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Preston Gannaway / The Virginian-Pilot via AP
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan weaves through supporters and media after she was reinstated on Tuesday.
The University of Virginia reinstated its president Tuesday just over three weeks after ousting her amid outcry from faculty, donors and students.
The 15-member Board of Visitors voted unanimously to reinstate President Teresa Sullivan during a brief meeting, after a motion from a former university rector, according to a university press release.
Outside the meeting, faculty, students and others had organized a demonstration to show support for Sullivan, the university’s eighth president and first female leader.
“I want to partner with you in bringing about what’s best for the university,” Sullivan, 62, said after reinstatement.
University Rector Helen Dragas, who was central in the initial move to oust the president, apologized for actions that sparked the controversy and pledged that she will work with Sullivan to help the university emerge stronger than before, according to a university press release.
“The situation became enormously dramatized and emotionally charged,” Dragas told the group before the vote was taken. “I sincerely apologize for the way this was presented and you deserve better. I believe real progress is more possible than ever now.”
The vote to reinstate the president came after 17 tumultuous days that began with the board’s sudden announcement June 10 that they had accepted Sullivan’s resignation midway through a five-year contract.
U.Va officials said that Sullivan would step down in August, citing concerns for state and federal funding, declining faculty compensation and accountability for academic quality and productivity.
“Yet in the face of these challenges, the University still lacks an updated strategic plan,” Dragas wrote in statement to the board last week. “We deserve better – the rapid development of a plan that includes goals, costs, sources of funds, timelines and individual accountability.”
Sullivan's unexpected ouster triggered complaints about the board's explanation and brought a groundswell of support for her.
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Sullivan defended her performance at a board meeting last week, citing initiatives she had taken, including hiring a new provost and chief operating officer and adopting a new budget model that decentralizes financial planning.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, who appointed half of the board members, had warned Friday that he would seek the resignations of all the members if the group failed to resolve the controversy. As the meeting opened Tuesday, Dragas said the decision of the board would be definitive on the matter.
The board on Monday named McIntyre School of Commerce Dean Carl Zeithaml as interim president. Zeithaml said he agreed to take the interim post because he wanted to move the university in a “very positive way” but “did not agree with the decision to remove” Sullivan.
After Tuesday’s meeting of the board, member W. Heywood Fralin acknowledged missteps had been made.
“It is my opinion that everyone agrees the process was flawed,” he said. “It can never be repeated when important decisions are being made.”
Fralin said he also disagreed with Sullivan’s resignation in the first place.
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...and you wonder why education at all levels is failing students and the families that pay the bills -- another feckless board -- the inmates are running the asylum!!!
The faculty, students, donors, and alumni are hardly inmates. And Degas and her cronies on the Board clearly had an agenda that was hardly mainstream.
Hmmm... As Forrest Gump would say, "Stupid is as stupid does." One must wonder, what the fongonus is the matter with that board... ? Surely, they must realize it is 2012, not the 1800s. !!
The real story here has not come out in the media. The President of UVa's prestigious Darden Business School is an ex Goldmann Sachs exec. He had been contacted by members of his previous employer wanting to setup a relationship with the university. The plan was to offer UVa diplomas online through a for profit online institution that had been acquired. As you can imagine, with UVa being one of the most prestigious public universities in the country, this would be an attractive program for people to pay $100,000 and get a UVa degree without having to complete the actual coursework required by the university. UVa was to have no say over the admissions or the curriculum, just a cash for diploma program if you will. The president of the Darden school (who I am sure stood to benefit greatly from this deal) made his pitch to the President of the University, who shot it down saying it would cheat those who actually went to UVa and would end up being a tarnish on the school's image. The issue was then taken to the board, who fired her and their initial reason here in the local media was that she was not committed to the fundraising goals on the University.
I live in Charlottesville, I have lived here most of my life, and while as a Virginia Tech alumni I hold Mr. Jefferson's University in disdain when it comes to athletics, I hope that they clean house and inform the public as to what really happened here because I would hate to see the University's reputation tarnished.
I don't think you have any respect for a degree obtained via online courses. There's real work involved and, in some respects, its harder work than course work delivered in a classroom setting. An online accredited school deserves more respect than you're showing by reference to a "diploma mill" (selling degrees for $100,000). Some highly respected brick and mortar schools offer online courses and degree programs. UVA should get off its high horse and give this a serious look. Incidentally, online courses cost a lot less than their counterparts offered on campus.
CMEmgmt, the issue is, preparation to deliver online courses takes as much as if not more work than preparation for traditional classroom courses. The UVa board would not listen to Sullivan's reasonable concerns regarding a rush to shoehorn online courses in a "quick fix" to "save money." Online courses actually require a substantial infrastructure. This board was dazzled by Harvard's MOOCs (massive open online courses), emailed each other a few articles from the popular media, and saw this as an electronic, therefore "magic," brave-new-world means of delivering services cheaply and without, they assumed, much work. That hardly shows respect for online courses and valid online curricula, now, does it?
