-Baltimore County game.

Virginia will then face Georgia (7-1) on the second day of the new year in what figures to be the most competitive game of break. Georgia has proven to be a streaky team thus far after opening at No. 25 in the rankings. Georgia blasted teams such as Alabama State and N.C. Central by large margins, but the team barely scraped by in a 64-61 victory against Oakland and suffered a stunning upset at the hands of little-known Detroit Mercy, 70-66. The Bulldogs have since regained their dominant form but will be tested as they enter a far more difficult stretch of their schedule.

The Cavaliers will wrap up Winter Break with a game against St. Francis (1-5) before kicking off ACC play against Wake Forest (6-0) Jan. 11. Though the Demon Deacons have not been seriously challenged in their first six games of the year, Wake has proven capable of spreading the ball around, because three of its players have scoring averages in double figures.

For their part, the Cavaliers are practicing how better to spread the scoring load and ease the burden on junior guard Monica Wright, who is leading the team in scoring with 21.4 points per game.

“I think it’s just something that happens,” freshman forward Chelsea Shine said. “Obviously, we all know we can’t be putting that burden on her. She’s the leader and she likes that role and takes that role so she does sort of step up, and we know that we can expect that from her. But at the same time, we know that we can’t just sit back and let Monica do everything, because it’s obviously not fair and that’s not how a team works.”

Other than Wright and senior center Aisha Mohammed, who is averaging a double-double with 13 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, Virginia will look to talented freshman forward Chelsea Shine and freshman guard Whitny Edwards for points. Each averages more than 9 points and four rebounds per game.

Luckily for the Cavaliers, they will not have to travel during break, as every game is being held in the friendly confines of John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia will need all the momentum it can muster from its holiday home stand, though, because it will face a stiff test in its first game back from Winter Break. Jan. 16 will find Virginia at ACC power and current No. 2 team in the country, North Carolina, in what should be a telling contest for the rest of Virginia’s season.

Looking back on the 2008 Virginia men’s soccer season, one can come away with only one clear conclusion: It was like no other season in recent memory. Not only did Virginia start more freshmen players, but one true freshman and one redshirt sophomore ­— both of whom were injured for most of the season — led the team in scoring. The Cavaliers, who finished the season with a 11-9-1 (4-4 ACC) record were defeated 2-0 by Connecticut last Tuesday, ending the young team’s season.

Despite its youth, Virginia managed to achieve more than it probably could have hoped for. The Cavaliers reached the NCAA Tournament for the 29th straight year — the longest active streak in the NCAA — and played well enough to earn a first-round bye and the tournament’s 10th overall seed. Virginia also pulled off an amazing run in the ACC Tournament, in which the Cavaliers knocked off heavyweights Duke and then-No. 1 and undefeated Wake Forest to reach the conference championship game.

Junior goalkeeper Michael Giallombardo said he has few regrets about the Cavaliers’ campaign.

“I think it was a good season,” Giallombardo said. “Any time you can put as many freshmen on the field as we did and play as well as we did is great.”

The 2008 squad was undoubtedly one of the youngest teams coach George Gelnovatch has put together compared to the past few seasons. Virginia played seven freshmen during the course of the season, six of whom started a majority of the games in which they played. Midfielder Tony Tchani and forward Chris Agorsor led the stellar group of freshmen and provided steady offensive ability before both suffered season-ending injuries. Freshman defenders Shawn Barry, Hunter Jumper and Howard Turk also combined to form a strong defensive nucleus around which Virginia should be able to build during the next three years.

“Playing all those freshmen, losing guys to injury and getting to the ACC Championship was [a] great experience for our young team,” Giallombardo said.

With all these experiences behind them, the Cavaliers figure to have an excellent team for 2009. Virginia will lose only two seniors this season: defender Matt Poole and forward Nino Dimaggio. The loss of Poole, however, will certainly be felt because the senior defender proved to be a crucial leadership figure. The return of Tchani and Agorsor, who are both expected to make full recoveries by the time the season begins, should strongly bolster a team that had difficulty finding the back of the net at times this year.

“We will have a good team next year,” Tchani said. “I am looking forward to getting back on track.”

If there is one criticism of Virginia’s season, it is that the Cavaliers were often unable to consistently score. Virginia was shut out five times this season and managed to score only 39 goals, compared to 44 goals scored in 2007. While five goals may not seem like a significant difference, that margin could have turned more than one of Virginia’s close losses into victory.

Despite the adversity presented by its offensive troubles and injuries, Virginia managed to put together a very successful season. Where things go from here, however, is up to the team.

“We will get the winter off, we’ll have a tough spring and from there we’ll head right into preseason,” Giallombardo said.