Dive Brief:
- Virginia’s higher education board is said to be split on whether to extend the contract of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan when it expires in 2016.
- The Roanoke Times reports that at least some board members are pushing for a one- or two-year extension that would give them time to make a leadership transition.
- Sullivan has been at UVA’s helm through a handful of high-profile scandals — including an infamous and discredited Rolling Stone gang rape story — that will factor into her contract talks.
Dive Insight:
Teresa Sullivan hit the national spotlight first when students and faculty supporters came to her defense after the higher education board tried to oust her in 2012. The public support helped Sullivan keep her job, which has since been plagued by other scandals, perhaps most notable among them being the alleged gang rape profiled by Rolling Stone. Despite being discredited, that story's characterization of the Sullivan administration as relatively uncaring toward rape victims has tarnished the reputation of the university. Sullivan has said she wants to finish out her career at UVA, but if the board doesn’t offer her a contract extension, it is unclear whether she’ll have the same support she enjoyed in 2012.