Board Approves Awarding of Tenure and Emeritus Title

The Old Dominion University Board of Visitors approved the award of tenure to 17 current faculty members and the granting of the emeritus title to six retiring faculty members at its April 7 meeting.

Based on the recommendation of the provost and the Academic and Research Advancement Committee, the following faculty members were awarded tenure and promotion to associate professor effective with the start of the fall 2011 semester:

• College of Arts and Letters - Robert Arnett, communication and theatre arts; Allison Chappell, sociology and criminal justice; James Michael Hall, music; John Roth, art; Dawn Rothe, sociology and criminal justice; and Burton St. John III, communication and theatre arts. (Arnett already is an associate professor.)

• College of Business and Public Administration - Lan Cao, information technology and decision sciences; Licheng Sun, finance; and Harris Wu, information technology and decision sciences.

• Darden College of Education - Timothy Grothaus, counseling and human services; and Shana Pribesh and Karen Sanzo, educational foundations and leadership.

• Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology - Juergen Kolb, electrical and computer engineering; and Shizhi Qian, mechanical and aerospace engineering.

• College of Sciences - Alexander Godunov, physics; James Henson, psychology; and Timothy Motley, biological sciences. (Motley already is an associate professor.)

Also based on the recommendation of the Academic and Research Advancement Committee, the board approved granting the title of emeritus to the following faculty members: Jon Crunkleton, finance; Amin Dharamsi, electrical and computer engineering; William Jones, philosophy and religious studies; Michael Overstreet, computer science; Joseph Sever Jr., communication disorders and special education; and Alfred Townsend, music.

In other action, the board approved a recommendation to rename University College to Academic Enhancement. According to an accompanying rationale statement: "The requested name better reflects the goal of supporting student achievement in academic programs as well as the unit's focus on enhancing the academic experiences of all undergraduate students - from those identified as 'at risk students' to those highly successful undergraduates involved in undergraduate research and those who would be competitive for prestigious scholarships."