University of Virginia

University of Virginia

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“We wish to establish in the upper and healthier country, and more centrally for the state, a University on a plan so broad and liberal and modern, as to be worth patronizing with the public support.”
Thomas Jefferson

The University of Virginia, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is a vigorous, modern institution, animated by the forward-looking spirit of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s powerful convictions–the idea that the university exists to train young people for public service and the belief that the liberal arts constitute the foundation for any education–continue to inspire its students and faculty and guide the development of its programs.

Jefferson was a man of many talents, and he expressed them fully in founding the University of Virginia in 1819; he outlined the institution’s purpose, designed its buildings, supervised construction, and planned its curriculum. He also directed the recruitment of its initial faculty.

When classes began in 1825, with 68 students and a faculty of eight, the University of Virginia embodied dramatic new ideas in American higher education. In an era when colleges trained scholars for the clergy and academia, Jefferson dedicated his University to the education of citizens in practical affairs and public service. The innovative curriculum permitted the student a broader range of study than was available at other colleges and universities of the day, and Jefferson implemented novel ideas concerning student self-government and religious freedom.

Jefferson chose an undeveloped plot of land on the edge of Charlottesville on which to locate the University of Virginia. Jefferson was a skillful architect, a consummate builder, and an inveterate tinkerer. His belief in public service, his respect for the achievements of the past, and his sense of balance and proportion are expressed in the buildings he designed for his “academical village.”

This educational community was built around a rectangular, terraced green–the Lawn–flanked by two continuous rows of identical, one-story rooms. These rows are accented by large buildings, the Pavilions, each in a different style. Both the rooms and the Pavilions open onto a colonnaded walkway fronting the Lawn. Behind each of the two rows of buildings are public gardens delineated by serpentine brick walls and backed by yet another set of rooms. The Rotunda, a half-scale model of the Roman Pantheon, closes off one end of the Lawn, while the south end was originally left open to a vista of the mountains.

The genius of Jefferson’s design is that it integrates housing for students and faculty as well as classroom and library space into a single unit. Students lived on the Lawn and in the outer two rows of rooms, known as the Ranges. Faculty members lived in the Pavilions, while the Rotunda held the library and classroom space.

Although the University has grown since Jefferson’s time, the Lawn remains the intellectual and spiritual heart of the Academical Village and serves much of its original purpose. Students who have made special contributions to the University are awarded a Lawn room in their fourth year; senior faculty and their families live in the Pavilions, where classes are also held; and graduate students live in the Ranges. The Rotunda’s oval rooms and the Dome Room are used for meetings of the Board of Visitors, dinners, and other ceremonial occasions, as well as for student activities.

The special grace and character of Jefferson’s design are widely recognized. As Ada Louise Huxtable noted in The New York Times, the University “is probably the single most beautiful and effective architectural group of its kind in the country, or in the history of American building.”  In 1976, the American Institute of Architects proclaimed it “the proudest achievement in American architecture in the past 200 years”; in 1987, the Lawn was named to the World Heritage List.

Although the University of Virginia has expanded to encompass more than one thousand acres, it still retains the intimacy that characterized the Academical Village. University planners have been careful to reserve open space for study and contemplation while erecting modern facilities for each of the seven undergraduate schools.

Each year, the area attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists who come to see the Grounds of the University, visit the homes of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, tour local wineries, and hike through the Shenandoah National Park, just 20 miles west in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Charlottesville has its own traditions. The community celebrates each spring with a Dogwood Festival and New Year’s Eve with First Night Virginia fireworks and entertainment. Steeplechase fans attend the Foxfield Races, and every spring, runners in the Charlottesville Ten-Miler rush through town toward the finish line at University Hall.

A pedestrian mall downtown offers fine dining, distinctive shops, art galleries, and nightspots in a historical section of the city. In the Court Square area, lawyers and business people occupy offices in buildings dating back to the 1700s. The city is known for its fine restaurants, appealing to every taste and budget, and many establishments present nightly entertainment by local artists. The Virginia Film Festival brings new visitors and celebrities to the area each fall, along with movies, seminars, and premieres. The Virginia Festival of the Book brings poets, writers of non-fiction, and novelists to Charlottesville each spring.

