Author: Scott Weaver

UVA’s longest-serving dean of admissions, John Blackburn, recently announced that he will retire in June 2009, and that announcement capped a semester of top-level shuffling at UVA. The administrative face of the University is changing. Blackburn’s been at the helm since 1985. President John Casteen and Executive Vice President and COO Leonard Sandridge both have been making informal plans for their retirements. Casteen is expected to step down after the Capital Campaign ends in 2011. Sandridge? Well, he already has a street named after him, so he’s liable to go at any time. Here is a list of UVA big-wigs that have left for other opportunities and who replaced them.—Scott Weaver

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Meredith Jung-En Woo

Arts & Science Dean
Who’s out: Ed Ayers
Why: Left to become president at University of Richmond
Who’s in: Meredith Jung-En Woo
Poached from: University of Michigan
Way back in 2006, former Arts & Science dean (and popular American history professor) Ayers said that he was leaving for the University of Richmond. Seventeen months and two searches later, UVA announced that Woo would take over on June 1. Karen Ryan stepped into the breach as interim dean for 10 months.

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Steven DeKosky

Med School Dean
Who’s out: Sharon Hostler
Why: Served as interim dean since 2007
Who’s in: Steven DeKosky
Poached from: University of Pittsburgh
The most recent appointee, DeKosky will become vice president and dean of the School of Medicine on August 1. And he should be familiar with UVA. DeKosky completed a post-doc fellowship in UVA’s Department of Neurology. His first academic gig also came in that department.

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Dorrie Fontaine

Nursing School Dean
Who’s out: Jeanette Lancaster
Why: Retiring after 19 years as dean
Who’s in: Dorrie Fontaine
Poached from: University of California-San Francisco
Fontaine will take over for Lancaster come August 1. And it won’t be easy. Lancaster headed the school for nearly two decades. In 2006, she was named a finalist for the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare,” a survey sponsored by Modern Healthcare Magazine. Oh, and UVA named a street after her.

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Paul Mahoney

Law School Dean
Who’s out: John Jeffries
Why: Wants to get back to first love—the classroom
Who’s in: Paul Mahoney
Poached from: UVA
Mahoney starts his run as dean on July 1. His predecessor, Jeffries, will take a year-long sabbatical and then return to teach at the Law School. Mahoney joined the UVA Law School faculty in 1990 and is an expert in corporate law. He serves as academic associate dean from 1999 to 2004.

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Thomas Skalak

VP of Research
Who’s out: Ariel Gomez
Who’s in: Thomas Skalak
Poached from: UVA
On August 1, Skalak, professor and chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, will take over as vice president of research. Gomez has held the post since 2003.

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Unfilled

Batten School of Leadership Dean
Who’s in: Unfilled
Thanks to a $100 million gift by Frank Batten, UVA has just created its newest school since Darden was established 53 years ago. As the school has been recently willed into existence, the search for a dean has been on.

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Just a few months ago, Micah Davis, a broker for Mahone Mortgage, thought he had a deal done. He had run the customer’s numbers through Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system, and the system had blessed the customer with an approval for a mortgage. Then came June.

That was the month when Fannie Mae updated its system, making mortgages harder to come by. Davis ran the same customer’s numbers through this month—the very same numbers—and the system spat out a “refer,” meaning that Davis couldn’t do the loan.

“Nothing had changed,” says Davis. “I’m going to be able to do it because, until October, they’re honoring anything that was run before June. But all things being equal, it went from an approval to a refer.”

Micah Davis, a broke for Mahone Mortgages, says that loans with 100-percent financing and different degrees of documentation, "are essentially nonexistent."

This is just one local story of a larger lending market that has assumed a defensive posture in the wake of the credit crisis. Nearly a year ago, the subprime section of that market began its collapse. A year later, investors are still unsure how bad the crisis is and as a result, the national lending market has tightened up, making it much harder to get a mortgage now than it was a year ago.

But is the local picture as bad as the national?

Two things are certain. The days of 100-percent financing—no down payment—are gone. And the baseline credit score you need for approval has risen sharply.

“It is more difficult to qualify borrowers for loans these days,” says Peggy Deane, vice president of mortgage services for Member Options, which provides mortgages for the UVA Credit Union. Dean says the secondary markets, institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who buy loans from originators, have tightened up their guidelines around the county.

“Even a year ago, for credit scores in the 500s, I won’t say those loans were easy to come by, but they were certainly possible,” Deane says. “That’s not the case today. We’re seeing a migration to a minimum of a 620 on more programs.”

