In The News

The doors at the University of Virginia Art Museum will reopen Friday with a few new quirks. The ground floor will be showcasing masterpieces and Renaissance era art.

There is a revolution brewing in the way college students buy and read textbooks. And, perhaps surprisingly, it does not center entirely on Apple’s announcement on Thursday about new textbook technology on iBooks 2. Five universities are implementing a pilot program in the spring semester of 2012 for electronic textbooks to ease costs and modernize the way students obtain class content. The five schools — the University of California, Berkeley; Cornell University; the University of Minnesota; the University of Virginia; and the University of Wisconsin — plan to purchase e-tex...

The syllabus calls the University of Virginia class the “Sociology of Work,” but it might as well have been called “Everything You Need to Know About the Real World That’s Not Usually Taught in College.” For two weeks this month, 17 students gathered to discuss the jobs market, employable majors, standing out in an interview, building a social network outside of Facebook, navigating workplace politics and raising a family while working.

With a touch of a button, a University of Virginia Medical Center physician in Charlottesville is able to examine a stroke patient at Culpeper Regional Hospital. Physicians and educators from both hospitals demonstrated an emergency scenario with a mock patient and new stroke alert and management system at the 70-bed facility on Thursday. Using the Stroke Telemedicine and Tele-Education program, UVa stroke neurologist Dr. Andrew Southerland, was able to assess “stroke patient” Culpeper Mayor Chip Coleman, 62, inside exam room 6.

The dawn of abstract art in the early 20th century didn’t mean sunset for traditional forms of art. Four new exhibitions opening today at the University of Virginia Art Museum show that there’s room for plenty of different forms of self-expression under the sun. “Every twenty years, people declare the death of painting — and yet there’s more painting,” said Jennifer Farrell, the museum’s curator of exhibitions.

You roll into class with your cup of coffee, grab a seat and open up your laptop. The professor at the front of the room is one of the most well-known and powerful people on campus, the university president. Do you act differently? Raise your hand more often? Never to skip? Suck up a little more than usual? Or do you act the same as you do in all classes? Last week I sat in on a sociology class at the University of Virginia that was taught by President Teresa Sullivan.

Several Virginia and West Virginia universities are sharing millions in research grant money from the U.S. Department of Transportation.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $77 million in grants to schools throughout the country this week. Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Hampton University and Old Dominion University are working on projects that will share part of the federal funding.

Joseph Allen Hugh P Kelly Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences Teenagers are always right The Greenwich Post / Jan 19 Robert Fatton Julia Allen Cooper Professor of politics Haiti and its bloodsuckers The St. Louis American / Jan 19 Brandon Garrett Professor of law Editorial: Supreme Court needs to know seeing is not believing The Platform / Jan 19 Kyle Kondik Communications director of the Center for Politics Wisconsin Adversaries Dig In on Gov. Scott Walker Recall ABC News / Jan 18 Larry Sabato Politics professor and director of the Center for Politics In bid to unseat Wisconsin g...

The University of Virginia's top chef could be cooking up a big honor.  UVA's Executive Chef Bryan Kelly is a candidate for the American Culinary Federation's 2012 Southeast Regional Chef of the Year award.

Dr. Richard Guerrant, the Thomas H. Hunter Professor of International Medicine and director for the Center of Global Health at U.Va., is an expert in infectious diseases who specializes in the study of gastrointestinal pathogens. His work on the long-term physical and cognitive impact of early childhood diarrhea caused by lack of adequate water and sanitation attracted funds from the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation for a $30 million study of the problem in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Cale Jaffe Professor of environmental law Following the release of several technical reports — including one from the National Academy of Sciences — five Southside legislators are asking their colleagues to maintain the prohibition on mining.

Climate scientist Michael Mann got a warm welcome back – speaking to students and faculty at the University of Virginia, where he once taught and did research.

“Story/Time,”  Bill T. Jones' newest work with music by McIntire Department of Art professor Ted Coffey, is set to premiere Saturday at the Peak Performances series at Montclair State University. Jones developed the work during a 2011 residency at U.Va.

Norris is launching a new nonprofit initiative this year that seeks to “harness the intellectual resources” of the University of Virginia and put them to use to help solve local problems.  Described his vision for what he is calling The Charlottesville Institute for University-Community Engagement.

The University of Virginia's number two in charge is talking up the importance of businesses giving back to the community. Michael Strine was the featured speaker at an event Wednesday afternoon in Albemarle County.

… [Archie] Holmes made his remarks at a session on teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the description of his approach bore relevance to other disciplines and touched on a larger question that arose during the day's sessions: When trying to engage students, how can faculty effectively balance their professorial authority while giving students more responsibility to guide their own learning?

Scott Fitzsimmons Alumnus Young Entrepreneurs Start Growing Business Fairfax Station Patch.com / Jan. 18   Matthew Freidman Alumnus UVA Alum Has Shot to Win $1M through Super Bowl Ad Contest WVIR-NBC 29 / Jan. 18

Andrew Block Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic at the School of Law Greene County Sheriff Investigates Stabbing, Child in Custody WVIR-NBC 29 / Jan. 18   Mark Edmundson English professor Do Sports Build Character or Damage It? Chronicle of Higher Education Review / Jan. 15   Robert Harris Charles Stewart Sheppard Professor, Darden School Mitt Romney's past ties to private equity firm turn spotlight on industry The Plain Dealer / Jan. 18   Douglas Laycock Professor of law and religion Supreme Court Backs Church in Teacher Case Education Week / Jan. 18   Dr. Eileen Ryan A...

Purdue University's decision to convert to a year-round trimester system is good for students, good for parents and long-run will be good for taxpayers. The only downside is that it may take 10 years to fully implement. ... Elsewhere around the country, three-year degree programs have been catching on but typically are designed for students on accelerated tracks able to reach the standard 120 credit hour minimum more quickly than their peers -- still using a traditional two-semester calendar.... The University of Virginia offers the option to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree in four yea...

... Internet2, a consortium of 221 colleges and universities, ... announced today that it had entered into a contract with McGraw-Hill, a major textbook publisher, aimed at creating ... discounts for students on digital course materials. ... Beginning this month, five major universities — the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Virginia, Cornell University, and the University of California at Berkeley -- will start a pilot program in which certain courses will use only electronic texts. ... If students respond favorably to the pi...