Even as the University’s budget remains tight, the eighth president promised not to jeopardize the jobs of any employees. Just four months in, Teresa Sullivan has been welcomed by her coworkers and the students. Photo by Toby Loewenstein.

Next week marks the end of Teresa A. Sullivan’s first semester as the University’s eighth president. Sullivan, who succeeded John T. Casteen, III in August, described her first four months as a “busy” transitional period.

“The big challenge has been to meet as many of the constituent groups as possible; I’ve kept a pretty aggressive schedule to try and do that,” Sullivan said in an interview.

Overall, Sullivan expressed satisfaction with the strides made in her short time at the University.

“I had a couple of big goals this year, and we’ve made progress on them,” Sullivan said.

Her primary objectives for the academic year include securing replacements for her outgoing executive vice presidents, Leonard Sandridge and Arthur Garson, as well as addressing budgetary concerns. Sullivan noted the difficulty of securing funds for the operating budget when many revenue streams are dedicated for specific purposes. Furthermore, she acknowledged that $14.7 million of the state’s $120 million contribution comes from stimulus money, which is set to expire during the next 3-5 years.

“It’s a pretty lean operation right now,” Sullivan said. “This is not a university that wastes a lot of money.”

Despite these difficulties, Sullivan vowed to preserve the jobs of University employees.

“President Casteen did not lay anybody off when the economy deteriorated. And I have no plans to lay anybody off now, either,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan also expressed the urgent need for funds to repair the Rotunda, which has suffered significant structural damage.

“We need to repair those columns. The roof leaks, and we have some other structural repairs that need to be made,” Sullivan said.

The president praised the efforts behind the September “Day of Dialogue,” which was intended to help the University community recover and learn from the murder of Yeardley Love and the recent surge in crime on Grounds. Sullivan speculated that a number of factors may have contributed to this trend.

“It’s a little hard to know exactly why there have been more incidents reported this year,” Sullivan said, citing the declining economy and increased sensitivity as possible reasons for the surge.
Still, she commended the University and city responses to the incidents.

“I do think the University has made a serious effort, and so has the City of Charlottesville, to increase police patrols, particularly down at the Corner, and also to increase the coverage of the buses,” Sullivan said.

In response to controversy surrounding the honor code’s definition of ‘intent’ with respect to plagiarism, Sullivan acknowledged the importance of allowing students to determine the enforcement of the honor code but encouraged greater dialogue between students and faculty members to establish a clear definition of what constitutes plagiarism.

“I think it is genuinely an issue that people need to think through and talk about,” Sullivan said. “Faculty have to be careful in talking with their classes, to be sure that the class understands where the line gets drawn.”

Amid talk of the University expanding, Sullivan recognized the University’s capacity to grow by 1,500 students during the next five years while maintaining the same in-state to out-of-state ratio.

“We’ll have the physical space available. We’ll have enough dining halls, we’ll have enough [recreational] space, we’ll have enough residence halls. What we don’t have is enough faculty,” Sullivan warned. “We would have to hire more faculty to take care of them, and I’m not willing to bring more students here and just have classes get bigger.”

Sullivan has, for the most part, received a warm welcome from her colleagues at the University.

She “is wasting no time in helping us realize our objectives for quality, effectiveness and efficiency in all that we do. I find her to be an extraordinary leader,” Sandridge said. “The transition has been very smooth.”

Garson also commended the new president’s leadership style.

“She has been willing to dive into issues personally and get them fixed quickly. She has been a wonderful person to work with,” Garson added.

Similarly, Student Council President Colin Hood commended Sullivan for her willingness to work with students.

“I really appreciate the effort she’s taking to reach out to Council, to students as a whole and everything she’s done for the university,” Hood said.

Going forward, Sullivan hopes to equip students with the self-confidence and skills necessary to take on complex 21st century challenges.

“I think we need to have students who are not afraid to tackle problems and have the self-confidence to believe they have the skills to do it,” Sullivan said. “I think Virginia is uniquely poised to produce that kind of student.”

