The academic reputation and accomplishments of the university have never been higher. VT now compared to VT when I attended in the 80's is in an entirely different league when it comes to selectivity and the value of a degree. And I believe that's due to the quality of leadership. It's been a good mix of internal (Torgeson, Steger) and external (Sands) cultures. As much as people love to bang on our current president, you really can't argue that VT is in a better place now than it was when he took office. By contrast, the VTAD continues to operate much the same as it did when I was a student. It's insular, inbred, and inward focused. It's more concerned with protecting the positions of those inside it than it is with an aggressive growth mindset. And I believe that the continued employment of one specific individual over the course of decades, an individual who has far too much power and influence and appears unremoveable within his fiefdom, is at the heart of the nepotism, cronyism, and sclerosis that infests the entire department. Someone- perhaps the school president, more likely the BOV- needs to recognize that the VTAD, top to bottom, needs a hard culture reset. That will start with hiring a new AD who makes it very clear that there are no sacred cows- employees or philosophies- that will be allowed to stand in the way of modernizing and turning the entire department into one relentlessly focused on winning, not on finding compatible new golfing buddies. VT as a university is indeed Inventing the Future. The VTAD is Back To The Future. That needs to change.