ODU, VCCS SIGN AGREEMENT PROMOTING COMMUNITY COLLEGE RESEARCH

Officials from the Virginia Community College System and Old Dominion University signed a memorandum of understanding Oct. 3 that will lead to hands-on research opportunities for students entering the community college research field. Under the agreement, the new research center will be housed in the ODU Darden College of Education's Community College Leadership Program.

"This is a win-win partnership between ODU and VCCS," said Edward Raspiller, director of the Community College Leadership Program. "This research center is one of the first in the nation that focuses on local and statewide community college issues."

Collaborations with center researchers and graduate students in the production of reports, tables and manuscripts will benefit some or all of the 23 VCCS colleges.

"This agreement brings tremendous opportunities for students in the Ph.D. program to get engaged with live data to assist with their dissertations," said Jaime Lester, assistant professor of educational leadership and counseling, who teaches in the Community College Leadership Program.

The following VCCS and ODU officials are expected to be on hand for the signing: Roseann Runte, president of ODU; Glenn DuBois, chancellor of VCCS; Thomas Isenhour, provost and vice president for academic affairs at ODU; Monty Sullivan, vice chancellor of VCCS; William Graves, dean of the ODU Darden College of Education; Dana Burnett, chair of the ODU educational leadership and counseling department, and Molly Duggan, assistant professor of educational leadership and counseling.