Although Honor Committee members hoped to see higher turnout at the mock trials, they still believe the sessions provided a good opportunity for students interesting in learning about the system. Photo by Thomas Bynum.

The Honor Committee concentrated most of its efforts this semester on improving and increasing its interaction with the student body in hopes of bettering students’ understanding of the honor system.

Most recently, the Committee conducted three mock trials in November to help participating students unravel the intricacies of the honor trial process. The three trials were held at three separate locations — one each in the College, Nursing and Commerce Schools — to connect with students across Grounds.

The audiences at the mock trials played the role of the jury while Committee volunteers took on the remaining roles. Each trial saw about 30 attendees, said Danielle MacGregor, vice chair for community relations.

“It was not a huge turnout, but we are trying to engage students about the honor community,” she said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have many students come to our regular committee meetings on Sundays. These trials helped connect with students at a different time and venue.”

Apart from these transparency efforts, the Committee also engaged in debates surrounding the system’s procedure.

“We started out with a simple proposal of changing the jury composition, something that might have been a positive change, and it met a lot of resistance,” Committee Chair Charlie Harris said. “From that proposition, an intellectual discussion about what we could improve came forth.”

The spotlight on the policies caused the Committee to review its definition of the ‘intent’ clause, one of the criteria to judge an honor offense.

“The Committee is considering changing the definition of ‘intent’ in order to simplify the trial process for student jurors, who must apply these bylaws to a set of facts,” MacGregor said. “It is important to have this clearly defined because honor is evaluated by a jury on the basis of act, intent and non-triviality.”

An issue brought to the Committee by Barbara Schaedel, a member of Families for Honor, criticized the honor system’s single sanction policy. The group released a document of reform suggestions entitled “Recommendations for Honor Reform with Students’ Constitutional Rights.”

Among the recommendations was a suggestion to alter the meaning of intent, which stated, “Students testify in honor trials that they have no intent to commit an honor offense but made a mistake. Mistakes are not honor offenses. Intent cannot be proven unless the evidence is concrete, not someone’s opinion.”

The Committee, while taking issue with feedback not initiated by University students, attempted to address some of the group’s concerns, including training honor advisers to point students to psychological resources if they experience stress during the trial process, Harris said. The Committee also agreed to encourage students to involve their parents in the process from the beginning. Families for Honor and the Committee both agreed to have a faculty education module to be advertised next spring and an online student education module that is currently in development, Harris said.

The Committee also attempted to improve outreach to athletic teams and minority groups on Grounds.

Each year, the Committee gives presentations to sports teams about the honor system. This semester, Committee members worked with officials from the athletic department to make the presentations more applicable to athletes.

“Athletics students historically received information about honor through team presentations but were not specifically catered to athletes,” Vice Chair for Education McKenzie Furber said. “Working within an athletics schedule and a student schedule creates a unique situation for athletes in terms of his or her academic integrity and work.”

In addition, the Committee reached out to minority groups on Grounds — for example, by engaging with the Black Student Alliance.

“We have made a priority of outreach to the student community, being open and receptive to student criticism, and engaging in critical and difficult discussions,” Harris said.

Student Council worked to address safety concerns this semester in light of a spree of criminal activity committed against students near Grounds. A new website allows students to post their concerns and suggestions to improve student safety. Photo by Scott Miles.

Student Council held its last meeting of the semester Tuesday night, following an eventful term in which committees struggled to fund sustainable programs while perceptions of safety on Grounds became more and more pessimistic.

With what seemed to be a dramatic increase in crime this semester, Council members have attempted to improve their response time to student concerns. The Off-Grounds Safety Forum was launched in early October after several reports of student muggings and assaults, beginning in late September.

The Safety and Wellness Committee also introduced a new page on Council’s website for students to express their concerns about safety on and off Grounds. Students who posted on the site could list areas that needed improved lighting, as well as facilitate discussion on any additional topics brought up. Within days of its launch, the forum saw more than 100 postings from interested students and community members.

