Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Varsity Hall
136 Hospital Drive
P.O. Box 400893
Charlottesville, VA 22904
434-243-4383

General Information

As part of its strategic plan and as an expression of its Jeffersonian heritage, the University of Virginia has established the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. The Batten School is the first new school to be established at the University since the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration was created in 1955.

The mission of the Batten School is to educate leaders from the social sciences and other fields who understand the responsibilities and opportunities of service to the public and can help bring about transformational change. The School, through its instructional, research, and outreach programs, will contribute in important ways to public deliberation and enlightenment on the great domestic and international issues of each age. The Batten School will train students in critical leadership skills, and in the analytics and substance of policy. Its programs will inspire students to act vigorously, effectively, and ethically on behalf of the common good. The faculty will be committed to teaching the use of rigorous analysis, the subtle understanding of political, social and economic context, and the exercise of creative personal and organizational leadership to initiate change in an increasingly diverse world.

The School is made possible by a generous gift from Frank Batten, Sr., one of the University’s most loyal supporters. Batten is the retired chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications Inc. He is known for his keen interest in the areas of leadership, citizenship, and service to the public.

The Board of Visitors approved the creation of the Batten School on April 12, 2007. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia approved the establishment of the Batten School and the transfer of the five-year BA/ MPP program into the Batten School as its first degree program on February 4, 2008. Approval of the Batten School by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is pending.

The five-year BA/ MPP program in public policy was inaugurated in 2007. It features innovative courses on strategic leadership and management, policy history, and legal and moral reasoning in addition to courses on policy analysis. Plans call for the eventual creation of a Leadership Scholars program that will be open to undergraduates from any major and a selective undergraduate major in public policy with a concentration in domestic policy or global affairs. For graduate students, the Batten School will offer a Master of Public Policy, and a Post-Doctoral Program in Public Policy. For professional students, the Batten School will establish an innovative one-year Master of Public Leadership degree as an executive education program for emerging leaders in a wide variety or public and civic fields. Each new degree program will be developed by the Batten School dean and faculty and submitted to the Faculty Senate for its approval.