Work has begun on the implementation of a five-year strategic plan for the academic division of the University, created with the input of more than 10,000 stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, alumni and others. Called the Cornerstone Plan, the name references the laying of the cornerstone on UVA’s first building, Pavilion VII, in 1817. Just as Thomas Jefferson planned the future of his fledgling university in uncertain times, today’s leadership has developed a plan designed to build on existing strengths and identify new opportunities that will distinguish UVA from its competitors in the years ahead.
“It’s a good time for us to ask, what will UVA become in its third century?” says President Teresa Sullivan, who chaired the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. “This is the question at the heart of our strategic plan.”
Leadership development emerged as the central theme of the plan, which is built on five overarching priorities, or pillars, with 15 supporting strategies (see graphic to the right). “Our relatively small size and tight-knit residential culture—our emphasis on faculty-student interaction and the values of honor, diversity, service and self-governance—make this university a natural incubator for leadership,” says Sullivan.
“The Cornerstone Plan is not a plan to solve a problem or to fix a failure,” the plan reads. “It is a plan to fortify and further distinguish what is already one of the academically strongest, best managed, most financially stable, and most affordable universities in the nation.”