Charlottesville is located 120 miles from Washington, D.C., and 70 miles from Richmond. The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO), a non-hub, commercial service airport, offers 50 daily non-stop flights to and from Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York/LaGuardia, Washington/Dulles, Detroit, and Atlanta. CHO is served by Delta Connection, United Express, and US Airways Express. Major highways convenient to the city include Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 29. Nationwide bus and railway service for passengers and freight is provided by Greyhound, AMTRAK, Norfolk Southern, and the CSX Corporation. The Charlottesville Transit Service and the University Transit Service provide bus service on Grounds and around the city, free for University students, faculty, and staff. Visitors to the University are always welcome. On-street parking is limited, so visitors are encouraged to park at the paid hourly Central Grounds Parking Garage off Emmet Street.

Maps of the University are available for visitors at the University’s Visitor/Information Center at 2304 Ivy Road in Charlottesville (follow signs from 29N or Interstate 64 to the University Information Center) and online at www.virginia.edu/Map/. Bulk quantities can be purchased by calling the University Bookstore at (434) 924-3721. Brochures about the Rotunda are available at the Rotunda. Books about Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, and the University of Virginia may be purchased at the University Bookstore, located atop the Central Grounds Parking Garage.

A great deal of information about the University is featured in links from the home page, www.virginia.edu.

The Office of Admission Web site features electronic versions of all of the undergraduate publications, as well as a link to the Common Application and additional U.Va. admissions requirements at www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission.  Admissions information for the graduate and professional student is available at www.virginia.edu/graduateguide.
 
For more information about the University, check out Facts at a Glance at virginia.edu/facts. U.Va. Today at virginia.edu/uvatoday provides daily coverage of the University’s top news. An online calendar is linked from the University’s home page, www.virginia.edu/calendar and online maps are at.www.virginia.edu/map. For even more information about the University, its history, tours of the Rotunda and Gardens, and even a U.Va. trivia game, check out http://virginia.edu/aboutuva.html

In creating an Academical Village, Jefferson sought scholars who had distinguished reputations and were willing to live among their students-an unusual, but from Jefferson’s point of view, essential combination. The University of Virginia faculty, one of the most distinguished groups of scholars and researchers in the country, still exemplifies this tradition.

The University’s full-time instructional/research faculty numbers approximately 2,382, most of whom conduct research and publish their findings on a regular basis. The University has established almost 500 endowed professorships for outstanding scholars.

Several eminent individuals have made their intellectual home at the University of Virginia, including Julian Bond, chairman of the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and professor of history; former Governor Gerald Baliles, now director of the Miller Center for Public Affairs; and Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize winner, former poet laureate of the United States and Commonwealth Professor of English.
 
Recognition these faculty members have gained reflects a lifetime of service to society. Mr. Bond received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor given by the NAACP. Governor Baliles was selected Virginian of the Year by the Virginia Press Association, and Ms. Dove received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Virginia.

Other faculty members also have been recognized for their scholarly and professional contributions. Retired chemical engineering professor Elmer L. Gaden Jr. won the Fritz J. and Delores H. Russ Prize for pioneering research that enabled large-scale manufacture of antibiotics. The Russ Prize is the engineering equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Kevin Janes, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, was one of just seventeen researchers nationwide to be selected for the Pew Scholarship in the Biomedical Sciences. John Quale, assistant professor of architecture, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Japan.

Ethan Carr, the Reuben McCorkle Rainey Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, received the Bradford Williams Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Elisabeth Blair MacDougall Book Award from the Society of Architectural Historians.

Earl Mark, associate professor of architecture and chief technology officer for the School of Architecture, received the 2009 Be Inspired Educator of the Year Award from Bentley Systems, a global company specializing in developing software for infrastructure projects.

Dean Kim Tanzer was elected the first president of the National Academy of Environmental Design.