“Avenues like the online safety forum and police panel discussions give students outlets to productively express their concerns,” Committee Co-Chair Nadia Khatouri said. “Violent crimes have actually gone down, contrary to what people believe.”

Additionally, the Safety and Wellness Committee has sponsored events such as the November Police Panel Discussion with University police officers and the free self-defense class held Tuesday nights at the Aquatics & Fitness Center.

The committee is also exploring the new SafeWalk program, which will undergo a trial run next semester. Committee members created the initiative after seeing programs such as Free Ride and SafeRide become ineffective.

SafeWalk “complements the bus, the taxi and SafeRide programs without the potential for abuse,” Khatouri said. “The people who are using it will have the same purpose” of getting home safely.
Similarly, ensuring that on- and off-Grounds areas are well-lit is another of the committee’s concerns.

“What you need is a lighting evaluation from a lighting specialist,” Co-Chair Peter Townsend said. “We have to work through the logistics now.”

Council has not limited its attention to safety programs, though. Other prominent proposals introduced this semester included the Student Life Committee’s umbrella sharing program, as well as the extension of Observatory Hill Dining Hall’s hours from 8 to 9 p.m to address a perceived student need. Umbrella sharing was ultimately eliminated because of budget contraints, but Student Life has seen its UVAirBus program, launched last year, get off to a successful start.

“I’m hoping that they’ll be able to come with some measures to make it a sustainable program,” Director of University Relations Dan Morrison said. “The programs [like UVAirBus] that are used by students have the mechanisms in place for students to use year after year.”

In addition to introducing new programs, Council passed a number of resolutions this semester. One of the most controversial came Nov. 16, when Council called on University President Teresa A. Sullivan to endorse Congress’ DREAM Act, which proposes that illegal immigrants be allowed admission to colleges and universities nationwide, provided they meet certain requirements. Although it passed unanimously, the bill supporting the DREAM Act underwent almost 90 minutes of discussion and debate among the representative body about the bill’s language and whether it was Council’s place to endorse legislation that the student body had not given a clear consensus on.

“I think that we passed a lot of important legislation this semester,” Council President Colin Hood said. “We have had a lot of great conversations, and I’m excited the representative body is engaged in what Student Council is doing.”

Additional moves by Council this semester include support for bullying and harassment education in light of recent teenage suicides, the Legislative Affairs Committee’s hosting of a debate between Congressional candidates Tom Perriello, D-Charlottesville, and independent candidate Jeffrey Clark, and Environmental Sustainability’s program that encouraged students to carry trash bags for a week to raise awareness about personal trash production.

“I think that Student Council works best when it’s able to respond to students’ concerns, and that’s exactly what [the committees] have taken to heart this semester,” Morrison said.

The University Judiciary Committee will end the semester after making several changes to case processing procedure, offering new education initiatives and achieving racial parity with the student body for the second year in a row.

UJC’s most vigorous effort has involved cutting delays for trials to ensure that cases are handled within an appropriate amount of time after they are filed.

UJC Chair Will Bane said although the time-table modifications are internal in nature and not immediately obvious to the student body, there have been significant decreases in case processing time.
“It does have a great effect for the accused students who go through our system who are having their cases tried two or three weeks after an offense occurs as opposed to two or three months after the offense occurs,” Bane said.

Trial statistics will be released in March, which will allow UJC and the student body to examine exactly how the case processing procedure has been affected.

Vice Chair for Trials Halley Epstein said her focus has been on accountability in scheduling, which begins with consulting both parties to determine a convenient trial date. This also includes expecting support officers and judges to commit to a trial and make it a priority.

“So far we have been able to stick to our case processing goals and ensure that students have their trials processed in an acceptable amount of time,” Epstein said.

UJC has also focused heavily on education this semester. Senior Educator Victoria Marchetti helped to plan a different educational initiative each month, beginning with its traditional dormitory talks in August, in which UJC educators visit the mandatory first-year dormitory meetings to educate students about the purpose of UJC and the Standards of Conduct. This year, educators became the official liaisons for their assigned dormitories.

