The Old Dominion University - Norfolk State University Higher Education Center in Virginia Beach opened its doors in late August in time for the start of the fall semester.

The $14.9 million center is situated between Princess Anne and Rosemont roads, near the Tidewater Community College campus, on land donated by the city of Virginia Beach. It will take the place of the former Old Dominion-NSU center on Little Neck Road.

Old Dominion, which offers 70 percent of the classes at the new center (NSU offers the remaining 30 percent), continues to be responsible for overseeing the operation of the facility.

Course registrations for Old Dominion classes are projected to exceed 8,000 for academic year 1999-2000, according to Anne Raymond-Savage, associate vice president for academic affairs.

More courses and programs are now available at the new Virginia Beach Center, with nearly 30 graduate and undergraduate degree programs offered.

"Many of the programs will build upon what the community colleges are doing in the area of technology training," Raymond-Savage said. "The options for baccalaureate degree completion at the new center should be very attractive to community college students."

The facility also caters to an executive clientele, such as CIOs, corporate managers, military personnel, community leaders and other senior-level professionals who need extra course work to advance their careers, she added.

The center offers classes taught by professors on site as well as classes televised in real time from Old Dominion's Norfolk campus. Two virtual classrooms, featuring two-way audio and video, allow students in Virginia Beach to take courses with fellow students on the Norfolk campus and at the university's higher education center on the Peninsula. These virtual classrooms are especially important because they will allow the university to expand the number and array of courses it offers at the new center.

The "heartbeat" of the new facility is a fully staffed, state-of-the-art Learning Resources Center where students can use computers to access library materials, complete homework assignments and conduct research via the Internet. The Learning Resources Center also is a central location where students can drop off homework assignments, pick up a CD or videotape of a missed class, or check out a book that has been placed on reserve.

Classes at the center are offered from morning to night, seven days a week.

For more information call 368-4100.