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The finalized Aquatic Fitness Center and the John Paul Jones arena are not only state-of-the-art recreational resources for students, but also recruiting tools for the University. CNN recently reported that universities are increasingly using campus recreational facilities, or future plans for them, to appeal to prospective students. According to the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, 75 percent of college students in 700 of the NIRSA member schools surveyed participate in some sort of recreational activity.
In an era when political correctness concerns reign supreme, a university must be careful to protect faculty members' rights to academic freedom, as well as the interests of the institution at large. This winter, the University of Colorado faced a compromising predicament when Department of Ethnic Studies Prof.
The University has a long-standing reputation of being a conservative Southern school located in the heart of Virginia -- a state that continually votes Republican in presidential elections.
The following four-part series chronicles the experiences of former University student Kathryn Russell, who, after accusing a fellow student of sexual assault in February of 2004, brought charges up with the University Sexual Assault Board.
What may appear to some students as a rooftop garden is an attempt by the University to be environmentally-friendly. University Architect David J.
The Virginia General Assembly may authorize the creation of a permanent non-partisan commission today which would appoint members to the University's Board of Visitors. The independent commission already exists in a temporary form as created by Gov.
With current high school seniors receiving admissions letters this week, colleges and universities nationwide are seeking to increase the retention rates of incoming students, The Washington Post reported yesterday. According to Dean of Students Penny Rue, the University continues to graduate students at a higher rate than its peer institutions. The University graduates 92 percent of its students in six years, which is a greater percentage than six of the University's peer institutions, including Boston College and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, according to College Results, a company that analyzes college retention rates. "We look for students who will come to the University and will become involved in the life of the University," Dean of Admissions John Blackburn said. Blackburn pointed out the correlation between the increase in the selectivity of the University and an increase in student retention rates. "We accept really bright students who can do the work," Rue said. Once students enter the University, however, the effort to encourage them to stay begins in earnest through residential and mentoring programs, Rue said. "The mentoring programs we have are strong," she said.
The University Department of Parking and Transportation has decided to increase parking fees, beginning in May. Fees for the permits for premium reserved spots and parking on Grounds, which usually are purchased by University faculty and staff, will increase $5 per month.
At its meeting last night, Student Council passed a bill to implement alternative forms of student identification.
The following four-part series chronicles the experiences of former University student Kathryn Russell, who, after accusing a fellow student of sexual assault in February of 2004, brought charges up with the University Sexual Assault Board.
The University recently acquired three apartment complexes in an effort to increase on-Grounds housing for upperclassmen. The purchase of the University Forum Apartments, located off Ivy Road, and apartment complexes located at 411 Brandon Avenue and 405 Valley Road will add a combined 261 beds to the University Housing Division. The University purchased the University Forum Apartments for $6.95 million.
University graduate programs in law, business, history and English performed particularly well in the annual U.S.
The Student Council Executive Committee called a special meeting yesterday to approve adjustments to previous Appropriations Committee allocations. The 2005-2006 academic-year budget will reflect increased funding for travel expenses and decreased funding for operational expenses, such as photocopies, as compared with earlier 2005-2006 budget estimates. The budget originally allocated 15 percent of funds for travel expenses.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine offered a challenge to participate in a series of monthly debates to his opponent, Republican and former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, during a visit to Politics Prof.
The Inter-Fraternity Council recently accepted Alpha Epsilon Pi President Mike Goldsmith to fill the newly-created position of member-at-large. As the new member-at-large, Goldsmith's main responsibility is to act as a liaison between the governing board of the IFC and the presidents of individual chapters. "Goldsmith will have a seat on the governing board and help increase communication between the board and the presidents," IFC President Ross Kimbel said. According to Goldsmith, the member-at-large position came out of necessity to bridge the gap that exists between the IFC governing board and the presidents of the individual chapters. "Individual fraternity members do not always know what the IFC does and what kind of issues are out there," he said.
The outgoing Honor Committee released case statistics for its yearlong term last night, among them the fact that 40 percent of this year's cases were initiated by students. Student initiation rates showed a marked increase for this term. "It was closer to 12 percent last year," Special Assistant to the Honor Committee Nicole Eramo said. Approximately 32 percent of this year's cases were initiated by faculty members, 25 percent by TAs and four percent by administrators. "Faculty and TAs are in a unique position to discover honor violations and therefore have a naturally higher initiation rate," outgoing Vice chair for Trials Nick Staubach said. The increase in student initiations can be attributed to ongoing efforts on the part of the Committee for several years, newly elected Honor chair David Hobbs said. "Increasing student initiations has been a goal of the committee over the past few years," Hobbs said. The rise in student initiations comes as good news to the newly elected Honor Executive Committee, which has listed increasing student initiation rates among their major concerns for their upcoming term, the members of the Committee noted. These and other statistics were presented to and discussed by the outgoing Committee at last night's meeting. The statistics break down the results of investigations, post-investigation panels, trials and post-trial. They also list the attributes of defendants by race, gender, school, athletic status, international student status and offense. Defendant statistics, especially race and international student status are especially important in the Committee's ongoing investigation of the so-called "spotlighting" of minority groups and the "dimming" of majority groups. Prior years' numbers have shown that minority and international students have cases initiated against them at much higher rates proportional to majority. Of the 64 investigations carried on by the Committee this year, 28 went to trial, and 10 of those trials had guilty verdicts, a conviction rate of about 36 percent. The Honor Committee remarked that the investigation and trial statistics are also very useful to the Honor Committee in determining trends and anomalies. Representative Marisa Adelman pointed out that only cheating trials had guilty verdicts this year and all six combined lying and stealing defendants were found not guilty. Eramo said this was fairly typical compared to the statistics of previous years.
The Board of Visitors meeting that concluded Saturday included a spirited discussion about how to best market the University's most distinctive values and highlighted several competing and diverse visions for the long-term direction of the University.
At the Black Alumni Alliance Saturday, hosted by the Black Student Alliance, the main focus of the day was a discussion with alumni about possibly forming a black alumni advisory board for the BSA. "The weekend was a way to get the black alumni involved in the black experience here at U.Va.," BSA Alumni Affairs Co-Chair Aaron Blake said. More than 40 black alumni attended, Blake said, as well as student members from the University's various black organizations who were invited to participate in the event. "We believe that there is no one who can support the black student experience better than alums because they know exactly what we go through and they can help us achieve a lot," BSA President Myra Franklin said. At the event, alumni and students conversed about the BSA's past and present place in the University and what it was like when the alumni were students at the University. During the discussion of the BSA's proposal for the creation of the advisory board, BSA members received feedback from the alumni. "Overwhelmingly, alumni expressed their support," Franklin said.
