BOARD OF VISITORS APPROVES STRATEGIC PLAN
The Board of Visitors on Friday approved Old Dominion University's Strategic Plan for 2005-09. It includes the following seven major strategic goals for the five-year period, beginning Jan. 1:
Increase undergraduate and graduate academic quality, retain faculty and gain a national reputation for excellence (to be among the nation's top 100 public research universities).
Create an agenda and a climate that encourage research and creative activity.
Improve the quality and productivity of graduate programs.
Create a viable, lively campus community.
Integrate and improve academic and administrative programs and services.
Make the university sensitive to the people and needs of the region and world around it.
Find the means necessary to accomplish all of the above.
The board also approved adding a doctor of philosophy degree in public administration and urban policy. It will be a spinoff of the current Ph.D. program in urban services, which has existed for more than 20 years and has become outdated.
In other academic areas, the board approved the award of tenure to three faculty members, effective with the spring 2005 semester: Laura J. Harrell, civil and environmental engineering; Michael T. Tamburello, physical therapy; and Sophie K. Thompson, medical laboratory and radiation sciences.
The board endorsed a number of faculty and administrative appointments, including: Brenda Neumon Lewis as assistant dean of graduate studies, Margaret M. Camarena as director of the Social Science Research Center and James D. Wright as associate university counsel and assistant attorney general. All of the appointments became effective in November of this year.
In other action, the board approved the appointment of Lawrence J. Hatab as the Louis I. Jaffe Professor in the College of Arts and Letters. A professor of philosophy, Hatab joined Old Dominion in 1976 and is in his 10th year as chair of the philosophy and religious studies department. The board also approved granting the title of emeritus to three faculty members who are retiring effective Dec. 31: Victor A. Pickett, professor of art; Ann V. Schwarz-Miller, associate professor of economics; and J. Christian Wild, associate professor of computer science.
In addition, the board approved the awarding of an honorary degree to J. Douglas Perry, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Dollar Tree Stores.
On the recommendation of the Administration and Finance Committee, the board approved resolutions to add a north parking garage and research/office building in the University Village as technical amendments to be submitted for inclusion in the Appropriations Act of the 2005 General Assembly. The board also approved a resolution for the university to seek nongeneral fund appropriation authority for the design and construction of additional student housing to be located in a proposed new quad on campus.
The parking garage will be located in the lot next to the Ted Constant Convocation Center, which is currently used for faculty/staff overflow parking and VIP parking during convocation center events. The garage will have 5,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor facing Monarch Way. It will still be used for convocation center VIP parking and faculty/staff parking. Additional spaces will be available for hotel and retail patrons.
The initial four-story, 60,000-square-foot research/office building will be located at Monarch Way and 41st Street. Fifty percent of the building will be used by Old Dominion, while the remaining 50 percent will be leased to third parties who wish to collaborate on research projects at the university or hire ODU graduates. According to research conducted by the consultant firm Kaufman and Canoles, once the three-building research park is completed, it will create more than 500 jobs and 500 indirect jobs, and add more than $30 million in wages, $25 million to the local economy and $500,000 in tax revenue for the city of Norfolk.
The university contracted with Brailsford and Dunlavey to study the student housing market demand. The firm identified an unmet need of more than 1,000 beds and has recommended construction of up to 500 additional beds.
On the recommendation of the Student Advancement Committee, the board approved revisions to the Student Disciplinary Policy and Procedures. Among the changes is shortening from three years to one the timeframe for expunging from student records sanctions imposed on students found guilty of cheating.
According to the most recent practice, convictions are noted on students' transcripts with no possibility of removal for three years. At that point, students may petition to have the note removed from their records. To qualify for removal, students must also complete integrity training, maintain a clean academic record and prove that their infraction was not premeditated.