David Cafiso, Commonwealth Professor of Chemistry and chairman of the chemistry department, received the 2010 Fellow of the Biophysical Society Award for his contributions to the study of the electrostatic properties of membrane bilayers, membrane protein structure and protein-lipid interactions.

Deborah Eisenberg, professor of creative writing, was among 24 recipients of a MacArthur Fellowship.

Chemistry professor Brent Gunnoe was tapped to head the Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization, a new energy research center based at U.Va. and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Brooks H. Pate, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Chemistry, was named to lead the new Center for Chemistry of the Universe, headquartered at the University. Pate’s primary U.Va. colleagues in the center include John Yates, professor of chemistry; Kevin Lehmann, professor of chemistry and physics; and Tom Gallagher, the Jesse W. Beams Professor of Physics.

Four faculty from the College received Guggenheim Fellowships: Francesca Fiorani, associate professor of art history; Deborah Lawrence, associate professor of environmental sciences; Charles R. Marsh, professor of religious studies; and Lisa Russ Spaar, associate professor of English. Guggenheim Fellowships are intended to foster the recipients’ creativity. Risa L. Goluboff, professor of law and history, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in constitutional studies to research U.S. vagrancy laws in the 1960s

In the Curry School of Education, assistant professor Sara Dexter won the Jack A.
Culbertson Award from the University Council for Educational Administration. Dexter was cited for the innovativeness, originality, general application and impact of her research. LaVae Hoffman, assistant professor, received the Editor’s Award from the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. Pam Tucker, associate professor, received the 2009 Spirit Award from the Women Education Leaders in Virginia.

In the Darden School of Business, the Academy of Management, the world’s largest scholarly management association, has chosen Ming-Jer Chen, the Leslie E. Grayson Professor of Business Administration, vice president-elect.  Associate professor of business administration Gregory Fairchild and Michael J. Lenox, associate dean, were named 2009 Faculty Pioneers by the Center for Business Education at the Aspen Institute.  R. Edward Freeman, the Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration, received the Doctor honoris causa from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas-ICAI-ICADE in Madrid.

Kevin Janes, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, received the New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health. Janes was also one of 17 researchers selected as 2009 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science will lead the new $10 million Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle 22 Propulsion, funded by NASA and the U.S. Air Force. James C. McDaniel, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is the lead;
co-investigators are Harsha K. Chelliah, associate professor, and Christopher P. Goyne, research assistant professor.

A.E. Dick Howard, the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs, the 2009-10 visiting scholar at the National Constitution Center and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

David A. Martin, the Warner-Booker Distinguished Professor of International Law, was named principal deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, making him the second-highest-ranking of the agency’s 1,700 lawyers.

Roger Martin, associate professor of accounting, won a grant competition sponsored by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Charitable Foundation Inc. The grant will be used by faculty to make the transition to international accounting standards in the accounting curriculum.

Gowher Rizvi, professor of global affairs in the McIntire School and the University’s vice provost for international programs, was appointed adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh.
Dr. Bankole Johnson, the Alumni Professor of Psychiatric Medicine, received the Solomon Carter Fuller Award from the American Psychiatric Association for his work on physiological basis of substance abuse.
Dr. Shu Man Fu, the Margaret M. Trolinger Professor of Rheumatology; Gabor Szabo, professor of molecular physiology and biological physics; and Judith M. White, professor of cell biology, were named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Barbara Brodie, professor emeritus of nursing, was named a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing. The Society of Critical Care Medicine honored Suzi Burns, professor of nursing, with the 2009 Norma J. Shoemaker Award for Critical Care Nursing Excellence.

Dorrie Fontaine, the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing and dean, rang the closing bell at Nasdaq in honor of National Nurses Week.

Centennial Distinguished Professor of Nursing Arlene Keeling became a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
 

The quality of the student body is evident in numerous ways, including the awards and honors many students receive. The University has graduated 45 Rhodes Scholars, the highest number for state universities nationwide. The University is attracting some of the very best students in the country through the merit-based Jefferson Scholars Program. Jefferson Public Citizens is a comprehensive academic public service program that integrates students’ service and research experiences throughout their time at the University, and opportunities for undergraduate research abound.