Because first-year students were identified as a community that would benefit from additional outreach efforts, the program began even before classes started. It will conclude this week, as UJC educators meet with resident advisers and senior residents for first-year housing.

“We really wanted to start a discussion, and to get the RAs’ opinion on how UJC can further reach the first-years and better ways that we can communicate across Grounds,” Marchetti said. “Through the dorm talks initiatives, we are getting useful information to further our educational initiatives.”

The October flyer campaign also was intended to help clarify UJC’s purpose. A special flyer was created and distributed to differentiate explicitly between UJC and the Honor Committee, a distinction that has been confusing for many in the past, Marchetti said.

Bane announced that the committee was proud to achieve perfect racial parity with the student body for the second year in a row. He cited increased minority recruitment efforts as the main reason the UJC continues to reflect student demographics.

Marchetti also cited the recent translation of the Standards of Conduct into Spanish and Mandarin Chinese as a point of pride, adding that UJC plans to expand to other languages in the coming semesters.

“We think this will be a great way for international students to better understand the UJC and ensure that language is not a barrier to knowing the policies and procedures of the UJC,” Marchetti said.
UJC will sponsor UJC Awareness Day next semester and will continue its goal of having one educational initiative per month.

“We continue to look for key issues. We are busy, but we are also focusing on areas in which we haven’t worked,” Bane said.

Senior forward Will Sherrill started the past four games before fracturing his right fibula in the win against Minnesota Monday. Sherrill is estimated to miss about six weeks. Photo by Grant Mathews.

The Virginia men’s basketball team will attempt to follow up its 87-79 upset victory against then-No. 15 Minnesota earlier this week with a win against rival Virginia Tech Sunday night. The Cavaliers will begin conference play on the road against the Hokies, who are coming off a narrow 58-55 overtime loss to Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Even though the Cavalier defense was exposed by a Minnesota team that recorded 50 percent from the field, Virginia (4-3, 0-0 ACC) managed an impressive offensive performance and was carried by its hot shooting. Led by freshman and senior guards Joe Harris and Mustapha Farrakhan, the team connected on 10-of-13 three-point attempts against the Golden Gophers.

“I just put up a lot of shots and know that I can play the game of basketball,” Farrakhan said. “That’s pretty much what it comes down to. I just need to be under control and play the game the right way.”

During coach Tony Bennett’s inaugural season last year, the Cavaliers suffered two defeats to the Hokies (4-3, 0-0). In January, the Cavaliers lost 76-71 in overtime at home after leading by as much as 12 before halftime. A month later, Virginia struggled late in the second half and fell in a 61-55 contest that included nine lead changes and 10 tied scores.

Although those losses have not been forgotten by the returning players, many of this year’s Cavaliers were not a part of the 2009-10 team. For this year’s seven freshmen, this weekend’s game will be their first taste of conference action.

“Hopefully, playing against tough competition in different settings [has prepared] us,” Bennett said. “Certainly, playing against … a veteran-laden team, we’ll have to play at a high level.”

Senior forward Mike Scott, who led the Cavaliers in scoring in both games against Virginia Tech last year, will be relied on heavily to help the young Cavaliers adjust to playing in one of college basketball’s most demanding conferences. This season, Scott ranks among the top six in the conference in scoring, rebounding and playing time. He is averaging nearly a double-double with 16.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

Starting the conference schedule with a matchup against a team predicted to finish near the ACC’s top will be a significant early-season challenge. Although the Hokies have dropped out of  national rankings, they did finish as the runner-up in their preseason tournament, the 76 Classic, last week.

Containing senior guard Malcolm Delaney — who fell one vote short of being the preseason conference player of the year selection — will likely be the focal point of Bennett’s game plan. Delaney is leading the Hokies in scoring, assists, steals and playing time. His 19.6 points per game and 39.1 minutes per contest are tops in the conference. The senior also has been very efficient, shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from three-point range.