This story has been well documented in Inside Higher Ed. I recommend reading the articles.
In other words, the President of UVA did not wish to diminish the value of the institution or its product by selling the trademark to Goldman Sachs. Smart lady! Ms. Dragas, on the other hand, is not such a smart lady. UVA can expand its own online presence without selling its good name to a commercial for-profit undertaking run by one of the worst banksters in the business.
At this point, I don't see how Ms. Sullivan could ever trust them. The entire board should resign. That way, Ms. Sullivan can get some work done with people she doesn't have to guard herself against. Any trust between them and her was destroyed by what they did.
Your version is much nicer than mine. I was thinking Sullivan has carte blanche to do whatever she wants for the next couple of years. The students and faulty seem to like her more than her board. SHE IS in charge....and apparently well liked by the students and faculty.
Dragas should resign or be removed by the governor.
The story doesn't even say why she was really ousted. In any case, who the hell cares about this?
Some of us who value being able to read and write, for one thing.
You, since you took the time to comment, and maybe read at least some of the story. What a completely absurd thing to say.
It looks like Ed Ayers has to unpack and continue turning mush into mush. UVA has gained some sense among its uppity rectos.
Reinstating Sullivan is the first step. Next on the agenda is to oust Helen Dragas. She's the one with ulterior motives and led to canning Sullivan in the first place
Helen Dragas is scum, as are those who conspired with her. At best she's a waste of skin.
Helen Dragas said she wants to work with Sullivan to improve the university. Resigning would be a good start.
They buckled under inappropriately to the threat from the governor. They had made the right decision to fire her.
John you obviously have some additional insight to this than most people have
Why don't you tell your full story before you throw out your one-liner
Then we would be able to judge the full scope of the cons and pros
Until then one-liners don't mean a darn thing!
John Gawne: Gov. McDonnell's directive to the board was to settle the matter at today's (Tuesday's) board meeting. They could have done that by voting NOT to reinstate her, now couldn't they? So WTF are you talking about?
I completely disagreed with the board's decision to oust Mrs Sullivan and in doing so, they actually did more damage than ANYTHING Theresa Sullivan could have done during her tenure. As an alum of UVa, I deeply care about the integrity and reputation of the University. As at most universities, earning a degree from UVa is more than getting a piece of paper or being qualified to get a job. To offer online courses (something that Harvard and MIT offer for free) would belittle the experience of attending the University. I am not against them offering free courses online, but I disagree that one should be able to earn a degree wholly online. Regardless, UVa is not for sale, especially to such as Goldman Sachs... Mr Jefferson would be proud. Now to sack Dragas... Welcome back Mrs Sullivan! Now we can go back to griping about the football program...
Great response, academians need to fight ther republicans, they are against education and freedom of thinking. They only like science and technology when it makes them money or saves their life with medical treatment, not when it crosses religous beliiefs or racial discrmination. When need Education Warfare to go with Class Warfare and Racial Warfare the repubs realize they will get because they discriminate against all except the very rich.
You clearly never learned to write coherently.
What?...big bull cat bare bill?
Let me break it down for you.Proof positve we're a culture of pussies.I was going to retract..bu..
Seems like a good result. From here, it looked as though Rector Dragas was way over her head, and thought, like another scion of a local, but rich, real estate developer now sitting in a Charlottesville jail for murder, that since she has always had whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it, she would get rid of this distracting other woman and no one was going to deprive her. I am confident that her term will not be renewed by the governor when it expires next week, and she will go back home and rule the roost over her development empire. Let's hope these politicos who make such appointments are a little more circumspect in he future.
According to the local papers, UVA only gets 10% of its operating budget from state funds, why is it that the governor gets to appoint the board? How many educators are on the board? Oh yeah, none....
I understand she is a lesbian as well.
Good for her !!
Well someone on the board obviously wanted to exact their powers, but comepletely misread the whole situation. Now we just have to wait and see who walks out hte back door with their resgination later for such a debacle.
How can Sullivan possibly work with this board even if she has been "reinstated"? The entire board bears responsibility for what happened. Seems likely that Sullivan will move on after the dust settles on this ugly incident. Too bad for UVA but characteristic of what has been happening at universities all over the country.
The entire board should be replaced immidiately for the good of the University and the students. It sounds to me that this -itch Dragas was pushing to get rid of Sullivan, because Dragas had in her mind that SHE would then become President. When that didn`t happen, Dragas was all for Re-Instatement. This happens all of the time in Business.
UVA is just like most colleges and universities. Over the past several decades building programs, non-teaching administrative staff, and costs have all soared. Sullivan is the wrong person to turn that around. The next protest on campus will be about tuition hikes.
@ Procrustes: So exactly why do you think that Pres. Sullivan is the wrong person to turn this funding situation around? Specifics please!
Half a story isn't always better than none. Was this an highly educated "cat fight" or were there real issues or some undercurrent of descent we are not privy too?