UVa President Reinstated Two Weeks After Ouster

[lcjjdnh]

Fascinating story for even those not connected to the University: The board overseeing the University of Virginia reinstated President Teresa Sullivan just 16 days after its head ousted her in a secret coup that led faculty, alums, and students to revolt. Implications for the future of higher ed, but an interesting story more generally. Can anyone think of the head of any large institution--CEO, coach, etc.--that has been so publicly pushed out and then reinstated? Steve Jobs, sort of, but that was years later.


U-Va. board reinstates Sullivan as president - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-leadership-crisis-mcdonnell-declines-to-take-sides/2012/06/26/gJQArOHU4V_story.html)

[JonInMiddleGA]

The only thing I'm sure of is that I hope this kinda takes the bloom off the rose for UVA as my son's fairly long-standing college of choice.

Not real inclined toward sending that kind of money to such an enormous clusterfuck (no matter which side is right).

[britrock88]

When business-oriented thinking and the academy collide...

[digamma]

Pretty silly chain of events, but at least the constant e-mails from various UVA bodies will now cease. Also not great timing when the end of your fundraising year is June 30.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah this is unprecedented especially in higher ed. But it was a power play on the
board playing out in public.

[lcjjdnh]

When business-oriented thinking and the academy collide...

Yes, although it struck me that the business-focused board had a terrible business strategy in mind.

[Noop]

The only thing I'm sure of is that I hope this kinda takes the bloom off the rose for UVA as my son's fairly long-standing college of choice.

Not real inclined toward sending that kind of money to such an enormous clusterfuck (no matter which side is right).

From my experience Virginia is a great school and if your son is into hot blonde women he will enjoy it even more.

[CU Tiger]

From my experience Virginia is a great school and if your son is into hot blonde women he will enjoy it even more.

+1 even if it tends to lean a lil (okay a mile) left....but then again most colleges do.

[muns]

I still think refusing to get into the online world of higher ed will end up hurting UVA in the long run. It's clear that the market is going to shift/ currently shifting to more online learning models. The Universities that are/will be ready for it and who are currently changing some of it's structure will be the ones not left holding the empty money bag at the end.

[lcjjdnh]

I still think refusing to get into the online world of higher ed will end up hurting UVA in the long run. It's clear that the market is going to shift/ currently shifting to more online learning models. The Universities that are/will be ready for it and who are currently changing some of it's structure will be the ones not left holding the empty money bag at the end.

First, UVa has not refused to enter online education. Indeed, it has had many online programs. And these smaller programs--say for professionals like nurses and teachers--are the ones likely to be successful online.

Second, if it's true that education moves online more broadly--a claim of which I'm highly skeptical given most of the beenfits to a degree come from signaling and exclusion--most universities will no longer exist, whether they move now or later. Why does UVa need to have an Intro to Econ lecture if Yale, MIT and Stanford already have one? The market for online education--if it ever exists on a broad scale--will have a much different competitive model, and there's really nothing UVa or any other school can really do about that.

[chesapeake]

This is a very interesting study of power politics. The head of the board, Helen Dragas, was appointed by the last Democratic governor and her term is up. She must have figured that she would not be reappointed by the current Republican governor, so Dragas went all-in to depose the University's president. It was a spectacular failure, as you can see.

When this story first broke, I was firmly on the side of the deposed president. But the more I read about this, the more I think that Dragas may be right. But not only did she lose her gamble, she lost so badly that no one will ever be able to dislodge President Sullivan now.

[Noop]

+1 even if it tends to lean a lil (okay a mile) left....but then again most colleges do.

This is an interesting observation because I was under the impression they leaned about one hundred miles to the right.

[britrock88]

This is an interesting observation because I was under the impression they leaned about one hundred miles to the right.

UVA's conservative compared to, say, UNC. (We also have hot blondes.) Not sure that means they're on the right on an absolute scale, though.

[King of New York]

The Virginia schools tend to be relatively to the right of most colleges and universities, if only because the older and wealthier alums (many of them Virginians from the pre-Civil Rights generation) lean toward the right. But those alums and the governor are just a counter-force against the left-leaning nature of academic faculties, and UVA is probably to the left of other Virginia schools, because Charlottesville (or parts of it) has a 60s counter-cultural vibe that you don't find in Williamsburg, Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, or even Northern Virginia.

Gov. McDonnell comes out of this looking pretty good, I think. Threatening to fire the whole Board of Visitors certainly concentrated minds :)

As for the online ed. thing: it's silly of Boards of Visitors to think that each individual state school should mount its own full-blown online education program. That would lead to massive redundancy and waste of resources. Instead, each state should be putting together a single online university, drawing on the strengths and contributions of each individual school, and charging much lower tuition to in-state students.

[muns]

First, UVa has not refused to enter online education. Indeed, it has had many online programs. And these smaller programs--say for professionals like nurses and teachers--are the ones likely to be successful online.