An added challenge for the Cavaliers will be replacing the production of senior forward Will Sherrill, who injured his fibula in Monday’s game and is out indefinitely. Now, the team must rely on its younger players, such as freshmen forwards Will Regan and Akil Mitchell to fill the void. Freshman forward James Johnson will remain redshirted for the time being.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams head south this weekend to take on some of the NCAA’s strongest swimming programs at the Georgia Invitational.

The lineups coming from Auburn, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Penn State and Harvard are packed with depth and talent and will meet the Cavaliers in Athens for a three-days contest that will close out Virginia’s competitive year.

“This meet is the most competitive December invitational that we’ve been in in five years,” coach Mark Bernardino said. “We know there are a lot of exceptionally great athletes that will be in this meet.”

Senior Matt McLean, who earned ACC Performer of the Week honors for the second time Nov. 23, looks to be one of the meet’s top competitors. In Virginia’s meet against Indiana and Penn State, McLean won four individual events including the 200 freestyle (1:37.06), the 500 freestyle (4:23.28), the 1,000 freestyle and the 200 butterfly. McLean was the leading leg in Virginia’s first-place men’s 400 freestyle relay, finishing in a NCAA ‘B’ time of 2:59.70.

Other notable swimmers on the men’s team this season have been senior Scot Robison —who has a collection of Performer of the Week accolades of his own — and freshman Taylor Grey
For the women’s team, sophomore Lauren Perdue has secured a strong start to her second collegiate season, earning ACC Performer of the Week honors during the weeks of Oct. 26 and Nov. 16.

“I’ve been excited with my times the past few meets,” Perdue said. “I’m really hoping to go into this meet with the same mindset, same attitude and just focus on how I’ve been training so far and use that to my advantage.”

The coaches hope each member of the Virginia men’s and women’s teams will earn personal best times in at least one race this weekend. To reach this goal, they have been training rigorously by racing against one another and pushing each other to give their best performances.

“It’s really important to race each other every single day because there are so many fast girls on our team and fast guys on our team,” Perdue said. “It prepares us for this meet because we’re racing really talented athletes every single day.”

When the rest of the student body leaves Charlottesville for Winter Break, the rigor with which the team has been approaching their training program will only intensify. After this weekend’s competition, the squads must begin preparing to face off against Tennessee Jan. 8.

“We’ll be here training until Dec. 21, and then they’ll have a break at home until the 30th, but they’ll be expected to train while they’re home,” Bernardino said. “Then we’ll go through three to four extraordinarily intense weeks of training in preparation for the end of the season.”

For Perdue, the 200 freestyle will be a subject of focus from now until championship season arrives.

“[The 200] is a lot more different than the other race sprint events like the 50 and 100,” Perdue said. “It takes a lot more strategy. I’d really like to swim a 1:46, so that’s my goal for this meet.”
If Perdue is able to conquer the 200 in this time, she will be right on track with what the coaches are constantly looking for from the Virginia men and women.

“As we set short-term and intermediate goals for our athletes, we have specific goals for each athlete in mind that they’re trying to accomplish here on their way to their big goal at the end of the season,” Bernardino said, “It’s very, very important for us to see steady and continued improvement.”

The meet is scheduled to begin today at 9:30 a.m.

Senior forward Will Sherrill suffered a fractured fibula in his right leg in the second half of Monday’s 87-79 win against Minnesota. Sherrill’s timetable for recovery is uncertain, although an estimate of less than six weeks has been given.

The injury occurred when 6-foot-10, 258-pound Minnesota junior center Colton Iverson landed squarely on Sherrill’s leg in a scramble for a rebound. Sherrill writhed on the floor for several minutes and then needed assistance to leave the court.

The 6-foot-9 team captain had started the previous four games for the Cavaliers. During that period, he shot 57 percent from the floor and averaged 8.25 points and 4.25 rebounds. He has shot 54.5 percent from three-point range this season.

