September 19, 2014

Dear Colleague:

Yesterday evening, the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate passed a budget compromise, intended to reduce the $2.4 billion shortfall in the two-year state budget.

You may recall that a few weeks ago, Governor McAuliffe asked all state agencies, including public higher education institutions, to submit a savings plan of 5 percent in FY15 and 7 percent in FY16. For Old Dominion University, this translated into a $13 million cut, which would have hindered our campus operations and student services significantly.

Since the time we received the Governor's request, Elizabeth Kersey and I have been advocating actively for Old Dominion. We spoke with the Governor, Secretary of Education, members of the Governor's cabinet, SCHEV leadership and members of the General Assembly to raise our concern about the negative impact across-the-board cuts would have on our ability to keep an Old Dominion education accessible and affordable to students and their families.

I am pleased to report that our message was heard. The state reduced Old Dominion's cut from 5 to 2.1 percent for FY15 and from 7 to 2.1 percent for FY16, so that instead of losing $13 million over the biennium, that cut was reduced to $4.6 million. While any budget cut is troublesome, to diminish this reduction by many millions of dollars means a lesser impact on our faculty, staff and students. This was the lowest cut among doctoral institutions in the state.

I thank the Governor, Secretary of Education and the General Assembly for supporting public higher education and recognizing Old Dominion's role in advancing the future economic growth of the Commonwealth. Over the last three years, our university has received increased state support totaling approximately $35 million in new resources. This increased support has enabled us to hire more than 75 new faculty members, expand distance learning and augment our services to students.

I would also like to thank the members of our Board of Visitors, especially Carlton Bennett, Will Sessoms and Ross Mugler, and you, our valued faculty and staff, for your collective efforts during this budget process. We will continue to advance Old Dominion University by expanding on the progress we have attained in recent years and retaining additional resources for the University.

Sincerely,

John R. Broderick
President