The Special Committee on Planning of the Board of Visitors met yesterday for the second time to continue developing a 10-year financial plan.
Discussion highlighted the University's aspirations to rise in program rankings and develop a case statement for the upcoming Capital Campaign that is consistent with this goal and the long-term plan.
"We really need to do a better job of saying how the University will be different with $3 billion than it is today," said Capital Campaign Chairman Gordon F. Rainey, who was formerly the Board's rector. "We've got quite a bit of work to do on this case statement."
Among the group's principal charges is analyzing what differentiates the University from the top 15 schools in the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, among other rankings, and developing a plan to increase the school's standing in areas of deficiency, a recurring theme in the meeting's agenda.
"These pages speak to a goal, a singular goal of trying to achieve this exulted [ranking]," Board member Mark J. Kington said. "The big issue is that we have a lot of goals, not just getting into the top echelon."
Board members speculated that rising in the U.S. News rankings would attract more top students, and rising in the academic department rankings would attract more top faculty.
"We will understand the rankings well enough to do no harm and have what it takes to rise," said John O. Wynne, Special Committee on Planning chair.
Board members were particularly concerned that some might believe the desire to rise in the rankings necessitates bringing in more out-of-state students.
"I just don't buy the notion that in order to keep our current in-state/out-of-state mix we need to take lower quality students," said Board Rector Thomas F. Farrell, II echoing a sentiment repeated by other members.
Keeping the top Virginia students who leave the state for higher-ranked schools is consistent with other goals of giving back to the Commonwealth, Board members said.
"We need to do more to help the state of Virginia," Wynne said. "We are doing something at another level besides trying to be the elite."
Others expressed concern that rising in the rankings necessarily entails making some sacrifice.
"Inevitably we are going to create some issues with the Commonwealth," Board member W. Heywood Fralin said. "As we get higher ranked, it is going to get harder to get into the University."
The Special Committee on Planning, in conjunction with the Educational Policy Committee, will be the Board of Visitors' body for addressing these concerns. Much of the Committee's work will be strategic, identifying areas in which the field of study is not as crowded.
"If there are crowded areas where we are three or four years behind, we need to know if our competitive strategy is the right one," Wynne said.
Board members said they believe their backgrounds could be uniquely helpful in developing a 10-year plan commensurate with the interests of students and administrators.
"This is why we are here," Farrell said. "This is why we have a Board of Visitors."
To begin this analysis, the Committee discussed several methods of receiving input. The suggestions included bringing in a panel of three other university presidents and asking how they perceive the University of Virginia and hiring an outside firm to conduct a comprehensive internal study that seeks to measure student and faculty sentiment.
Read More
Police forcefully clear encampment near University Chapel, detain protesters
By Thomas Baxter and Finn Trainer | YesterdayThe University declared the encampment an unlawful assembly at 2:44 p.m.
Student Council passes appointment bill, approves new CIOs at final meeting of semester
By Arshiya Pant | 2 days agoMendoza Gonzalez also said she will be meeting with Kenyon R. Bonner, vice president and chief student affairs officer, to discuss further strategies for the Student Council Endowment Fund.
Professors speak about leading productive dialogue on Israel-Hamas war
By Lexie Stadler | 2 days agoThe event was hosted by the University’s Task Force on Religious Diversity and Belonging, which is designed to ensure that the University is welcoming to community members from all religions and cultures.