Borrowers in Charlottesville do have an advantage over homebuyers in larger cities like Boston, Washington, D.C., and Phoenix, says Doug Adamson of Bank of America. Because of the slump in housing prices, many larger cities are considered declining markets. That label limits some loan options.

While home prices in and around Charlottesville are stagnant, it isn’t considered a declining market. That means some loan options like 95-percent financing are easier to come by here than in larger cities.

Deane says that generally people are going to have to have some money saved to buy a house now that 100-percent financing has disappeared.

“And there’s going to be a whole lot more focus on how they manage their credit,” she says. “For those who have the income and credit history to qualify, I’d say it’s just as easy as it always was.”

But for those who haven’t saved any money and have some dings in their credit, Deane says, they’ll need to go through some local counseling programs to shore up their standing. “Even though lending guidelines have tightened, there are still a wide variety of programs out there. I certainly wouldn’t want to paint the picture that it’s all bleak.”

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Last month, a number of Board of Visitors members indicated that this year was the time to increase UVA’s endowment spending. And increase it they have.

The Board, which governs the University, voted on June 13 to increase the endowment payout rate to 5 percent from last year’s 4.5 percent, which amounted to a $134 million payout. The increase, which will likely yield more than $15 million annually for spending, came as UVA bumped up in-state tuition next year by 7.3 percent.

Increases in tuition across the nation have led to Republican U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, to pressure universities to spend more of their endowment to make college more affordable. He has gone as far as floating the idea of requiring universities to spend at least 5 percent of their endowments each year.

UVA’s $5 billion endowment does partially fund AccessUVA, the University’s financial aid program. In the 2007-2008 school year, 11.5 percent of AccessUVA money came from unrestricted endowment funds. The two largest expenditures from the endowment go toward instruction (48 percent) and financial aid (25 percent). This coming school year, AccessUVA will have a budget that tops out at almost $62 million.

Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge asked the Board of Visitors to approve a 0.5 percent increase in endowment payout.

The Board also mandated that endowment distribution will increase in subsequent years by the rate of inflation. That rate will be determined by the Higher Education Price Index. In past years, the allowable payout had to have fallen between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent. This year the Board increased that range to 4 percent and 5 percent.

In an interview last month, UVA spokesperson Carol Wood said that the University hasn’t felt any pressure from Grassley to increase the payout from the endowment. UVA officials pointed to solid investment returns and the increasingly important role that the endowment plays in the University’s budget as the reasons for the payout increase.

From 2006 to 2007, UVA’s endowment increased by $560 million, though investment returns were only 3.3 percent. The University projects that in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, incomes from endowment and gifts will provide 9.1 percent of total revenues. The Commonwealth, it projects, will provide 8.2 percent.

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On June 11, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a measure meant to silence incessantly barking dogs in the urban area of the county. Passed by a 4-2 vote, the measure makes it against the law “to harbor an animal which disturbs the peace and quiet” of anyone in the county except those who live on land zoned “rural.”

If the aggrieved (and exhausted) party can prove that a dog barked for at least 30 minutes without stopping for more than five minutes, a judge can fine the dog’s owner up to $500. (Picture the poor judge made to listen to what has to be one of the world’s worst 30-minute recordings of anything.) Any more than two violations within 12 months, and the dog can be taken away.

Are dogs keeping us up at night, or is that howling coming from the County Office Building?

Being such a hot-button issue, the Board’s decision has sparked commentary on both sides. It’s about freedom! It’s about Orwellian governments! It’s about getting laid! So without further ado, here are the greatest hits of the great Barking Dog Controversy. All errors (and make-believe words) are those of the original great thinkers.

“Should we abdicate all aspects of personal responsibility and create an Orwellian world where the Board of Supervisors is empowered to legislate good neighborship?”—Neil Williamson, the Free Enterprise Forum blog

“Tonight I feel like I am moving into the People’s Republic of Albemarle.”—Joanne Hayden, speaking at the Board meeting

“You people who can’t handle a dog barking need to get laid….that will help you sleep”—oscar harmonka, commenting on The Hook’s website

“Here’s an idea. Fine every politician who yaps his or her trap for more than 1/2 hour $500. Or better yet, euthaniza them.”—John, commenting on the WCAV website

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Scott Williams walked out of the John Paul Jones Arena feeling optimistic. The boiler mechanic at UVA’s heat plant had just finished seeing the University’s expo for its “Career Paths” plan, a major component of the new human resources plan that will take effect in January.

Susan Carkeek, UVA’s HR officer, defends the new “Career Paths” plan. “The whole point of doing this is to recruit and keep our best employees,” says Carkeek.

“It will be better in the long run —more money,” says Williams. “The only thing I’m worried about is taking benefits away, things like days off and holidays.”

