NANCY COOLEY APPOINTED VICE PROVOST FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

Nancy J. Cooley has been appointed vice provost for distance learning at Old Dominion University, Provost Thomas L. Isenhour announced this week.
Cooley, who served as acting vice provost for the past year, was selected for the position on a permanent basis following a national search.

"During her tenure as acting vice provost, Nancy made several important contributions. Two of the most noteworthy are the development of a very popular online program in criminal justice and the acquisition of the subcontract from ITA International for Cultural Awareness Training for the U.S. Navy," said Isenhour. "Nancy has displayed excellent management skills in leading our very complex distance learning program.

"She has also worked to develop a strategic plan, in line with the University Strategic Plan, and has stimulated a great deal of interest in distance learning across the university," the provost added.

Prior to joining Old Dominion on Feb. 25, 2006, Cooley was the academic affairs and planning director at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, and from September 2003 to August 2004 served as acting executive director of SCHEV. Before her arrival at SCHEV, she was dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Ferris State University in Michigan, and prior to that held leadership positions in the offices of Information Technology, Academic Affairs and the Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development at Central Michigan University.

Cooley came to ODU with a strong record of acquiring external funding. During her year as executive director of SCHEV, she secured $225,000 from the Dominion Foundation to fund the Virginia Outstanding Faculty Awards Program for three years after the General Assembly cut the funds from the state budget. She also provided oversight for the development of Virginia's GEAR-UP grant, and her team was successful in securing a one-year continuation award and a supplementary federal award totaling more than $1 million. The team's six-year continuation grant proposal was funded last year for $18 million.

Cooley holds a bachelor's degree in education from Central Michigan, a master's degree in teaching from Oakland University and a doctorate in curriculum, teaching and psychological studies from the University of Michigan. She completed a full-year postdoctoral fellowship as the Helen L. DeRoy Fellow in Educational Leadership at Michigan State University and earned certificates from the CAUSE National Management Institute in Boulder, Colo., and the Management Development Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.