BOARD SETS TUITION RATES, APPROVES NEW PH.D. PROGRAMS
The Old Dominion University Board of Visitors set new tuition rates for the coming year, approved three new doctoral programs and granted 15 tenure appointments during a meeting of its Executive Committee April 1.
ODU's comprehensive fee (tuition and fees) for in-state undergraduates will increase by 6.6 percent in 2005-06, and rise 7 percent for in-state graduate students. (The new fee structure will go into effect with the 2005 summer term.)
Based on 30 credit hours for the academic year, an in-state undergraduate will pay $5,614 next year, up from $5,268. The per-credit-hour fee will increase from $170 to $181.
ODU's 6.6 percent increase for in-state undergraduates is lower than that of three other state universities that have already set their fees: Virginia Tech, 9.2 percent; Norfolk State, 8.7 percent; and George Mason, 6.9 percent.
Adding a 3 percent rise in room and board, a full-time ODU in-state undergraduate would pay $11,590 next year, or 4.7 percent more than last year's combined rate.
The comprehensive fee for in-state graduate students attending full time will be $6,496 per year, based on a 24-credit-hour load.
There will be a 4.8 percent increase in the comprehensive fee for both out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students, with the annual cost set at $15,394 and $16,058, respectively.
"Our recommendations reflected what we believed provided critical investments in new faculty and key infrastructure to accommodate enrollment growth and investments in the priorities of the strategic plan, yet acknowledging the importance of affordability for students," Robert L. Fenning, vice president for administration and finance, said after the meeting.
"Of the institutions that have adjusted mandatory tuition and fees for fiscal year 2006, our increase is well below, plus we will make available more than $1.6 million of new campus-based and state financial aid resources for our neediest students."
Revenue from ODU's increase in tuition and fees will address a variety of institutional needs and mandates, including:
Provide faculty resources to cover course offerings and enrollment growth;
Provide funds to attract and retain well-qualified faculty members;
Provide financial support to attract and retain well-qualified students;
Address requirements for benefit adjustments and salary increases; and
Provide funding for library materials and research collections.
In other action, the board approved adding doctor of philosophy degrees in English, education and health services research.
The Ph.D. program in English will explore the full range of written English through such modes of inquiry as rhetoric, composition, linguistics, literature and journalism, and through such media as print, speech and hypertext.
The programs in education and health sciences will be spin-offs of current Ph.D. degree programs in urban services, which have existed for more than 20 years and have become outdated.
President Roseann Runte made a brief report to the board about the issue of football. She noted that the response to a recent Alumni Association-sponsored online survey has been overwhelmingly in favor of adding the sport, but she pointed out that there are both pros and cons to the issue.
She said the university plans to seek expert advice on the matter, which would include consulting at least one athletic director at another school that had added the sport recently. Runte said the university will then draft a financial plan outlining what costs to expect if the board were to decide to add football to ODU's sports lineup. The goal is to have the plan ready for the board to review at its June meeting.
On the recommendation of the provost, the board approved the award of tenure to the following faculty, effective with the fall 2005 semester:
Arts and Letters - Kenneth R. Fitzgerald, art; Dale E. Miller, philosophy and religious studies.
Business and Public Administration - Larry Filer, economics; John M. Griffith and Shaomin Li, business administration; John C. Morris, public administration and urban studies.
Education - Peggy P. Hester, early childhood, speech-language pathology and special education; Lynn. H. Doyle, Michael T. Garrett, Dennis E. Gregory and William A. Owings, educational leadership and counseling.
Engineering and Technology - Frederic D. McKenzie, electrical and computer engineering; Carol L. Considine and Guoqing Zhou, engineering technology.
Sciences - James P. Bliss, psychology.
The board also approved the appointment of Jie Chen, professor of political science and director of Graduate Programs in International Studies, as a Louis I. Jaffe Professor, and voted in favor of the recommendation that the university award an honorary degree to G. Robert Aston Jr., chairman of the board and CEO of TowneBank.
In other matters, the board endorsed granting the title of emeritus to the following faculty (retirement dates are listed in parentheses):
Fred M. Granger, associate professor of information technology and decision sciences (Jan. 1, 2005);
Paul Heine, associate professor of exercise science, sport, physical education and recreation (June 24, 2005);
Linda Lane Lilley, associate professor of nursing (Dec. 31, 2004); and
Anne Raymond-Savage, associate professor of educational curriculum and instruction (Oct. 1, 2004).