Four years at the University prepares students well for becoming adults who are educated citizens and contributing members of society. Whether they go directly to a job (as many do), teach English in a developing country for period of time, enroll in law or medical school (to which University of Virginia students are accepted at well above the national average), or enter graduate school to pursue the scholarly life as a profession, their undergraduate years at Virginia provide the chance to explore subjects and ideas that will lay the foundation for their future careers and lives.
 

The Honor System is one of the University’s oldest and most venerated traditions. Based on the fundamental assumption that anyone who enrolls at the University subscribes to a code of ethics forbidding lying, cheating, and stealing, the Honor System allows students the kind of personal freedom possible only in an environment where respect and trust are presumed. If a student violates the Honor Code, he or she cannot remain a member of the University community, and is not entitled to receive or hold a degree from the University of Virginia. For more than 160 years this system has been administered by students.
 

A member of the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia fields 12 intercollegiate sports for men and 13 for women. U.Va.’s intercollegiate athletics program ranked eighth in the final 2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, which are based on the combined performance of men’s and women’s sports during the academic year. Virginia is one of just 15 schools to finish in the Top 30 in the Directors’ Cup standings in all 16 years of the program’s existence and the eighth place finish ties for the Cavaliers’ best.

Virginia Athletics 2008-09

Virginia had another successful year of athletic competition in 2008-09. Teams or individuals in 20 of Virginia’s 25 sports advanced to NCAA postseason competition in 2008-09. The baseball team reached the College World Series for the first time, the women’s rowing team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, the men’s lacrosse team reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, the women’s golf team was eighth for its best finish at the NCAA Championships, the men’s tennis team reached the NCAA quarterfinals, and the men’s swimming and diving team finished a program-best ninth at the NCAA Championships. The men’s tennis team won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s National Team Indoor Championship for the second consecutive year. Virginia teams won six conference championships in 2008-09, the most of any league member and tying the most won by the Cavaliers in a year. Virginia has won 35 ACC Championships in the last seven years, the most of any school in the ACC during that period.

In addition U.Va.’s doubles team of Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz won the NCAA Men’s Doubles Championship, the first doubles team from an ACC school to accomplish that feat. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and CollegeBaseballInsider.com both named baseball coach Brian O’Connor National Coach of the Year. Four different Virginia coaches won a total of six ACC Coach of the Year awards in 2008-09.
 
Virginia’s intercollegiate athletics teams won more than 64 percent of their contests in 2008-09 to win the 31st annual Virginia Sports Information Directors Association Division I All-Sports Championship for the second consecutive year and fourth time in the last six years. U.Va.’s 25 men’s and women’s teams compiled an overall record of 271-146-5 (.648 winning percentage).

Academics
Virginia had 216 student-athletes named to the 2008-09 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll. The Honor Roll comprises those student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. U.Va. also had two individuals named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in their respective sports.

Virginia’s graduation rate for student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility remains high. In the 2008-09 academic year, those individuals who exhausted their eligibility graduated at a rate of 93 percent.

Five Virginia athletics teams received public recognition awards for achieving Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports. The teams were women’s soccer, softball, women’s swimming and diving, women’s indoor track and volleyball.

The University contributes to Charlottesville’s lively arts scene with a wide range of events sponsored by academic departments and student groups. Music events include concerts by faculty and student groups and performances and master classes by visiting artists. The John Paul Jones Arena has hosted performances by Dave Matthews Band, Eric Clapton, Kenny Chesney, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Cirque du Soleil, the Dead, and many others in just three years of operation. Dave Matthews Band, the Rolling Stones, and, in fall 2009, U2 have performed at Scott Stadium. The University’s Art Museum houses broad-ranging art collections that are supplemented by frequent visiting shows. The museum sponsors public talks and receptions and conducts an outreach program for K-12 students. Ruffin Hall, the new studio art building, features student and faculty shows, and the art department sponsors public talks as well. The drama department presents productions year-round in the Culbreth and Helms theatres, including drama, musicals, small workshop productions and dance performances. Every fall, the Virginia Film Festival sponsors movie premieres and classics and discussions by actors, directors, producers and academics, all surrounding a theme that changes annually. 

