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By Kennedy Kipps

University President John T. Casteen III announced April 4 what he called an unprecedented collaborative venture between the College of Arts & Sciences and the McIntire School of Commerce that will result in 100,000 square feet of additional academic space and the creation of interdisciplinary courses and programs.

For the past six months, Edward L. Ayers, dean of the College, and Carl P. Zeithaml, dean of the Commerce School, have been hammering out the details of a plan that will include trading spaces, sharing spaces, and building new ones. In the end, each school benefits from an increased physical plant.

“More important,” Casteen said, “the plan will allow the College and the Commerce School to strengthen the academic and programmatic links between them and to better serve their undergraduate and graduate students.

“I applaud the vision of our deans, Carl Zeithaml and Ed Ayers, to create this exciting new model of education,” he added. “Their joint venture reflects ongoing University-wide discussions that encourage interdisciplinary initiatives and forward thinking. Their work — and their spirit of cooperation — may well become a leading example for the rest of the University to follow.” Full story.

U.Va., DEQ share same goal — an efficient, effective heating plant

By Lee Graves

Officials from U.Va. and the Department of Environmental Quality met in
Harrisonburg last week to clear the air over the University’s request to burn more coal in its main heating plant.

From all accounts, the process appears to be on a new footing.

“I think the main thing is the University desires to move forward with this, that it always planned to comply with the air pollution regulations and is going to go a step further and do additional work that may not be required by the … regulations,” said Cheryl Gomez, U.Va.’s director of utilities. Full story.