Previous coverage: Staff question new HR plan "Town hall" marks unveiling of University system Staff concerned about trust, pay Still waiting for glimpse at new HR system From the ground up UVA gets its official HR restructure-er

University officials point to the new HR plan’s compensation system of market- and merit-based pay as a benefit to UVA staff. Under the current state system, wages and raises are capped. Williams says that if he worked the same job in the private sector, he’d make around $50,000 or $60,000 a year.

How much does he make now? “Not even close to that,” he says.

But Williams’ concern about lost benefits speaks to some employees’ skepticism of a new HR plan that is still being developed and is short on specifics. The new HR plan comes out of the 2005 Management Agreement that gave UVA autonomy from the state’s human resources system. All UVA staff hired after July 2006 will be automatically switched to the new University HR system in January. Employees hired before then, however, have a choice: stay with the current state Classified system or jump over to the University’s new system.

The University’s plan won’t be finalized until October 1, when employees will receive a side-by-side comparison of both HR plans that the Management Agreement requires UVA to provide.

The Career Paths program is a major component of the new system, and one that UVA officials are heavily touting. Susan Carkeek, vice president and UVA’s chief human resources officer, says that Career Paths came partly from employees’ concerns about the lack of opportunity for advancement.

“People were staying, and people were advancing,” says Carkeek. “But I think it was in spite of the system, not because of the system.”

UVA rolled out details of the new programs last week and put them on display at the JPJ. Taskforces comprising nearly 200 employees and supervisors identified a whopping 73 career paths in 15 different career fields. Inside the Arena, large signs listed each career path, most of which include four stages within the same job. The stages lay out a metric for advancement—the job description for each stage and what skills, experience and certification employees need to advance.

“With the majority of the career paths that have been laid out,” says Carkeek, “it should give employees information they’ve never had before.”

Employees will receive pay increases with advancement, though specifics haven’t been set yet. Carkeek says UVA would probably set ranges of raises for pay increases within career paths.

UVA employees Christine Harrer and Linda Patchel, who work in the microbiology department, both left the expo liking what they saw of the Career Paths program.

“It gives you a diagram of what exactly you need to do,” says Harrer. Come January, Harrer will have to decide whether to switch to the new HR system. She’s unsure if she will and says she wants to see what her options are before she makes the jump. Employees who switch to the new University system cannot go back to the current state Classified system.

The Staff Union at UVA has been casting a skeptical eye at the University’s new HR program, and members questioned Carkeek about where the funding for market-based salaries will come from. Carkeek has said that UVA will use existing funds for the new system.

“The whole point of doing this is to recruit and keep our best employees,” says Carkeek. “So there is no incentive for us to not have the best salaries and benefits that we can possibly afford.”

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UVA women’s basketball coach Debbie Ryan joined a select few June 14 when she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ryan was a member of the 10th group of inductees to the Hall.

Ryan is fast approaching Thomas Jefferson as an institutional figure at UVA, albeit with more wins. The 2007-2008 season was Ryan’s 31st at UVA in a career that has included 20 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 12 trips to the Sweet Sixteen, seven Final Four teams, and one championship game appearance—not to mention a career that has spanned more than three decades in which women’s basketball has jumped from a largely ignored (and underfunded) college sport to a sport that now boasts its own professional league.

Dawn Staley played four years under UVA coach Debbie Ryan. Staley’s now a head coach herself, at the University of South Carolina: “I’m a true testament to the effect a coach has on a player’s life.”

“It’s changed a thousand fold,” says Ryan, “from the amount of support the sport has received to the athletes themselves and how we’re really starting to see what women can do athletically. And we’re still probably just scratching the surface of that.”

Perhaps no one personifies those changes as much as one of Ryan’s former players, Dawn Staley. Staley was named national player of the year twice while at UVA from 1988 to 1992, played in the American Basketball League (a short-lived precursor to the WNBA), then the WNBA, and is now the head coach at the University of South Carolina.

“Debbie is a coach who allowed her players to learn from mistakes,” says Staley via e-mail. “It was an ‘on the job training’ approach. Most coaches would have stifled the growth of our talented team, but Debbie’s style created an atmosphere where we were destined to succeed. I have adopted that approach and found success with it.”

In a profession that tends to make nomads of coaches, Ryan says one of the reasons she’s chosen to stay at UVA for over three decades is its financial and emotional support for her program, even when women’s basketball wasn’t the draw it is now.

“We’re not one of those schools that lagged behind Title IX,” says Ryan. “We were always out front and wanting to be on the cutting edge of that. That always made me proud of being a part of this school.”

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