The University of Virginia libraries play an integral role in the University’s ability to maintain its standing as a top-ranked public institution of higher education. Fourteen libraries serve the University’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. They house more than 5 million books and receive 97,800 periodicals and newspapers from around the world. The general library collections in the social sciences and humanities are in Alderman Library, together with the library’s depository collections of state, federal, and international documents. The University’s world-renowned collection of manuscripts and rare books is in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. Public programs and exhibits are in the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture. The Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library and its satellites (Astronomy, Biology/Psychology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics) serve the research needs of the University’s scientific community. Additional subject collections and services are offered by librarians in the Curry School of Education, the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library and the Music Library. Clemons Library provides a general collection of popular materials, reserve reading, and, in the Robertson Media Center, video and audio resources. The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, the Camp Library in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and the Arthur J. Morris Law Library serve the University’s professional schools.

Libraries at the University of Virginia are committed to the provision of cutting-edge access to information through technology.  The online catalog of the collections and online access to newspaper and journal articles are available in all library locations and may also be accessed from home and office computers via the library’s website at www.lib.virginia.edu. Digital labs in Alderman, Clemons, and Brown offer library users assistance with multi-media technologies such as digitizing images and text and combining sound and video for multimedia presentations.  User education programs assist the University community in expanding its information literacy. 

Information Technology and Communication (ITC) (www.itc.virginia.edu) provides a full range of central information technology services for most sections of the University, as well as the networking backbone services and telephone system for the entire University; ITC supports U.Va.’s instructional, research, and administrative activities by facilitating communication and transmission of the information for all University departments.

ITC provides services to faculty, staff, and students including: access to the Internet and the U.Va. network; centralized email, calendaring, and file storage; Web servers supporting user-published content; and U.Va. Collab, the University’s online course management and collaboration tool. Access to specialized academic software packages is available through U.Va. Hive, a service that provides software to members of the University community on their own computers via the Internet. This specialized software is also available on desktop computers in a centrally located public lab on Grounds. (For-fee printing in on-Grounds’ locations is provided by U.Va.’s Printing and Copying Services (PCS).) Wireless access is provided in all first-year residence halls, in the libraries, on the Lawn, and in most classrooms. All students housing is also hardwired for Internet access. ITC also provides for-fee cable television in student housing.

Faculty, staff and students may download software, most at no cost, including licensed, self-updating antivirus software, from www.itc.virginia.edu/central. Undergraduate and graduate students may also purchase the latest version of the Microsoft Office® suite and Windows operating system at a substantial savings through U.Va.’s Campus Agreement with Microsoft (www.itc.virginia.edu/software/mslicenses/).

The U.Va. Help Desk (434-924-HELP; www.itc.virginia.edu/helpdesk/ ) is the primary source of technical computing support and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Additional information about services provided by ITC, along with training and documentation may be found on ITC Web ( www.itc.virginia.edu/services).

Noted for its world-class research capabilities, the University of Virginia is engaged in a wide range of research in medicine, engineering, and the arts and sciences. Cutting-edge research and scholarship by the University’s outstanding faculty bring opportunities to learn about the latest advances in the classroom as well as the ability to become involved in research work in many fields.

Research is an integral part of the educational process at the University. Opportunities to participate in research are available for both graduates and undergraduates and may result in published papers for graduate and some undergraduate students.

Since 1946, students and faculty of the University of Virginia have benefited from its membership in Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of colleges and universities and a management and operating contractor for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, and faculty enjoy access to a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Students can participate in programs covering a wide variety of disciplines including business, earth sciences, biomedical sciences, nuclear chemistry, and mathematics.

A distinct feature of the University’s research community is the extent to which it fosters interdisciplinary research. A number of research centers and institutes have been established in recent years to facilitate collaboration among faculty from different academic units who have common research interests and objectives. One outcome of this interdisciplinary emphasis has been the growth of joint academic programs leading to joint degrees.

