UVA: "This is not a president,” says one professor, “who was hired for the vision thing.” (HT:AB)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/magazine/teresa-sullivan-uva-ouster.html?_r=1&hpw&pagewanted=all

Anatomy of a Campus Coup

By ANDREW RICE

Published: September 11, 2012

"Despite this and other successes, though, Sullivan was not considered an inspirational figure. “This is not a president,” says one professor, “who was hired for the vision thing.” Unlike her predecessors, Sullivan had no talent for Jeffersonian oration; she spoke the dry language of nonprofit administration. The budgetary reform dragged, in part because Sullivan hired a provost and a chief operating officer who couldn’t get along. Despite meeting after meeting, it was unclear whether Sullivan’s proc­ess was leading to a resolution. Sullivan has called herself an “incrementalist,” but even some supporters wondered whether her talk of consensus masked a deeper dysfunction.

“You get the buy-in from stakeholders before you move forward,” Sullivan says in her defense. “When I came here, I was warned that this was an institution steeped in tradition. People love the tradition, and they would not react well to sudden change.”

A higher authority, though, was beginning to lose patience."