The University of Virginia got off to a rocky start this school year, not least because so many of its top leadership positions are vacant. UVa's placement in national rankings, in which officials have said only No. 1 will do, either slipped significantly, held steady or increased only incrementally over last year.

In U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of the best universities in the country, UVa fell two spots to No. 26, tied with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the public school category, UVa ranked No. 4, the same as last year and tied once again with UNC. UVa ranked No. 27 for best-value school overall, moving up three spots from last year.

This past June, U.S. News & World Report's competitor, the Princeton Review, ranked UVa No. 2 best public school for v

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