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[higherandhigher]

I'd never heard of this university before. It's part of the state system in Virginia, and it used to be a branch of William & Mary. Other than what I read on the university's webpage and in a brief web search, I know nothing. Anyone have any insight? Good things? Bad things? How's Virginia treating its public universities?

[carebearstare]

I don't know anything really but I did once have a phone interview with them. 4/4 teaching load. I don't remember much else.

[southerntransplant]

Randall Munroe, the creator of XKCD (webcomic favored by geeks everywhere) got a physics degree from CNU and briefly worked as a contractor for NASA.

Not helpful, I know...

[onion]

Don't let the "it used to be a branch of William and Mary" fool you.  It was a CC not all that long ago, and is now more of an open admissions place (I think it's the easiest 4 year public university to get into in VA).  Teaching load is high, pay is low, students are heartbreakingly underprepared for college-level work.  Diverse student body--socioeconomically, racially--serves a sort-of urban environment, lots of folks in active duty/military reserves.  Pay in the humanities ain't great, and neither are resources.  It's truly a teaching gig.  Virginia's budget for higher ed is a bit of a mess. 

[higherandhigher]

Don't let the "it used to be a branch of William and Mary" fool you.  It was a CC not all that long ago, and is now more of an open admissions place (I think it's the easiest 4 year public university to get into in VA).  Teaching load is high, pay is low, students are heartbreakingly underprepared for college-level work.  Diverse student body--socioeconomically, racially--serves a sort-of urban environment, lots of folks in active duty/military reserves.  Pay in the humanities ain't great, and neither are resources.  It's truly a teaching gig.  Virginia's budget for higher ed is a bit of a mess. 

Yeah...it seems like they spend a lot of effort selling themselves on their website.
It does look like they're getting more selective, though, as the raw data indicate an overall acceptance rate of 55%, lower than all VA 4-year publics except for William & Mary, UVA, or VMI. Of course, that doesn't account for applicant pool differences, etc.
http://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B8_Report_new.ASP

Their graduation rates, for example, are awful:
http://research.schev.edu/gradrates/cohortgradsrates.asp

[threefive]

CNU has been getting a bit more selective, but it probably is still the most open-enrollment-like school in the Commonwealth. It seems like they are getting better, but that could just be their marketing firm talking in my head. What I do know is that Virginia Commonwealth University was a glorified CC about 15 years ago, and now its a major research intensive university with a Nobel Laureate on faculty. So CNU's history isn't necessarily its future.

Virginia public higher education has been getting GASHED in the last two years, and more slashing is expected to come. It's a classic situation where the Governor cuts your state-side budget by 20% in one year, and the legislature refuses to allow significant tuition hikes. Virginia is probably doing a good deal better than most state university systems, though. No furloughs and no axing of tenured/tenure-track faculty.

Speaking of CNU physics degrees, they have a graduate program in physics (and several other areas) but they still have a 4/4 load. I have never applied to CNU (they have run ads for physicists every year that I've been on the market), mainly because they look like they want some decent research productivity while teaching a 4/4 with classes of 100+ students. The pay sucks for the area. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in your car, even if you live 2 miles away. Traffic is terrible.

[threefive]

Wow. That acceptance rate is surprising! They must have a terrible applicant pool.

[sugaree]

I had an interview there several years ago and I couldn't get away fast enough (and given my highly competitive AHA field, that's saying something). The CC background and open admissions are not for everyone, though certainly the school is making an effort to raise its standards and profile. One person in the dept. was so bitter about the students (really, I think his bitterness was about his own life, but who knows?) that I can't believe they even allowed him to meet candidates. I am relieved that when I called to ask them about the search (I had another offer and they hadn't informed me after a few weeks), they indicated it had been cancelled due to funding problems. Not sure when they were going to tell me about this, though, if I hadn't called?

[prytania3]

Wow. That acceptance rate is surprising! They must have a terrible applicant pool.

I'm not buying any of the figures on that sight.

[higherandhigher]

I'm not buying any of the figures on that sight.

You think they're faking them somehow?
http://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B8_report_new.asp?XL=2&ListBoxInstitutions=%27231712%27,%20%27231624%27,%20%27232186%27,%20%27232423%27,%20%27232566%27,%20%27232937%27,%20%27232982%27,%20%27233277%27,%20%27232681%27,%20%27234076%27,%20%27233897%27,%20%27234030%27,%20%27234085%27,%20%27234155%27,%20%27233921%27&ListBoxYears=%272008%27&NTYPE=FTF&DOMI=%27A%27,%20%272%27,%20%271%27&PageDefault=X

Thanks for all the feedback, folks. Some of these responses explain why I'd never heard of this place.

It looks like a school with a large PR department and high aspirations, but maybe not much substance.

[drdice]

I have a friend on the tt at CNU who seems to like it. And higher ed has indeed been hard hit in VA the last couple years. At our u we have taken a 15% budget cut each year for the last 2 with no end in sight. After the stimulus funds are gone, I shudder to think what the following year will be like although I have a feeling VA is not that different from anywhere else right now.

[va4haters]

4-3 load, unrealistic publishing requirements.  Budget cut every year but so far no faculty layoffs.  Some students are good, most are not.  Faculty and student body decidedly not diverse.  Area plagued by traffic, housing prices high even after the market burst.   Ongoing construction of new buildings but classroom technology spotty.  Pay is low 50s for new faculty.  Nice weather.  Dry campus.   Some good programs.

[reener06]

It was a CC just a few years ago, as someone said, and the affiliation with W&M not too clear at the time. I think it's still trying to make the transition from CC to university. It is an option for students in the region who couldn't get into W&M or VCU or perhaps ODU; it's likely the same tier as ODU, but like another poster said, it has the potential to change like VCU has. Of course, VCU has some city support. CNC is a bit in the middle of nowhere in terms of large cities, although it is close to Richmond, and then you have Newport News & Va Beach not far. I think it attracts a lot of military families and returning students. One friend has a TT there and likes it a lot.

As for the state, or really, commonwealth, budget woes there are the worst I've seen in about ever. The universities are not faring as badly as state government, but I would think knowing that CNC serves some of the Richmond (read: state gov't). population, that this may have some effect on CNC's economy down the line. However, the military presence in Norfolk keeps that economy rolling, as does the federal government presence in NoVA, and these may be reasons why the state universities in VA are doing ok so far.

Virginia has a lot of public universities, all vying for the same funds, and then it has UVA and W&M at the top, and VA Tech too. There are plenty of mid-range schools in competition with one another (Mary Washington, Radford, James Madison, ODU, Longwood, VCU) that would be competing with CNC. I would look into some history as to why CNC became a university--did someone donate money (i.e., a privately-funded move) or was it state-driven, and why? Specifically, why was there a need for another state university and why there?

[grimple]

It's not CNC, it's CNU.  It's in Newport News, not "not far" from it.  Get your facts straight.   It does not attract military families or returning students. 

[dragonbait1]

I have a good friend there, who is on hu's third year on the TT.  Hu thinks it's ok, loves the students, has major problems with the admin.  I get the impression there is a new admin who is trying to improve the school's standards - provost told my friend, "well with your teaching load I can't imagine you'll be able to publish enough to get tenure."  Friend said, "First, there are already X amount of publications on my cv - didn't you notice those?  Secondly, I have X other publications lined up, so I should be fine.  Third, if you think the teaching load is too high to publish yet you require X amount of publications, whose fault is that, really?"  Hu loves the area, loves living situation, but is probably sending out applications next year.