Letter from the President: Support AccessUVa
Sept. 8, 2009
I write to ask for your support as we build one of our University's most important programs for students. AccessUVa is the financial-aid program that allows us to meet 100 percent of every undergraduate student's demonstrated need. Full Text.
President Casteen's Letter to the University Community on the State's Request for Further Budget Cuts
July 9, 2009
As you know from the news, Virginia's collections of tax revenues are now so far below the predictions on which the General Assembly built the current year's state budget that state officials are planning for allotment reductions that will be even larger than those implemented in Spring 2009. In addition, unemployment in Virginia has almost doubled in the last year. The Virginia Employment Commission's chief economist predicted in a news story published today that unemployment in the state will continue to rise until, at earliest, the first calendar quarter of next year. Full Text.
President Casteen Announces His Plans to Retire
For several months, the Rector and Visitors and I have discussed how best to manage my retirement from the position of President. The issues are complex, both because I have served longer than most presidents do and because the Board will eventually need also to find successors for several of our senior administrators and managers who have worked with me, some since as early as the late 1960s. Full Text. Watch Video.
Letter From the President: Accessibility in Tough Times
Alumni Magazine Summer 2009
In the middle of all of the bad news about the nation’s economy that we have been hearing and reading in recent months, we received some good news in January when The Princeton Review named U.Va. the nation’s No. 1 best-value public university in its annual “100 Best Value Colleges” list. The best-value ranking would be a noteworthy recognition in any year. During this deep recession, it is especially good news because students’ families and elected officials alike have recognized anew that affordable excellence in colleges and universities has to be a major national priority. The president and Congress have built the concept into several elements of the stimulus package. Even state elected officials who have neglected the issue for more than 20 years while siphoning funds from colleges and universities to other priorities have begun to talk about their responsibilities to higher education. Full Text.
President Casteen's Letter to the University Community, Alumni, Parents and Friends on the Federal Stimulus Package
Spring 2009
Despite what sometimes seems to be unrelenting bad news about the nation's economy, the University, and indeed universities everywhere, have extraordinary opportunities now to offer solutions to some of our most pressing problems -- and to help ensure the future of the nation. Full Text.
Remembering Two University Icons
Spring 2009
All of us lost two great friends in January when first Gilly Sullivan and then Jack Blackburn died. Both of these men helped build and shape our modern University through deep and long-standing commitments to their respective roles in University life—Gilly as director of the Alumni Association, and Jack as dean of admission for the undergraduate schools. Full Text.
State of the University Address
February 4, 2009
President John Casteen delivered the annual State of the University Address on February 4, 2009. Listen to the State of the University online broken into chapters, or download for later listening. Watch the State of the University online. Read UVA Today's news article about the event. Go