February 20, 2012

Dear Colleague,

Yesterday afternoon, the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees approved their recommended changes to Governor McDonnell's 2012-2014 biennial budget proposal released in December, which you may recall contained $8.8 million in additional funding for Old Dominion University.

While the official details will not be released until tomorrow, I'm pleased to report that it appears both committees retained much of what was included for ODU in the introduced budget, with a few modifications. The House retained all of the General Funds proposed by the Governor, and allocated an additional $338,000 in base funds per year. This would bring the University's total additional funding to $15.2 million over the biennium. The Senate's recommendations indicate that they will also preserve most of what was included in the Governor's budget.

The House and Senate both proposed a two percent salary increase for faculty and classified employees. It also appears that neither chamber supported the Governor's proposed one percent additional employee contribution to VRS.

The House and Senate capital plans both advance the detailed planning for our new Education Building this year, as well as the Joint Policing Facility and the new Life Sciences Building next year.

As the House and Senate begin their work in conference to reach a final budget, I'm pleased with the support shown for ODU on both sides. I wish to thank Governor McDonnell and the Hampton Roads legislative delegation for their continuing commitment to Old Dominion. I also wish to thank the members of our Board of Visitors for their support, especially Bill Cofer, Dee Gilmore and Jeff Ainslie, who accompanied me to Richmond last fall to meet with the Governor.

Lastly, please applaud the efforts of Elizabeth Kersey, who works directly with me each week in Richmond.

Sincerely,

John R. Broderick
President