Second, if it's true that education moves online more broadly--a claim of which I'm highly skeptical given most of the beenfits to a degree come from signaling and exclusion--most universities will no longer exist, whether they move now or later. Why does UVa need to have an Intro to Econ lecture if Yale, MIT and Stanford already have one? The market for online education--if it ever exists on a broad scale--will have a much different competitive model, and there's really nothing UVa or any other school can really do about that.

i missed this post earlier.

Education will be shifting to online learning and the shift has already started. Schools will eventually partner up with each other to offer courses together, offset by low costs and efficient use of technology (skype, teacher salaires get cut) and the credits will be shared between schools to earn a degree. The current model is outdated, will be replaced, and greed is a major force for the change.

Its already happening and if schools dont jump in and start exploring, they will lose out on whats coming and wont be around.

Here is a prime example of what more than a few school are doing now (for free) and how they will turn this into profit to change higher education. Guess who is in there??? :)

Coursera.org (https://www.coursera.org/)

[Klinglerware]

Even the Ivy League is getting into the act. The latest trend is to beef up the "extension school" courses with more unabashedly non-liberal arts, professional and "executive" post-bacc certificate and MA programs.

It's a shocking dilution of quality, but it sure has money making potential: there is little overhead since these programs are mostly taught by adjuncts and other part-timers, and you don't have to offer financial aid, since these programs will attract more than enough students who want the cachet of an Ivy League name on their resume and are willing to pay (or get their employers to pay) full freight...

[Galaxy]

Even the Ivy League is getting into the act. The latest trend is to beef up the "extension school" courses with more unabashedly non-liberal arts, professional and "executive" post-bacc certificate and MA programs.

It's a shocking dilution of quality, but it sure has money making potential: there is little overhead since these programs are mostly taught by adjuncts and other part-timers, and you don't have to offer financial aid, since these programs will attract more than enough students who want the cachet of an Ivy League name on their resume and are willing to pay (or get their employers to pay) full freight...

Schools are also opening satellite campuses around the country and globe. I think the days of the brick & mortar and "selectivity" educational model- outside of those getting Phds and professional schools- that colleges and universities have are going to be coming to an end in the not too far future.

[Swaggs]

i missed this post earlier.

Education will be shifting to online learning and the shift has already started. Schools will eventually partner up with each other to offer courses together, offset by low costs and efficient use of technology (skype, teacher salaires get cut) and the credits will be shared between schools to earn a degree. The current model is outdated, will be replaced, and greed is a major force for the change.

Its already happening and if schools dont jump in and start exploring, they will lose out on whats coming and wont be around.

Here is a prime example of what more than a few school are doing now (for free) and how they will turn this into profit to change higher education. Guess who is in there??? :)

Coursera.org (https://www.coursera.org/)

That website is pretty cool.

Anyone tried any of the courses?

[lcjjdnh]

i missed this post earlier.

Education will be shifting to online learning and the shift has already started. Schools will eventually partner up with each other to offer courses together, offset by low costs and efficient use of technology (skype, teacher salaires get cut) and the credits will be shared between schools to earn a degree. The current model is outdated, will be replaced, and greed is a major force for the change.

Its already happening and if schools dont jump in and start exploring, they will lose out on whats coming and wont be around.

Here is a prime example of what more than a few school are doing now (for free) and how they will turn this into profit to change higher education. Guess who is in there??? :)

Coursera.org (https://www.coursera.org/)

I'm skeptical. College is often about signaling, not building human capital. Employers don't hire from Harvard because it's a "better" school, but because the Harvard admissions office has already sorted out the top high schools students and picked the brightest, hard working ones. The value of a Harvard degree is not the education, but that only a small group of people even had the opportunity to get that education. One always could have watched lectures on tape to get an education, yet we didn't see a massive movement of people earning educations that way.

And, like I said, if Internet education does take off, it doesn't mean it's a good idea for any individual school to jump on now. It's already too late, most likely.

[muns]

That website is pretty cool.

Anyone tried any of the courses?

I'll let you know. Some of my division is being made to take a few courses over the year

[muns]

I'm skeptical. College is often about signaling, not building human capital. Employers don't hire from Harvard because it's a "better" school, but because the Harvard admissions office has already sorted out the top high schools students and picked the brightest, hard working ones. The value of a Harvard degree is not the education, but that only a small group of people even had the opportunity to get that education. One always could have watched lectures on tape to get an education, yet we didn't see a massive movement of people earning educations that way.

And, like I said, if Internet education does take off, it doesn't mean it's a good idea for any individual school to jump on now. It's already too late, most likely.

Fair point, however the economy has tanked, families aren't contributing to students education like they used to, and students don't want or can't take 100-300k loans out anymore. That "value" is not being looked at as "value" anymore.

So they are looking for cheaper options and the internet education is there to gobble them up.

I disagree with the statement that it is too late. Most schools have some great profs, and those profs will be marketable in this new market. When you have a top 15 person in that field you can bundle that prof with another top 15 person at duke. Eventually if the market keeps going like this, Universities that have the top profs will survive because you want this cheap education, but you want it being taught by the top 15 prof. You don't want to take the course from some guy at the local school anymore and why would you.

[cartman]

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