Give to UVA Batten
Help shape the future of policy and leadership through investments in students, faculty, and transformative learning experiences.
Investing to Shape the Public Good
Your support advances every part of the UVA Batten experience, from student access and hands-on learning to faculty excellence and future growth. Together, these investments prepare principled leaders to solve complex policy challenges and drive meaningful change.
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Dean's Unrestricted Fund
The UVA Batten School’s greatest need
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Student Experience
Undergraduate Scholarships
Graduate Fellowships
Student Internships
Global Experiences -
Faculty Support
Faculty Research
Professorships
Centers & Labs -
Karsh Building
New building
Naming opportunities
Dean’s Unrestricted Fund
As one of UVA’s youngest schools, the UVA Batten School embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder while advancing leadership and public policy education and research. Gifts to the Unrestricted Fund give the Dean flexibility to address critical needs quickly: including recruiting and retaining top faculty, enriching the student experience, and enhancing programs across the school. Your support ensures Batten can seize emerging opportunities, respond to pressing challenges, and continue shaping visionary leaders — keeping the school agile, dynamic, and forward-thinking.
As one of UVA’s youngest schools, the UVA Batten School advances leadership and public policy with an entrepreneurial spirit. Support the Unrestricted Fund to help the Dean invest in top faculty, student experience, and emerging priorities.
Student Experience
The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy was founded with a visionary mandate to be a different kind of school, blending leadership training with public policy expertise. This entrepreneurial spirit has cultivated a first-in-class student experience, combining a small, cohort-based classroom environment with the resources of a nationally elite flagship institution, and creating a multidisciplinary curriculum that integrates political science, social psychology, policy training, data analysis, and economics. Investing in UVA Batten students is an investment in the next generation of leaders who will develop the critical skills needed for a lifetime of service to the public good.
The University of Virginia is need-blind in its admissions process and committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students. UVA Batten is proud to ensure that every student who earns admission can consider their offer without regard to financial constraints. This is only possible through the generosity of donors.
The hallmark degree of the UVA Batten School is the two-year, residential Master of Public Policy (MPP). For many students, however, stepping away from careers or family responsibilities to pursue a full-time program presents a significant financial burden. Supporting graduate fellowships strengthens UVA Batten’s ability to attract and enroll exceptional students who enrich the University through their learning, teaching, and research.
UVA Batten’s rigorous classroom experience is complemented by hands-on, practical opportunities as students prepare for careers in public service. The School provides funding support for students who have accepted unpaid or underpaid internships. High-quality internship experiences are critical to early career success, and enhanced funding ensures UVA Batten students remain highly competitive in the job market. You can support student internships at this link.
Employers increasingly seek graduates with international policy exposure and the ability to analyze policy across contexts. However, the rigor of the UVA Batten curriculum can make semester-long study abroad challenging. To address this, UVA Batten is developing a “global classroom” of international study programs embedded within the curriculum, enabling students to participate in transformative global experiences as part of their core coursework.
Faculty Support
UVA Batten houses a blend of world-class academics and experienced practitioners across a range of disciplines—public policy, political science, social psychology, economics, and more—reflecting the School’s deep commitment to recruiting faculty whose combined academic expertise and real-world experience form a central pillar of the student learning experience. UVA Batten faculty are at the heart of our mission to develop ethical, change-oriented leaders and produce actionable research. Continued investment in UVA Batten faculty will enhance the student experience, sustain the production of cutting-edge research, and enrich the broader University community.
UVA Batten faculty are at the forefront of addressing complex public policy challenges through a wide range of research initiatives. Support for faculty research provides critical resources for work on pressing issues such as education, healthcare, national security, economic policy, and the environment.
Recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty is essential to attracting exceptional students and delivering a first-in-class educational experience. Support for professorships ensures that UVA Batten continues to attract a talented mix of world-class scholars and experienced practitioners. It also helps maintain one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios at the University of Virginia, preserving the intimate classroom experience that distinguishes UVA Batten.
UVA Batten is home to a range of research centers and labs that serve as key hubs for collaboration across UVA on critical policy issues. These include work in national security, global humanitarian challenges, legislative accountability, and more.
The Karsh Building
Since its founding in 2007, the Batten School at UVA has grown from a pioneering class of approximately 25 MPP students into a fully developed academic program serving more than 450 undergraduate, graduate, and certificate students annually. This growth has created a need for additional space, and UVA Batten will expand into its new home in the Karsh Institute of Democracy building in the Emmet–Ivy Corridor. This purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility will include classrooms, collaboration spaces, faculty offices, and a 425-seat auditorium. Its proximity to the Virginia Guest House will provide renowned University guests with easy access to UVA Batten, while its location alongside key partners—including the Karsh Institute, School of Data Science, Social Innovation at UVA, and UVA Arts—will strategically position UVA Batten students to experience all that the University has to offer.
The new building will offer exclusive naming opportunities for premium spaces. For more information, please contact Jon Holmstead.
To support the new building fund, you can make a gift online.
Make your gift now to the area(s) of your choice by using our secure online form.
Mailing address:
UVA – Batten School Foundation
P.O. Box 37963
Boone, IA 50037
- Please make checks payable to “Batten School Foundation” and note the purpose/allocation in Memo line.
- The University of Virginia’s gift processing vendor is in Boone, Iowa. Any gifts mailed to Charlottesville will be forwarded to Boone for processing. Please contact Jon Holmsted with questions.
Online: Give online via credit card to the area(s) of your choice by following this link.
Phone: 434-924-7018 (University Advancement Services can process gifts via phone)
Clearing Broker: Pershing LLC
DTC Participant: # 0443
Account Number: N7M-001327
Credit: University of Virginia Gift Account
Reference: [Donor’s Name]
- Please email Jon Holmsted when you initiate a stock transaction. University Advancement uses a single gifts processor for all schools and units, so notifying Batten development will ensure your gift is routed correctly.
Bank of America
Credit to: University of Virginia – Advancement Operations Account
ABA#: 026009593 (Wire)
ABA#: 051000017 (ACH/EFT)
Account #: 435029074310
- Please email Jon Holmsted when you initiate a wire transaction. University Advancement uses a single gifts processor for all schools and units, so notifying Batten development will ensure your gift is routed correctly.
If your employer ocers a match, please obtain and complete the matching fund from your employer and send to:
University of Virginia – Batten School Foundation
P.O. Box 37963
Boone, IA 50037
E-Mail
UVA will complete the form and contact your company. Your company will send matching gift funds to UVA, and you will get donor credit for your gift plus the match.
Please visit www.giving.virginia.edu/ways-to-give for information about other ways to give, including (but not limited to) cryptocurrency, bank draft, or payroll deduction.
Tax ID (EIN): 81-1390563
University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy Foundation
235 McCormick Road
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Phone: 434-243-3155
The Batten School Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.
Meet the UVA Batten
Development Team
Our development team is dedicated to building meaningful partnerships that advance the Batten School’s mission. They are here to connect your philanthropic goals with opportunities to make a lasting impact across our community.
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Jon HolmstedDirector of DevelopmentJon is the director of development for the Batten School and has worked in University-affiliated development roles since 2018. He focuses on building relationships with donors, alumni, and other stakeholders to advance the philanthropic priorities of the Batten School and Dean Ian H. Solomon, focusing on major gifts development and overall alumni participation.
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Peyton DeesAssistant Director for Annual GivingPeyton leads annual giving efforts at the Batten School, building strong alumni and donor relationships to grow participation and philanthropic support.
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Mark NelsonAdvancement AssociateMark Nelson is an advancement associate at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy