Brief description of what's happening: a bit over 2 years ago, Teressa Sullivan was appointed the first woman president in the history of UVa, a school that was all male until the 70's.<p>Suddenly, last week she was forced to resign because of a "philosophical difference" with the Board of Visitors, a group that is appointed by the state of oversee University Affairs and top level hirings. It was later revealed this was the result of a coup by a bunch of Darden MBA's because they wanted "radical" change to the future plans of the University, not incremental change.<p>The students and faculty are outraged because this was done in secret behind closed doors, which is very much contrary to the way things are typically done at UVa (because of Jefferson's vision or whatever, I find a lot of the Jefferson talk to be crap but let's take it for what it is for now).<p>There have been protests, yada yada yada everybody is pissed and people are starting to quit.<p>This is a big damn deal that's only getting worse, and although I'm a UVa alum who for some reason doesn't really care, I suggest taking a look at this if you're interested in the bs that can go on at the ivory tower institutions
Additional backstory: the revolt of the faculty is due to the Board wanting to close marginal academic departments at the University.<p>Further backstory: the expenditures of the academic division at UVA have increased about 80% since 2001. Enrollment has only increased 9%. In-state tuition has increased about 275%.<p>I'm not a UVA alum, but I grew up in Virginia, so I care about what happens at UVA. UVA's faculty can wax philosophical all they want about academic freedom and the like, but at the end of the day the explosion in university expenses cannot be ignored. Expenditures on faculty salaries have risen 4-5% per year over the last decade even though enrollment has only grown 0.7% per year and salaries in other sectors have been stagnant.<p>It's insane that there are 3,300 faculty for a school that has only 21,000 FTE students. I'm a strong supporter of public education and public research, but facilitating this faculty growth at the expense of students is absolutely ridiculous and it's high-time the Board made some cuts.
Additional backstory for those not gleaning sufficient context from either the HN title or Bill Wulf's resignation letter (echoing another comment: more a resume than a list of wrongs).<p>From the Slate article below: On Thursday night, a hedge fund billionaire, self-styled intellectual, “radical moderate,” philanthropist, former Goldman Sachs partner, and general bon vivant named Peter Kiernan resigned abruptly from the foundation board of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He had embarrassed himself by writing an email claiming to have engineered the dismissal of the university president, Teresa Sullivan, ousted by a surprise vote a few days earlier.<p><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2012/06/teresa_sullivan_fired_from_uva_what_happens_when_universities_are_run_by_robber_barons_.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_m...</a>
Apologies in advance for the off-topic comment. But in looking for more information on this story, I read <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/amid-uproar-uva-moves-replace-president" rel="nofollow">http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/amid-uproar-uva-moves-replac...</a> the Virginian Pilot. Which is not the item.<p>The item is: I have never in my life read such civilized and respectful comments from blog or newspaper readers who clearly disagree with each other on an important issue. My goodness! Is this a regular feature of Southern U.S. life?
Beyond the politics (which the Board of Visitors appears to have handled distressingly badly), there's an interesting analogy to software design lurking in the story.<p>It seems like the philosophical conflict that drove Sullivan't dismissal maps cleanly to the two styles of programming that pg described in "Programming Bottom-Up":<p>"It's worth emphasizing that bottom-up design doesn't mean just writing the same program in a different order. When you work bottom-up, you usually end up with a different program. Instead of a single, monolithic program, you will get a larger language with more abstract operators, and a smaller program written in it. Instead of a lintel, you'll get an arch."<p>My reading of Dragas's and Sullivan's statements to the Board of Visitors is that Dragas wants the University designed as a lintel, and Sullivan as an arch.<p>Dragas argues that "the Board is the one entity that has a unique vantage point that enables us to oversee the big picture of those interactions, and how the leadership shapes the strategic trajectory of the University." [1] The changes Dragas seems to support (though it's hard to find a clear statement of them anywhere?) would be akin to a major rewrite from scratch. University design by lintel.<p>Sullivan conversely argues that, "[c]orporate-style, top-down leadership does not work in a great university." She seems to be arguing for incremental changes more akin to aggressive refactoring.<p>[1] <a href="http://cvillenews.com/2012/06/18/dragas-sullivan-statements/" rel="nofollow">http://cvillenews.com/2012/06/18/dragas-sullivan-statements/</a>
"More computing sins are committed in the name of efficiency (without necessarily achieving it) than for any other single reason — including blind stupidity." — W.A. Wulf<p>As an alumnus of the University of Virginia in Computer Engineering, kudos Professor Wulf.
Anybody else completely lost on this?<p>There's really no explanation in the link.<p>I read the whole thing and have no idea why he's resigning, or even who he is or why I should care.<p>"Being President was a full time job in DC..." made me chuckle, though.
To be clear, this isn't some random professor:<p><i>My wife (Anita Jones) and I are in Computer Science and we both hold the title University Professor — the highest rank at UVa. Of the 3300 faculty at UVa, roughly 13 hold that title.</i>
The article in the Washington Post mentioned that the Board was unhappy that the ousted President wouldn't cut "obscure" programs like German <i>and classics</i>.<p>Guess who majored in that obscure field of study? Tim O'Reilly, and he talks about how studying Classics helped him decode trends in technology.<p>I'm an alum of the Engineering school, but I wouldn't have attended UVA were it not for the strength of some of these obscure programs. Monied interests are ruining this institution in the name of profit.
The lack of "strategic dynamism" part is hilarious:<p><a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/strategic-whatnow" rel="nofollow">http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-co...</a>
For background and context, please see <a href="http://leiterreports.typepad.com/" rel="nofollow">http://leiterreports.typepad.com/</a><p>NEWSFLASH: the Vice-Rector has resigned. Let's hope that Rector Dragass [sic] resigns too.
Very sad to see. We need to save public higher education in this country, especially at the most elite institutions that actually have a chance to compete with the privates.
Bill Wulf who? I spent 5 years at UVA, graduating with honors and an MCS in 2005, but never had a single interaction with him. Ironically I did meet interim pres Carl Z at a breakfast for corporate recruiters last year and was impressed by his welcoming honesty. My anecdotes only reinforce what is obvious: Bill is a peripheral academic overdue for retirement, Carl Z was rightfully recognized, and UVA is in safe hands.
<i>By this email I am submitting my resignation, effective immediately. I do not wish to be associated with an institution being as badly run as the current UVa. A BOV that so poorly understands UVa, and academic culture more generally, is going to make a lot more dumb decisions, so the University is headed for disaster, and I don’t want to be any part of that. And, frankly, I think you should be ashamed to be party to this debacle!</i><p>Is this real? That's barely proper English, and certainly not something I would submit to an (interim) university President.
I know this letter was written for a UVA audience but there is almost no actual rhetoric about why he believes the administration to be wrong. I understand the power of losing every title and honor on your own,..but why not put more Ome into drafting a concise and powerful argument?
I don't like the letter. He spent too much time talking about his "experience". Oh come on. It's like "dude I am a Nobel prize winner, and none of you have that title so I am right." I hate people giving that kind of resignation, regardless of their intentions.
I guess being a women in Virgina is an endangered species. Seems all they're good for is government forced medical examinations.<p>Guess you get what you vote for in a guy like McDonald.