<p>Oh VirginiaAlum, you give me more credit than is due to me. I have no such power to influence UVA’s expenditures. </p>
<p>UVa is pushing for more investment in Engineering & Sciences. (Though UVA’s Engineering School isn’t ranked up there w/ MIT, it’s usually ranked - ugh, I hate to refer to US News - at the same level as U.Penn & Harvard.) Here are some links re. UVa Engineering/Science & UVA’s push to bolster those areas.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/engineering_gift.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/engineering_gift.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/news/Archives04/bankole-johnson.cfm[/url]”>http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/news/Archives04/bankole-johnson.cfm</a>
<a href=“http://www.cs.virginia.edu/csnews/[/url]”>http://www.cs.virginia.edu/csnews/</a>
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/president/spch/05/letter_amspring05.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/president/spch/05/letter_amspring05.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/president/report04/discoveries.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/president/report04/discoveries.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/11_19_2004/metal.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/11_19_2004/metal.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2000/33/psychology.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2000/33/psychology.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2000/37/engineering.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2000/37/engineering.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.cs.virginia.edu/misc/news-vintlab3.html[/url]”>http://www.cs.virginia.edu/misc/news-vintlab3.html</a></p>
<p>Keep in mind that UVa was essentially a liberal arts college before 1970, where until pretty recently the liberal arts remained its strength and focus. (Before 1970, UVa was also all-male, and had barely over 5,000 undergrads.) Now, through Virginia 2020, UVa is also focusing on Fine & Performing Arts, International Activities, Public Service & Outreach, and Science & Techology.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2000/33/reports.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2000/33/reports.html</a></p>
<p>Barrons, that’s why there’s a lot of construction on Grounds - to build new state-of-the-art facilities. The problem w/ research though is that it often takes precedence over undergraduate teaching which is already a big problem at many behemoth research universities. I hope that UVa will be able to continue striking a good balance between research and teaching.</p>