Leaders across Grounds and the nation are today's architects of the university and builders of its future.

As the next decade approaches, the University of Virginia aims to secure a permanent position among the premier universities in the nation and in the world. The kickoff of the $3 billion campaign, the creation of a six year plan as mandated by the Higher Education Restructuring Act, and the efforts of the Board of Visitors' Special Committee on Planning are converging, which presents University leaders with an unprecedented opportunity to develop comprehensive strategic plans to achieve the highest aspirations for the century ahead.

University leaders—both across Grounds and across the nation—have joined these planning efforts to carry out the vision Thomas Jefferson set when he created the University of Virginia. Comprising administrators, faculty, alumni, and friends, these leaders have demonstrated unfailing commitment to ensure that the University thrives for the benefit of all society. Following Mr. Jefferson's example, they are serving as today's architects of the University and the builders of its future, having recognized the important truths, as he did, that "knowledge is power, that knowledge is safety, and that knowledge is happiness."

A Ten Year Plan
The University continues to attain distinction in the fields of undergraduate and graduate education, scholarship and research, health care, and community outreach. In addition to upholding excellence in teaching and research where it now exists, a strategy has been developed to target essential areas for achieving similar excellence and to identify specific goals in yet other areas where the University is already positioned to excel and where excellence will yield leveraged improvement to the greater institution.

The Special Committee on Planning of the Board of Visitors established a ten year plan at its last annual retreat. The plan encompasses eight goals, the first three of which are interrelated and essential for accomplishing the rest.

• Increase faculty size to meet the demand of increasing numbers of students and the need for increased breadth, diversity, and depth of course offerings.
• Develop and renew the classroom and research infrastructures that are necessary to support our aspirations.
• Enhance graduate education through increased financial investment in graduate support.
• Increase significantly the prominence of the University as a research institution in science and engineering.
• Boost the University's reputation for excellence in its undergraduate experience.
• Expand and leverage the capacity of the University's professional schools to train leaders and bring the knowledge of their disciplines to bear on public life around the world.
• Strengthen library and information technology resources that encourage new modes of learning, teaching, and research.
• Foster public engagement and outreach so that the University's pursuit of excellence in research and learning improves lives in the community, the Commonwealth, the nation, and the world.

The ten year plan honors the founding ideals of the University and aligns with the goals outlined in the October 2005 six year plan. That plan, submitted to the State Council, the governor, and the respective chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance, details how the University will meet the requirements of the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act. The four major strategic directions of the plan include 1) academic quality and effectiveness, 2) accessibility and affordability, 3) public engagement with the Commonwealth, and 4) other institutional priorities, such as faculty, students, staff, resources, and health care. The commitment of the University to serve the public lies at the foundation of these strategic directions.

The Campaign for the University of Virginia: Knowledge is Power
Long term planning calls for the University to attain the resources necessary to stand in the front rank of all universities, public and private. Consequently, the Campaign for the University of Virginia was launched with a $3 billion goal in support of four key priorities:

• Enhancing the University experience for students and faculty in order to prepare the citizens and leaders of tomorrow. This priority will be achieved through the creation of additional scholarships and fellowships, more professorships and other forms of faculty support, new and expanded facilities, and new and expanded programs. Total need: $1.47 billion.
• Promoting research, scholarship, and creativity in order to expand the boundaries of knowledge. This priority will be achieved through the creation of endowments for faculty, students, and visiting scholars; an endowment for programs; new laboratories and other research facilities; and new research initiatives. Total need: $923 million.
• Serving society by meeting the challenges of our time. This priority will be achieved through transformations in health care intended to improve the lives of people around the globe; through the creation of interdisciplinary centers and institutes that bring the best academic minds to bear on solving societal problems; and through the support of public engagement initiatives to revitalize K 12 education and the political and democratic processes, among others. Total need: $603 million.

