U-Va. should break some ties with state, panel says in preliminary report

[mahatmakanejeeves]

U-Va. should break some ties with state, panel says in preliminary report
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-should-break-some-ties-with-state-panel-says-in-preliminary-report/2013/09/11/e45cb586-1961-11e3-82ef-a059e54c49d0_story.html

By Jenna Johnson,

A University of Virginia panel has proposed that the institution break many of its ties with the state government and operate more like a private school.

Such an arrangement — which would need state lawmakers’ approval and likely would meet opposition — would allow Virginia’s flagship public school the freedom to more easily increase tuition and accept more top-tier students from across the country and the world. Although it could increase U-Va.’s prestige and shore up its finances, such a move could also make it more difficult for in-state students to win admission and could significantly raise their tuition.
....

Already, the preliminary proposal has drawn criticism and questions from the university community and state lawmakers, who said moving U-Va. toward a private model could be contrary to the public mission Thomas Jefferson laid out when he founded the university nearly two centuries ago. U-Va. is among the nation’s top public universities, and about 70 percent of its undergraduates are state residents.
....

At an August meeting of the Board of Visitors, Sullivan ticked off the schools U-Va. loses faculty members to and those that compete for its students, a list that included the University of Chicago, Harvard, Duke, Stanford, NYU, Northwestern, and the universities of Texas, Michigan, California and North Carolina.

Could this have anything to do with the loss of faculty?

Virginia faculty advocate for LGBT partner state benefits
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2013/09/virginia-faculty-advocate-for-lgbt-partner-state-benefits

William & Mary Rector sends letter to educators, legislators to call for legislative action

By Jiaer Zhuang | Sep 12

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of part of the Defense of Marriage Act this summer, increased attention has fallen on the University and its public school counterparts for their lack of same-sex partner benefits and the potential impact that will have on their ability to attract and retain LGBT faculty.

The decision afforded same-sex partners federal marriage benefits for the first time when the Court made the announcement in June, and this issue, according to Jeff Trammell, the former Rector at the College of William & Mary, could spell trouble for Virginia universities.
....

An August editorial in The Washington Post cited a College professor who left to work at a university in New York because her partner, who was diagnosed with cancer, could not get access to the University’s health insurance. The article also references a physician at the University Medical School who departed for another job at an Ivy League institution after failing to obtain University health insurance coverage for her same-sex partner.

In 2009, presidents of the University, the College of William and Mary, and George Mason University wrote in a joint letter to then-Gov. Tim Kaine saying Virginia public universities are at the competitive disadvantage with their public and private competitors by not offering benefits to married same-sex couples.

There's a thread here about that:

Outgoing rector warns Virginia on gay marriage
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10811048