EMPLOYEES CONTRIBUTE MORE THAN $116,000 TO COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN

University employees gave generously to the recent Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign, pledging a total of $116,434 to local, regional, state, national and international nonprofit health and humanitarian organizations, including United Way of South Hampton Roads.

The amount raised topped the $110,000 goal by 5.8 percent.

Old Dominion was recognized by the state Jan. 5 in Richmond as the recipient of a Gold Award, given to Virginia agencies and institutions with average employee contributions of $100 or more or whose participation rate topped 40 percent. The university qualified on both counts, with an average employee gift of $134 and a participation rate of 46.5 percent.

Seven of the 13 divisions in the campus campaign exceeded their individual goals: College of Sciences, 139 percent; President's Office, 137 percent; Academic Affairs, 137 percent; Research Foundation and Faculty Emeriti, 106 percent; Student Services, 105 percent; Athletics, 103 percent; and Institutional Advancement, 101 percent.

Leading the 1999 campaign were Victoria Burke, director of university publications, and Donna Meeks, assistant to the vice president for administration and finance.

"Old Dominion has had a history of giving, and many employees gave more in this campaign," Burke said. "Also, I believe we exceeded our 1999 goal partly because of the donations for flood relief efforts in Franklin and other areas."

"The campaign's success was due not only to the generosity of the Old Dominion faculty and staff, but also to the over 50 campaign volunteers who served as area coordinators and departmental representatives," Meeks added.