Michael R. Dingerson, the new associate vice president for research and graduate studies, had never lived in an urban area before moving to Norfolk last month, but he's quickly adjusting to his new environs.

Dingerson comes to Old Dominion from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where he was acting chair of the educational leadership and educational psychology department and professor of higher education. "I see great opportunities for Old Dominion University," he said. "The university is coming into a level of maturity."

Though he's only been on the job full time since early May, Dingerson already has high expectations for meeting the challenges that lie ahead. He sees even greater opportunities for the university's research centers and plans to work on forging additional partnerships with other area higher education institutions.

"Old Dominion is dominant as the higher education institution in the region," he said. Dingerson believes the university's strength lies in the applied areas. He plans to build on Old Dominion's regional identity to strengthen its ties with other institutions, businesses and industries via partnerships. "I see lots of opportunities," he noted.

He also hopes to develop strategies to assist the university's colleges not currently active in project-sponsored activities, as well as cultivate stronger relationships with funding agencies in the Washington, D.C., area.

Dingerson has worked in research development for the past 30 years and helped move UM from the Carnegie Doctoral I level to Research II classification during his tenure.

His last assignment before coming to Old Dominion was as principal investigator for the planning and implementation of a major NASA-funded effort to commercialize remote sensing technologies and data through the creation of the Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative.

Dingerson, who was at UM since 1986, served as associate vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school through 1997. He also was director of the Mississippi Space Grant College and Fellowship Program for seven years while at UM. He previously held various administrative posts at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, from 1968 to 1986.

Dingerson succeeds Robert L. Ash, who served in the position for the past four years before returning to teaching and research in the aerospace engineering department.

- Tiffany Capuano

Build it, or at least plan to, and they will come.

That seemed to be the motto of university officials when they set out to hire a new director of facilities management.

And just as baseball legends emerged from an Iowa cornfield in "Field of Dreams" when Kevin Costner built them a ballpark, New Jersey native Ron Tola responded to Old Dominion's aggressive plans for new construction in the University Village by packing up and moving south.

The 49-year-old father of two college-age students started his new job at Old Dominion Feb. 24. He oversees 281 employees, as well as the university's physical plant, maintenance and operations, and planning and construction divisions.

Facilities management, which provides routine maintenance of buildings and grounds, also is responsible for housekeeping, moving and special events, planning, estimating and automotive services, Tola said.

But it was the university's situation at the dawn of a major building spurt that tipped the scales in Tola's decision to come to Old Dominion. Along with his operational duties, the attractiveness of the challenge to assist in the construction of the 75-acre University Village project was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Tola said. The Village, which will have as its centerpiece the $40 million Ted Constant Convocation Center, is in the design development phase.

"Part of the reason the job was so attractive was the quality of Old Dominion's Physical Plant, the energy of the campus community and the excitement being created by the design of the convocation center," he said.

Tola was a design engineer for 27 years at the College of New Jersey in Ewing Township, outside Trenton, after graduating from Villanova University with an undergraduate degree in engineering.

He also earned a master's in science of management from the College of New Jersey, and his background includes two years with the Department of Higher Education of New Jersey. Also on Tola's watch at Old Dominion is the coming renovation of Constant Hall and the nearly completed Virginia Beach Higher Education Center, both part of the 2000-06 capital renewal plan.

Beginning this winter, Constant Hall will have its center section removed and replaced, Tola said. The renovated facility will contain a number of professional offices and classrooms and will be a "much more mediated facility to provide for high-tech involvement of academic programs," he explained. The project should be finished in 16 months, depending on weather conditions.

All in all, Tola is happy with his new job. "I found the professional staff in facilities management to be qualified and dedicated. They've made me feel at home."

- James J. Lidington

Barbara Thayer has managed the University Bookstore in Webb Center since April with an eye on improving customer service. As a result, the campus community can expect lower prices on some items as well as some new programs.

Thayer is no stranger to Old Dominion. She returns to campus after having worked in the bookstore here from 1980 to 1987. She was appointed assistant manager in 1986, the year Barnes & Noble assumed operation of the bookstore.

Thayer continued her career with Barnes & Noble as assistant manager at the University of Maryland-Baltimore's bookstore, then as manager of the bookstore at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. For the past five years she managed the Barnes & Noble store at Radford. One of the programs Thayer is considering implementing at Old Dominion is a bookstore advisory committee that would provide University Bookstore management with new ideas. At the Radford store, a committee of students, bookstore employees, faculty and staff members, and a contract administrator helped open lines of communication within the university. "It's the best way to make sure that we know what people want," Thayer said.

In the meantime she plans to continue Barnes & Noble's campus outreach program, in which bookstore managers maintain contacts throughout their college and university communities to improve customer service. "As store manager it's up to me to keep in touch with students, faculty and staff to make sure we have what they want and that we're meeting their needs," she said.

Bookstore customers can look forward to the continuation of the prepack program, in which books are prepackaged for incoming freshmen and others who request the service each semester. "We can continue that program throughout a student's career at the university," Thayer said.

In addition, the bookstore's Web site, www.bkstore.com/odu, will continue to offer services such as student textbook reservation, software searches and faculty course book requests. But the Web also has its down side.

"One of our biggest competitors is e-commerce," Thayer noted. "We have a special section in our store where customers can come to read and relax. Our challenge is to create a pleasant environment so people will want to shop with us."

What attracts Thayer to a university setting is the sense of community. "You're made to feel a part of the campus, and it's a pleasant atmosphere," she said. "It's fun to work in an environment with students, and where there are so many activities and events going on."

- Jennifer Cook