Sherrill’s injury will likely yield more playing time for freshmen forwards Akil Mitchell and Will Regan. Mitchell has appeared in five games for a total of 42 minutes this season, while Regan has made six appearances for a total of 33 minutes.

—compiled by Nick Eilerson

Junior midfielder Paige Selenski of the Virginia field hockey team and senior midfielder Sinead Farrelly of the Virginia women’s soccer team were both named semifinalists for their respective player of the year awards.

Selesnki, a Honda Award semifinalist for the second consecutive year, led the Cavaliers to their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. The Shavertown, Pa. native tallied her fourth career hat trick in the loss against North Carolina. Selenski led the Cavaliers with 27 goals en route to being named a first team All-American. She is Virginia’s only semifinalist since the award began in 1984.

Meanwhile, Farrelly led her squad to the Sweet Sixteen at Nationals. A Hermann Trophy semifinalist for the second straight season, the senior closed out her final year with a team-high 31 points while starting all 22 games for Virginia. She is the 10th player in ACC history to be a four-time first team all-conference selection.

—compiled by Ben Gomez

As The Cavalier Daily goes to press for the final time this semester, the Managing Board presents this short list of resolutions for the new year.

During the past two decades, the General Assembly has generously continued to support the financial autonomy of Virginia’s public colleges by decreasing public funding for higher education. With state support for many Virginia public schools sitting at 25 percent or less — the Assembly provides the University with a whopping 6 percent of its annual budget — we hope to see the legislature consider granting the same managerial independence to colleges as it does for their finances. Proposals to push the University’s in-state student percentage to 75 or 80 percent sound a lot like unfunded mandates to us. Isn’t Virginia supposed to be a conservative state?

Likewise, although Gov. Bob McDonnell has generally demonstrated a pleasantly supportive and innovative approach to higher education, his commission on reform would do well to recognize that giving each state university the same types of priorities is not what Virginia needs to prosper. Let the state’s flagship public colleges — Virginia Tech, William & Mary and the University, among others — do what they deem necessary to become top-tier institutions, and the state as a whole will benefit enormously. Really guys, we don’t have the energy to keep writing editorials about how continuously increasing enrollment at these colleges is a short-sighted effort to deal with northern Virginia’s population boom. Throw us a bone here?

On to football: As much as we would love to see coach Mike London end next season with a bowl game instead of an eight-game losing streak, we actually have a different resolution to offer. We would like to see University students, alumni and supporters show that they can be true fans of the game. No one likes losing seasons, but a half-empty stadium and tepid cheering from the crowd won’t lure many high-caliber recruits to Charlottesville. Even when the Cavs were in bowl contention routinely, Virginia fans would let Hokies invade Scott Stadium every other year around Thanksgiving. Yet how many students have been to a road game themselves? Certainly there is more to life than football, but if fans want to complain about the quality of the program, perhaps the first place they should look is in the mirror.

But there is a role the athletics department can play to make game days better. Remember that horse mascot that showed up earlier this season? (You may know what we are talking about but had no idea that it was, in fact, supposed to be CavMan’s horse.) Please don’t whip that one out again — the real CavMan is doing just fine on his own.

As for student self-governance, Student Council’s Student Life Committee has decided that instituting an umbrella-sharing program would cast a “rain cloud” on its budget. Although we all probably could have used an umbrella when traveling across Grounds this week, perhaps this particular initiative simply wasn’t meant to be. Instead, Council could consider rebuilding the technology and networking infrastructure for the Lambeth Field dormitories from scratch. That issue has remained the most popular on SpeakUpUVA for the better part of a year, and it doesn’t appear University Housing or the Department of Information Technology and Communication has much of a solution to offer. Time to put Computer Science 1010 to work, kids!

We offer two words for the Honor Committee: intent clause. Just humor us. You can even pretend to change it and tell us the problem’s fixed. We won’t ask questions.

And last but not least for the resolutions: The University finds some way — any way — to remove the unsightly black netting that shrouds the Rotunda columns sometime before graduation. Or at least the next one. Pretty please?