Exciting research is undertaken jointly by faculty from both engineering and medicine in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Program in Engineering Physics. Other engineering faculty members have research ties with faculty in environmental sciences, physics, and other fields. Faculty in medicine and biology work closely on a variety of research projects, as do those in physics and chemistry.

Research collaborations are common among non-scientists as well. Faculty members from the schools of law and business have launched a center jointly with faculty in psychology. Professors in business and various humanities departments bring their separate viewpoints and research strategies to bear on common issues. Interdisciplinary research provides opportunities for shared use of facilities and for synergism in research efforts and augmented funding.

In fiscal year 2008-2009, research at the University was supported by over 1950 separate awards totaling over $332 million dollars from federal and state agencies, industry, and foundations. This represents an increase of over 77% from ten years ago , and reflects the University’s growing research stature and prominence.

The University demonstrates its commitment to research by providing internal financial funding in certain circumstances. The University provides funding for particularly meritorious research which might otherwise have brief funding interruptions, thus maintaining continuity in important, ongoing projects. Through the Bankard Foundation endowment, year-long research grants support research in political economy. Another program provides grants for faculty research in the humanities and social sciences.

The knowledge being disseminated and the technology being developed today at the University of Virginia will play a vital role in how we live in the future. More detailed information about research and funding at the University is available online from the Office of the Vice President for Research, www.virginia.edu/vpr.

The University offers graduate and first-professional degrees through ten of its 11 schools. Of the 21,000 students enrolled at the University, more than 6,600 are students in a graduate or first-professional (law and medicine) degree program. UVa offers 84 master’s degrees in 67 fields, 57 doctoral degrees in 55 fields, six education specialist degrees, and first-professional degrees in law and medicine. UVa  is one of the top universities in the nation, ranked twenty-third overall - and second among public institutions - by U.S. News & World Report and with 38 fields, departments, or schools ranked in the top 25 for graduate study. In 2009, the University conferred more than 1,700 master’s degrees, 350 doctoral degrees, and more than 500 first-professional degrees.

The University places a high premium on collaborative, cross-border, and inter- and multi-disciplinary inquiry, scholarship, and research. Through centers and programs like the Morphogenesis and Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Institute on Aging, and the nanoSTAR Institute, to name a few, graduate students and faculty from across the institution are bringing their respective expertise to bear on the complex questions facing society.

The University recently demonstrated its ongoing commitment to graduate studies by announcing its intention to build an endowment for graduate education as part of its current capital campaign. In addition, numerous programs have been developed to encourage an outstanding and diverse graduate student body, including the Fellowship Enhancement for Outstanding Doctoral Candidates, which offers a three-year $10,000 stipend supplement - on top of a department’s support package - to outstanding doctoral applicants. The University also recognizes superior original scholarship and research among graduate students with the Awards for Excellence in Scholarship.

In 2005, the University’s board of visitors allocated resources to create Graduate Student Diversity Programs within the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR). This unit exists to enhance the diversity of the graduate student population, create a culture of support, and serve as a resource for administration, faculty, staff, and graduate students on matters of diversity. In addition, the office coordinates recruitment and retention efforts across the University’s ten graduate and first professional schools, supports graduate student organizations, and serves as a liaison between UVa and minority-serving institutions.  In 2007, the University’s commitment to graduate student diversity was recognized when it received the Council of Graduate Schools/Peterson’s Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community.

The University is also committed to the professional development of its graduate students. It seeks to assist graduate students with decision-making and planning for career pursuits within and beyond academe by providing advising services, workshops and other programs, and referrals to up-to-date electronic and print resources. Through the Teaching Resource Center, the University also supports Tomorrow’s Professor Today (TPT). Designed to facilitate the transition from student to academic professional, the TPT program focuses on improving preparedness in three key areas-teaching, professional development, and adjustment to a university career.