• 

  Assuring flexibility in the pursuit of excellence by providing the University with unrestricted resources that can be deployed immediately when promising opportunities arise, such as the chance to recruit a stellar scholar or to meet student demand for a new program. Total need: $100 million.

Campaign achievements to date have been impressive. As of June 30, 2006, the campaign total stood at $932,801,265, and had surpassed $1 billion by the campaign's official public launch on September 29, 2006.

The campaign will transform the Grounds while following one of the best models in the world: Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village. An unprecedented number of construction and renovation projects are under way, in the planning stages, or completed, such as the John Paul Jones Arena. Capital projects benefiting from funds raised by the campaign are listed below:

• South Lawn Project for the College of Arts and Sciences
• The Arts Grounds, which includes the Gateway to the Arts, New Music Building, Ruffin Hall, Arts Common, and the Arts Grounds Parking Garage
• John Paul Jones Arena
• Bavaro Hall and Renovation of Ruffner Hall for the Curry School of Education
• Information Technology Engineering Facility for the School of Engineering and Applied Science
• Wilsdorf Hall for the School of Engineering and Applied Science
• Back to the Lawn (Rouss Hall) for the McIntire School of Commerce
• Carter Harrison Research Building
• Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center
• Claude Moore Medical Education Building for the School of Medicine
• Claude Moore Nursing Education Building and McLeod Hall Renovation for the School of Nursing
• Barry and Bill Battle Building at the U.Va. Children's Hospital
• Ivy Foundation Translational Research Building

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS The University ranks second among public universities and twenty fourth among all national universities. Five schools at the University are ranked in the top twenty: Architecture    6th Law    8th Commerce    9th Darden    13th Curry    19th The McIntire School of Commerce was tied for number nine in the Best Business Programs category while the School of Engineering and Applied Science was in a five way tie for the number thirty four spot among Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs. The University was again ranked seventeenth in the "Best Values" category. The University's College at Wise continues to rank among the nation's top ten public liberal arts colleges. The College at Wise also ranks number one among liberal arts colleges in the Least Debt category. Five medical specialties at the University were ranked by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Hospitals Guide," published July 2006. Endocrinology    6th Gynecology    25th Ear, nose, and throat    26th Cancer    31st Heart    49th

OTHER RANKINGS Black Enterprise magazine listed the University as thirty fifth in its 50 Top Colleges for African Americans. An annual survey by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education shows that U.Va. has posted the highest graduation rate for African American students among major public institutions for twelve years. BusinessWeek's inaugural ranking of the best undergraduate business programs ranked the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce second in the nation. The Princeton Review ranked the University third among graduate engineering programs. In the 2007 edition of the Newsweek Kaplan College Guide, U.Va. is cited as one of the twenty five "New Ivies," those colleges "whose first rate academic programs, combined with a population boom in top students, have fueled their rise in stature and favor among the nation's top students, administrators, and faculty—edging them to a competitive status rivaling the Ivy League." The Darden School rose to first place in the 2006 Financial Times survey of executive education open programs and was ranked second in the Best Professors category by The Princeton Review. Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked the University of Virginia third in its list of top 50 values in public colleges. For the seventh year, Solucient's "100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success" included the U.Va. Medical Center, one of only fifteen major teaching hospitals selected. The Medical Center is one of only two hospitals from the Commonwealth named by Solucient. Twenty University physicians were named to the 2006 list of America's Top Doctors for Cancer. DesignIntelligence magazine ranked the School of Architecture third in its seventh annual survey, "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools." The University's nanotechnology programs, located primarily in the School of Engineering, were ranked sixth in the nation by Small Times.     THE UNIVERSITY AT A GLANCE ENROLLMENT, FALL 2006 Undergraduate    13,353 Graduate    4,791 First Professional (law and medicine)    1,669 On Grounds Continuing Education    554 Total    20,397 FACULTY AND STAFF, 2006 2007 Full time instructional and research faculty    2,102 Full time other staff    9,860

More University statistics are available on the Web site for the Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies at www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/. Information also is available at www.virginia.edu/Facts/.