CHARLES WILSON NAMED INTERIM VICE PROVOST AND DEAN OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Charles Wilson, University Professor and chair of the English department, has been named interim vice provost for undergraduate studies and dean of the University College, announced Provost Thomas L. Isenhour.

A member of the Old Dominion faculty since 1991, Wilson spent the past year as an American Council of Education Fellow. Known for his passion in the classroom, he was named a SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award winner in 2004 and has received Old Dominion's A. Rufus Tonelson Faculty Award and the Robert L. Stern Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Wilson is an expert in African-American and Southern literatures and his research interests include black manhood, race, class and gender in Southern fiction, and the intersection of past and present in the South. He is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities grants, including one for a summer institute at Harvard University.

Wilson received a bachelor's degree in English from West Georgia College, a master's degree from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.

University College, which will debut at Old Dominion July 1, is an organizational unit designed to ensure a more student-centered approach to the collegiate experience, starting with first-year students. There will be three broad functional roles for the college: academic orientation, advising and career management; student success services; and instructional coordination and support. All resources, including staff and funding, that support the academic success of first- and second-year undergraduate students will be housed in one administrative unit, where a unified vision, clear reporting lines, and efficient and effective interaction and collaboration are guaranteed.