More detailed information about graduate studies at the University is available online from the Office of the Vice President for Research, www.virginia.edu/vpr/gradstudies, by e-mailing gradstudies@virginia.edu, or by calling (434) 243-4014.

The University of Virginia’s mission extends beyond the lives of its students, faculty, and staff to the surrounding community, the Commonwealth, the nation, and the world. From professional development for elementary and secondary school teachers to leadership training for local governing bodies across Virginia, the University is committed to sharing its resources of expertise and scholarship in ways that improve the well-being of individuals and communities. OutreachVirginia ( www.virginia.edu/outreachvirginia), an interactive, searchable database and web site, provides extensive information on more than 480 University public service programs.

Through a bachelor’s degree program designed specifically for part-time, adult students in Central, Northern, and Eastern Virginia and educational seminars, short courses, and graduate degree programs offered through regional centers across the state, the University continues to expand access to higher education while maintaining its tradition of academic excellence. Telemedicine programs and screening clinics provide residents in rural areas of the Commonwealth with access to both basic and specialized health care. Mentoring and tutoring programs help local area youth to achieve more through educational opportunities.  Programs in all of the schools reflect a similar dedication to enhancing the quality of public life in Virginia and beyond.

Students, faculty, and staff exemplify the institution’s commitment to service. In 2009-2010, over 3,300 students volunteered each week during the regular academic session, giving over 110,000 hours of their time, representing 2.2 million dollars of service. Over 1,000 UVa employees contributed hours of service through the 2009 United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring, a community-wide effort to foster volunteer service in Charlottesville and surrounding counties. In 2009, 3,602 staff and faculty contributed more than $932,000 to the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign to support charitable organizations in the Commonwealth and around the world. For the past four years, the Corporation for National and Community Service has named the University of Virginia to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Through the Jefferson Public Citizens program, over 70 students completed local or international academic public service projects spanning six different countries.
     
Additional information about public service and outreach initiatives and community relations at the University of Virginia is available by contacting a member of the Community Engagement Network: http:// www.virginia.edu/provost/public/cen.html.

The University of Virginia was chartered by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1819 and is one of a select group of 62 American and Canadian universities chosen for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.  The University of Virginia is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, graduate, first professional, and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033 or call 404-679-4558 for questions about the accreditation of the University of Virginia. 

Professional degree programs at the University of Virginia hold the following accreditations.  The Master of Landscape Architecture is accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board. The Master of Architecture is accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board. The Urban and Environmental Planning degree program is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. The following Curry School of Education programs are accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council: Teacher Education, Administration and Supervision, and Reading. In addition, individual program specializations within the Curry School are accredited by such organizations as the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, and the American Psychological Association. The undergraduate and graduate programs in Business and in Accounting at the McIntire School of Commerce and the MBA program in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association. The following Bachelor of Science degree programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Science are accredited by American Board for Engineering and Technology : Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Systems Engineering. The School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and the Virginia State Board of Nursing. The M.D. degree in the School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (representing the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges). The Masters of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.

(Retired)

Donald Black, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

David W. Breneman, B.A., Ph.D., Education

Robert M. Carey, B.S., M.D., M.A.C.P., Medicine, Harrison Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Dean Emeritus of the School of Medicine

Mark W. Edmundson, B.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

Robert E. Freeman, B.A., Ph.D., Philosophy, Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration K. Ian Grandison, B.S., M.L.A., Architecture and Arts and Sciences

Donald F. Hunt, B.S., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

 (Retired)Jagdish K. Kumar, B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Sociology

 (Retired)Jerome J. McGann, B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences, John Stewart Bryan Professor of English

Larry J. Sabato, B.A., D.Phil., Arts and Sciences, Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs

 (Retired)Michael Suarez, B.A., M.A., M.S., Arts and Sciences

Elizabeth H. Turner, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

Sarah E. Turner, B.A., Ph.D.,  Education and Economics

Haydn N. G. Wadley, B.S., Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science, Edgar A. Starke, Jr., Research Professor of Materials Science

William A. Wulf, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science, American Telephone and Telegraph Company Professor of Engineering and Applied Science