W&M to close Virginia Coastal Policy Center
Decision comes after director announces plans to retire
WILLIAMSBURG — William & Mary will dissolve the Virginia Coastal Policy Center at its law school this year.
The school announced Tuesday that the center will close June 30. Law school Dean A. Benjamin Spencer made the decision after center director Elizabeth Andrews announced plans to retire after seven years in the role.
Andrews’ leadership “has been so vital to VCPC’s success,” Spencer said in a statement. “While the VCPC will be dissolved at the Law School, I am thankful for the university’s commitment and willingness to ensure William & Mary’s leadership in these areas grows even stronger.
“William & Mary knows what a valuable resource this policy work of VCPC has been to Virginia and future plans will build on that research and analysis.”
Spencer added that the school is developing plans with the leadership of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science to strengthen its role as a leader in the areas of coastal policy, ecology and engagement.
Andrews, a professor of the practice of law, graduated from William & Mary and received her law degree from American University. She previously served as senior assistant attorney general and chief of the environmental section of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General. She’s also served as water policy manager for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
“It’s time for me to cut back some,” Andrews said in an email. “It’s been a wonderful experience, but I’ve put in some long hours.”
During her time as VCPC’s director, Andrews has had a number of responsibilities, including seeking grants, overseeing projects, teaching classes, speaking at conferences, serving on committees and hosting events. When she officially steps down in June, she would like to travel with her husband, who retired last year.
“This is a good time for me to reduce my workload,” she said.
Andrews said the decision to close the center came as a surprise.
“When I told the administration that I planned to step down at the end of this academic year, I thought that they would replace me,” she said, adding that she is encouraged by Spencer’s statement, which discusses development of a university-wide coastal resilience initiative.
In addition to Andrews, there are three staff members at the VCPC who were given notice that their positions will be eliminated with the closure of the center, school spokesperson Suzanne Clavet said.
“The decision to close VCPC this summer is not one I made lightly,” said Spencer, thanking Andrews and the VCPC team. “The Center has provided critical, science-based legal and policy analysis of ecological issues affecting coastal resources, offering education and advice to a host of Virginia’s decision-makers, from government officials and legal scholars to non-profit and business leaders.”
According to state Del. Keith Hodges, R-Middlesex, the VCPC has been a crucial resource, and its closure will have a “tremendous impact.” Hodges represents the 98th district, which covers Middle Peninsula counties Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, Mathews, Middlesex and part of King William.
“The center was created to solve complex issues,” Hodges said. “When you start bringing together the environmental piece, the policy side of it, the legal analysis, they are very complex issues and difficult to solve ... It’s something that, when a state agency said, ‘You’re not going to be able to solve it,’ (the center) did.”
In 2021, students with the center, as part of the Virginia Abandoned and Derelict Vessels Work Group, helped research the issue of removing abandoned boats from waterways.
The center has also worked with RAFT, or the Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool, a team that works with Virginia’s coastal towns, cities and counties to improve their resilience to water hazards like flooding and sea level rise.
Over the years, Andrews said that she has been most proud of the center’s “significant impact on policy discussions in the Commonwealth and the region. The VCPC staff and students have worked hard over the years to provide well-research, science-based policy analysis that has helped to inform decisions at the state and local level concerning a variety of topics (like) climate change and coastal resilience, water quality and water supply, renewable energy, and many more.”
On a more personal level, she said that she’s proud of the impact she’s had as a professor, teaching law, marine science and public policy students “the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to policy challenges.”