CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As the academic year draws to a close at the University of Virginia, first-year President Scott Beardsley said work has already begun on a new strategic plan for the school.

In August 2019, the Board of Visitors approved the “Great and Good” strategic plan, a vision largely driven by former President Jim Ryan.

“It’s largely run its course,” Beardsley told Cville Right Now on Monday. “A lot of it’s complete. So, it’s normal that every 10 years or so, 8-10 years, you refresh your strategy in light of a new context. And so that’s what we’re doing. Taking a fresh look at where we are, what we’ve achieved, what still needs to be done, getting a lot of input and coming up with a new strategy.”

He said the hope is to “have a new strategy articulated and ready for public consumption in about a year.”

Beardsley, who took over as UVA’s 10th president on Jan. 1 after a decade leading the Darden School of Business, said that process will be a “fact-based analysis” that helps position the university to tackle “forward-looking challenges in the landscape of higher education, of which there are many.”

He said the work has begun with a listening tour, seeking input from various stakeholders at the school, including faculty, staff, students and community members.

“What can we build on? What are our strengths? What should we not mess up? What are some new opportunities that we should seize.”

That information will be analyzed and, working with the school’s Board of Visitors, will help set priorities moving forward.

“That will guide where we make big investments in the future,” Beardsley said.

Some of those focal points are mainstays of the university’s strategy, he said, including the UVA Health system, scholarships and athletics.

“I didn’t come in thinking I know all the answers and we’re going to do A, B and C,” Beardsley said. “But there are some obvious things we need to do. Continue to support patient care at the hospital. Make sure we’re doing a great job there. Supporting ‘Access UVA’ for scholarships for the next generation of students. We need to do that support every year, and the faculty. So, some of them are evergreen priorities. And of course we want to win at athletics.”

Beardsley, the son of a basketball coach and himself a college tennis player at Tufts and Oxford, believes athletic success is part of UVA’s mission.

“We’ve had a great run this year,” Beardsley said. “We’ve had some great results, a lot of thrills and victories and close defeats as well. We’re one of the top student athlete schools. The vision for UVA is to be the best public university and to win in athletics as well.”

The “Great and Good” plan focused on four key areas: strengthening UVA’s foundation, cultivating a vibrant higher education community, enabling discoveries to improve and enrich lives and making the university synonymous with service.

Ryan resigned in June under pressure from the Department of Justice, which was investigating UVA for its diversity, equity and inclusion practices, something Ryan emphasized but the Trump administration has demanded be discontinued.

Beardsley, who was hired by Ryan’s predecessor, Teresa Sullivan, but twice-reappointed by Ryan, said he had a good relationship with Ryan.

“If you look at the ‘Good and Great’ strategy that they set out, a lot of that has been achieved,” Beardsley said. “That will be his legacy, the stuff that he established and completed in the ‘Good and Great’ strategy.”