LETTER FROM PRESIDENT ROSEANN RUNTE
December 13, 2007
Dear Members of the Old Dominion University Community,
This morning at a press conference in Richmond Governor Tim Kaine announced a proposed bond package, which includes $1.65 billion for higher education projects. We are grateful to him for recognizing the needs of our students and faculty and for assuming such a strong leadership role in moving to obtain the necessary capital projects to support the colleges and universities in Virginia.
It originally was announced that each institution would receive ONE top priority in the bond package; however, I negotiated the inclusion of ALL of the following projects for Old Dominion:
*Student Success Center ($11.1 million)
*Construction, Renovation and infill for the Visual Arts Building, Studio Arts Building and Stables Theatre ($19.1 million)
*Systems Research and Academic Building ($18.1 million)
*Child Development Centers on the Norfolk campus and at the Virginia Beach Center ($9.7 million)
*Education Building Renovation ($9.9 million)
*Spong Hall and Rollins Hall Renovations ($19 million)
The proposed bond package supports innovative research, providing facilities for researchers to develop new, cutting-edge technologies and turn them into commercial assets. Also, it addresses critical needs in economic and workforce development.
Beyond capital projects, the proposed budget includes a comprehensive general fund research package to further Virginia's efforts to diversify the economy through research and development. It includes more than $2 million for the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium to support its efforts in exploring alternative forms of energy.
In addition, there will be funds for augmenting security.
I would like to thank the faculty and academic leaders for expressing their needs and desires in a timely fashion. We all need to thank Vice President Bob Fenning and Deb Swiecinski for having put these needs together in an excellent package.
Now our efforts need to be followed up by a universal effort to obtain passage of the bonds. To this end, I will count on the extraordinary leadership skills of Vice President John R. Broderick. He will coordinate what will be a massive, concerted effort to garner the support of each and every member of the Hampton Roads community. You can be assured that he, Jim DeAngio and many others will be working hard to ensure this statewide initiative meets with legislative and voter approval.
This is wonderful news with which to conclude the semester. Please join me in thanking the Governor!
Sincerely yours,
Roseann Runte
President