The University of Virginia's governing board reinstated its popular president Tuesday only weeks after ousting her in a secretive move that infuriated students and faculty, had the governor threatening to fire the entire board and sparked debate about how to best run public universities in a tight budget climate. The 15-member Board of Visitors voted unanimously to give Teresa Sullivan her job back during a brief meeting at the university's historic Rotunda. Afterward, Sullivan thanked the board for its renewed confidence in her leadership of the prestigious public university founded by Thomas Jefferson. Sullivan's ouster and reinstatement highlighted a dispute over how one of the finest universities in the U.S. - public or private - should move forward like others nationwide in addressing myriad challenges ranging from coping with shrinking government funding to elevating an academic presence online. Sullivan had signaled to the board days after her ouster that she advocated "incremental" change - not the bold, swift steps advocated by others such as Rector Helen Dragas, the driving force behind efforts to replace her. But Sullivan pledged Tuesday to work with the board "in bringing about what's best for the university." University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan addresses a crowd of supporters outside the university Rotunda after she was reinstated by the board of visitors during a meeting at the school Tuesday, June 26, 2012 in Charlottesville, Va. The 15-member Board of Visitors voted unanimously to reinstate Sullivan less than three weeks after ousting her in a secretive move that infuriated students and faculty, had the governor threatening to fire the entire governing board and sparked a debate about the most effective way to operate public universities in an era of tight finances. Shortly after the vote, Sullivan thanked the board members for their renewed confidence in her. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Close The newly reinstated president greeted hundreds of faculty, students and other supporters after the board vote as they regaled her with applause and the university's anthem, "The Good Ole' Song." "You have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am not alone," said Sullivan, who became U.Va.'s eighth president and its first female leader when she took office in August 2010. I believe that together we'll do great things for the university. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a nonprofit group that presses for higher-education accountability and had backed Sullivan's ouster, said it plans to scrutinize Sullivan's job performance and expects the board would follow suit. "More of the same is simply not good enough," council president Anne Neal said in a statement. "Going forward, President Teresa Sullivan must ask the tough questions and make the tough decisions" that come with her job. Neal said the board now must set clear performance measures and hold Sullivan accountable for cutting administrative bloat, eliminating outdated programs, limiting tuition growth to the rate of inflation and ensuring students have a solid curriculum that equips them with the skills to succeed once they graduate. Critics had compared how the board's executive committee handled Sullivan's abrupt firing - with no formal vote, it was announced June 10 that she would step down Aug. 15 - to a coup d'etat, and said it violated Jefferson's stated principles of honesty, respect and honor. The university is fiercely proud of its intellectual traditions and likes to call itself "Mr. Jefferson's university." The ouster triggered days of online protests, large protests on the campus's historic grounds, and calls by deans, faculty, students and alumni for Sullivan's return. Dragas has said the university faces several issues ahead: challenges from reduced federal and state funding, a rapidly shifting health care environment that she said will necessitate changes at the U.Va. Medical Center; heightened pressure to better allocate scarce resources; changing technology and more.