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Visiting the University of Virginia
UVA's Central Grounds are thought by some to be the most beautiful college campus in the world. No visit is complete without touring UVA's famous Lawn. Designed by Thomas Jefferson as the heart of his "Academical Village," the Lawn has as its centerpiece Jefferson's Rotunda. Free guided tours of the Rotunda and Lawn are available for anyone to enjoy throughout the year with the exception of Thanksgiving break, the three-week vacation in December/January, the final exam period during the first three weeks of May, and during the summer. Once school resumes in the fall, tour times are 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm, and the groups meet just inside the Rotunda entrance. Call 924-7969 for more information or 982-3200 for information about admission tours, also available throughout the year.

"Mr. Jefferson" lived to see UVA open in the summer of 1825; it burned to its brick shell in 1895, was "restored" by architect Stanford White and restored again to Jefferson's essential design in time for the American Bicentennial in 1976. The tours of the Rotunda and Lawn include a peek at Edgar Allan Poe's room, #13, of course.

After taking in the sights of Central Grounds, be sure to take a self-guided tour of the more secluded Gardens behind the Lawn's pavilions, many of which still house faculty and their families. Romance-ready, they're popular among the student body as the place to woo (and sometimes to wed) a Hoo.

UVA Sports
Back when it was a Virginia gentleman's college, UVA sports were probably a lot of fun, but the national rankings were few and far between. Now, things are so big that UVA spent $100 million to expand its football stadium's capacity to more than 60,000, plus another $130 million for a new 15,000 seat basketball arena. As is evident on UVA's popular official fan website, virginiasports.com, many other Wahoo athletic teams have also established themselves as some of the premier college programs in America, including consistently dominant men's and woman's lacrosse, soccer, and baseball teams. UVA's so hot now there's even an unofficial site: thesabre.com.
Ticket office: 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 924-UVA1 (8821)

–>>Check out more in our Sports and Recreation section.

Getting there- You're in luck if you're staying at a downtown hotel because you can walk or take the CAT free trolley which looks like a San Francisco cable car but travels on rubber tires between The Corner, Jefferson Park Avenue, and Downtown every 15 minutes from 6:45am until 11:30pm and every 30 minutes on Sunday. 970-3649

Parking- Enjoying UVA is easy once you've found a map and a place to park. Parking decks are at 14th Street, on Emmet Street, under the bookstore by Mem Gym, at the UVA hospital, and on Culbreth Road, across the street from the Culbreth and Helms Theaters. If nothing's available in any of the lots, your best bet is to check the paid lots in and around the Corner, or look for on-street parking.

HookTip
Parking at the new Culbreth Road garage is free to visitors all weekend long and every weekday after 5pm.

The Corner- At this enclave of shops, bars, and restaurants surrounding the University, parking is tighter than anywhere else in town, but the streetscapes are lively, and the shops are eclectic. Something for everyone at all hours of the day (and night).

UVA decision-makers
The Board of Visitors- The most plum appointments a governor can make, BOV choices create great excitement and hand-wringing. (Last brouhaha, however, came in 1990 with then-Governor Doug Wilder's appointment of Patricia Kluge.) They serve four-year terms.

Helen E. Dragas, Rector, Virginia Beach
Mark J. Kington, Vice Rector, Alexandria
Hunter E. Craig, Charlottesville
A. Macdonald Caputo, Greenwich, CT
Alan A. Diamonstein, Newport News
Allison Cryor DiNardo Alexandria
W. Heywood Fralin, Roanoke
Marvin W. Gilliam, Bristol
Robert D. Hardie, Charlottesville
Glynn D. Key, Washington, D.C.
Randal J. Kirk, Radford
Stephen P. Long, M.D. Richmond 
George K. Martin, Richmond
Vincent J. Mastracco Jr., Norfolk
John L. Nau III, Houston, TX
Timothy B. Robertson, Virginia Beach
Jonathan Overdevest, student member, Charlottesville
Edward D. Miller M.D., ex officio member, Baltimore

The President: Teresa A. Sullivan (John Casteen retired August 1, 2010)
The day-to-day honcho: Chief Operations Officer Michael Strine, who replaced longtime honcho Leonard Sandridge on July 1, 2011

State funding?
Sure, UVA is ostensibly a public university, but the state's contribution is a mere 5.6  percent of the University budget in Fiscal Year 2011-2012. That's down from 6.4 percent in 2010-'11 and 8.1 percent just a few years back. The rest comes mostly from revenue from the UVA Health System, tuition, and assorted grants.

Growing, but for how long?
UVA has had a clear objective of late: growth, in every sense of the word. Acceptance rates, tuition, fees, and buildings have all been soaring skyward. After the University lost more than $1 billion of its endowment in the economic crash of 2008, some wondered how long the growth could continue. Fortunately, the endowment rebounded and as of May 2011, it had regained its full 2008 value.

Wee 'Hoos
The school is expecting 3,500 of the nearly 7,900 admitted students to enroll as part of UVA's Class of 2015. The average SAT score of the class of 2015 is 1339 on a 1600 pt. scale and 2004 on a 2400 pt. scale. The in-state/out-of-state ratio will remain the same, approximately 2-1. 

Money Matters
In-state tuition & fees for 2011-2012: $11,794; $24,344 includes room, board and estimated expenses
Out-of-state t&f 2011-'12: $36,788; $49,608 to $50,528 includes room, board and estimated expenses

AccessUVa, a program created in 2004 to convert many loans to grants, has expanded to $92.2 million, an increase of $8.9 million over last year. This expansion means undergraduate students with family incomes less than or equal to 200 percent of the federal poverty level can have their demonstrated financial need met without loans or a work-study requirement.

HookTip
If thoughts of UVA make you all warm and fuzzy inside, you may want to rent the gorgeous University Chapel for that warmest and fuzziest day of your life, your wedding day. It's $200 for current students, $350 for faculty, staff and alumni, and $750 for the general public. Crucial Saturdays book up way far in advance, so you'd better plan ahead! To make a reservation, call Newcomb Hall at 924-3203.

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