After UVa Dispute, More Governance Controversies Are Likely, Moody’s Warns

Though the 16-day battle over Teresa A. Sullivan’s status as president of the University of Virginia seems to have ended, the saga indicates that more controversies over university governance are likely to emerge in the future, according to a report issued Monday by Moody’s Investors Service. “We expect governance and leadership clashes to increase in coming years as the sector’s ability to grow revenues dwindles, and its emphasis shifts to new operating efficiencies and cost containment,” the credit-rating agency said. The clash between the university’s president and the leaders of its governing board also “highlights the stabilizing effects” of faculty power brokers at some leading research universities, who can “effectively assert their implicit power, even to the extent of quickly blocking a strategic decision of the governing board,” according to the report.