E-NEWSLETTER: UNIVERSITY NEWS
New ear tube device helps treat infections faster
U.Va. Board of Visitors votes to increase endowment payout
U.Va. Alumni Association board welcomes new leadership, adds members
New ear tube device helps treat infections faster Source: HEALTHDAY NEWS (U.S. News and World Report)
Dr. Bradley Kesser and Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Photo by Tom Cogill |
A new device meant to make surgical treatment of ear infections safer and faster has been developed by a University of Virginia team.
The device, which combines three of the tools used in the surgical implantation of ear ventilation tubes, has shown promising results in clinical trials.
Each year in the United States, about 2.2 million children need to have tubes implanted for the treatment of chronic ear infections (otitis media) with effusion. The tubes are inserted to relieve pressure and fluid build-up.
“Currently, the procedure is tedious,” team co-leader Shayn Peirce-Cottler, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the university's School of Engineering and Applied Science, said in a statement.
“Small tubes two to three millimeters in diameter are inserted using four different instruments. The new insertion device facilitates safer, easier insertion. It reduces the time of anesthesia and reduces the number of instruments inserted into the ear canal, which, in turn, reduces the risks for the patient,” Peirce-Cottler said.
The new stainless steel device consists of hollow rod with a collar that holds the ear tube in place. This allows the surgeon to apply force to insert the tube with one motion.
“The more times that you put an instrument in and out of the ear canal, the greater the risk of damage to surrounding structures, the wall of the ear canal, or even the tympanic membrane,” team co-leader Dr. Bradley Kesser, an ear-nose-throat surgeon at the University of Virginia Health System, said in a statement.
“The skin of the ear canal is some of the thinnest skin in all of the body, so one little touch on this skin, and it starts to bleed. If you have bleeding in the ear canal, you can't see anything. So then, you have to remove the blood and get a clear surgical field before you can safely put the tube in,” Kesser explained.
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U.Va. Board of Visitors votes to increase endowment payout Source: U.VA. Today
The University of Virginia's Board of Visitors on Friday voted to alter the University's endowment payout formula, increasing this year's payout rate to 5 percent and making $16 million more available for the benefit of students and U.Va. Health System patients.
“We have enjoyed solid investment returns on the endowment and the University's capital campaign has been successful,” said Leonard W. Sandridge, U.Va.'s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “It is appropriate that we increase the payout for the benefit of our students' educational experiences and for the care of our Health System's patients, as our donors intended.”
In addition, the board voted to assess a 0.5 percent annual administrative fee on all endowment accounts, producing approximately $16 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year. The proceeds will be split between the central University administration and the various University units to defray the costs of administering endowments.
The proceeds of the new administrative fee should free other funds for University and departmental priorities, said Yoke San Reynolds, U.Va. vice president and chief financial officer.
Proposed changes in the payout distribution formula, last set in 2005, have been under review for several months, Sandridge said.
As of March 30, the value of the approximately 1,800 pooled endowments under the control of the rector and Board of Visitors was $3.2 billion.
Endowments are built through gifts and investment returns and managed by the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, or UVIMCO. Each year, a portion of the funds is withdrawn and used to supplement the University's budget, based upon a preset formula. The use of many endowment funds is restricted by the original donors' directions. Last year, just 28 percent of the payout was unrestricted.
During the 2007-08 fiscal year, the Board of Visitors mandated a payout of 4.5 percent of the market value from the University's various endowment funds, amounting to $134 million.
Under the new changes approved Friday, the amount withdrawn for the coming fiscal year will be 5 percent of the endowments' market value as of June 30, an amount currently estimated to produce an additional $16 million over last year’s payout.
In each subsequent year, the distribution will be increased by the rate of inflation, as determined by the Higher Education Price Index, as long as the total distribution falls between 4 and 6 percent of the endowments' total market value. If it falls outside the range, the board’s Finance Committee will adjust the payout amount upward or downward, Sandridge said.
Under the previous policy, the allowable range was between 3.5 and 5.5 percent of the endowments’ total market value.
“The decision of the Board of Visitors to increase the payout on the endowment will not only strengthen the University's academic programs, but also will limit future increases in the cost of attending the University for our students and their families,” Sandridge said.
The University's endowment has seen several years of double-digit returns under the management of UVIMCO.
"The strong performance of the endowment — and the need for increased resources to support the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of the University —suggest this to be a prudent time to increase the payout,” Sandridge said.
The Board of Visitors will consider recommendations for funding the commission's priorities at its October meeting.
The new administrative fee is consistent with the practice of many other institutions of higher education, Sandridge said. Though UVIMCO manages the endowment's investments — and collects its own administrative fee to fund its operations — the University incurs many endowment-related expenses, including accounting, legal and fundraising expenses.
Endowment income is taking on an increasingly important role in the University's budget. In the 2008-09 fiscal year, income from private sources — endowment and gifts — is expected to provide 9.1 percent of total revenues, compared to 8.2 from state support.
"It is important that we recognize that over the next 20, 30, 40 years, the endowment will be the lifeblood of this institution,” said board member Thomas F. Farrell II.
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U.Va. Alumni Association board welcomes new leadership, adds membersSource: U.Va. Today
Beginning July 1, 2008, the University of Virginia Alumni Association’s Board of Managers will be under new leadership. Lisa O. Gardner (Col ’79) was elected as the board’s chair, with Stephen A. Riddick (Col ’85) as vice chair. Allen B. Rider III (Col ’76, GSBA ’83) completed his term as chair on June 30. Retiring board members include Whittington W. Clement (Col ’70, Law ’74), Eileen F. Edmunds (Col ’88, Law ’94), Jason A. Gill (Col ’94), John T.W. Hawkins (Col ’76), Timothy J. Ingrassia (Col ’86), Edward C. Mitchell Jr. (Col '63) and Richard B. Payne Jr. (Col '70).
The board elected the following alumni to renewable three-year terms, which commence on July 1, 2008:
∙ Atiim “Tiki” K. Barber (Com ’97); New York, New York
∙ Elizabeth P. Foster (Com ’82); Norfolk, Virginia
∙ Alexander B. “Brit” Hume (Col ’65); Hume, Virginia
∙ Timothy G. O’Shea (Com ’81, GSBA ’85); Richmond, Virginia
∙ Noreen L. Poulson (Col ’78); New Canaan, Connecticut
∙ Bryant L. Stith (Col ’92); Lawrenceville, Virginia
∙ Michele T. Tarbet (Nurs ’74); Rancho Santa Fe, California
The University of Virginia Alumni Association was founded in 1838 and serves the University's alumni as a self-governing Virginia non-stock corporation. Governance resides with the volunteer Board of Managers. There are 37 members of the board, whose composition reflects the overall U.Va. alumni population. President John T. Casteen III (Col ’65, Grad ’70) and Glynn Key (Col ’86, Law ’89) from the University's Board of Visitors are ex officio members of the board.
The Alumni Association's programs and services include Reunions, the Virginia Magazine, Alumni Interest Groups, current student engagement, scholarships, admission advising, career services and the UVaFund.
For more about the Alumni Association, visit www.alumni.virginia.edu.
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