The Board of Visitors has reinstated Teresa A. Sullivan as president of the University of Virginia while also expressing support for Rector Helen E. Dragas, the university news service has reported. Dragas had taken a leading role in forcing her resignation, effective August, earlier this month.
Given the overwhelming support Sullivan enjoyed among faculty, staff and students as well as the negative national publicity the controversy had generated, the decision was undoubtedly the right thing. The question now is how Sullivan will tackle the list of pressing issues raised by Dragas in a statement last week.
The fact that the board expressed support for Dragas indicates that its concerns about the challenges facing the university have not evaporated. Dragas will continue to work with Sullivan in forging a strategic plan that deals with such issues as online learning, affordability, declining state financial support, faculty recruitment and retention, and the reallocation of internal resources.
My guess is that Sullivan, who had championed “incremental change,” has gotten the message and will be a little less incremental and a little more aggressive in the future. This may be the best of all outcomes.
— JAB
