Tuition Increase for 2012-13 Is Lowest in 10 Years

The Old Dominion University Board of Visitors approved on Thursday, June 14, a tuition and mandatory fees increase of $169 per year for in-state undergraduates, the university's lowest tuition increase in 10 years and the lowest dollar increase among the state's public research universities.

Combined with comprehensive fees, in-state undergraduates will pay $8,450 for 30 credit hours at ODU, which remains one of the least expensive four-year public institutions in the commonwealth. In-state graduate students will pay $9,692 per year; out-of-state undergraduates $23,330 per year; and out-of-state graduate students $24,188 per year.

"We are grateful for the support from the commonwealth that enabled Old Dominion to keep its tuition increase the lowest in a decade," said President John Broderick. "The modest increase allows us to make critical investments in academics and research, while remaining affordable and accessible for students."

At its April meeting, the board approved a 4 percent increase in room and board, putting the weighted average cost at $8,547.

Also at the June meeting, the board approved a proposal to change the Psy.D. degree program in clinical psychology to a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

The rationale statement submitted to board reads: "When the doctoral program in clinical psychology was first proposed in the 1970s, the Virginia Consortium requested a degree designation that was relatively new at the time, a Psy.D. or Doctor of Psychology, because the degree was intended to represent the program's focus on training practitioners. Over time, changes have occurred, outside of the Consortium, in the nature and function of the Psy.D. degree. Although early Psy.D. programs had generally small to moderate class sizes (like Ph.D. programs) and were based at universities, currently many Psy.D. programs are housed at professional schools, which lack the broader and richer academic environment provided by a university. As a clinical doctoral program that is small, university-based, and has a significant research component, Old Dominion's program has become increasingly different from most other Psy.D. programs and more similar to Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology that offer a curriculum that equally emphasizes clinical and research training."

In other action, the board, upon the recommendation of the Academic and Research Advancement Committee, approved the appointment of Steven Pascal as professor with the award of tenure in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The board also approved 18 other faculty appointments, as well as a number of administrative position appointments, including:

• Amaka Agugua, assistant women's basketball coach and recruiting coordinator;

• Giovanna Genard, director of marketing and communications;

• Angela Luettel, senior associate director of admissions;

• Thomas McConnell, assistant women's basketball coach and academic progress coordinator;

• Lanay Newsom, director of institutional equity and equal opportunity/affirmative action;

• Terrell Perry, assistant director for communication and learning technology and assistant professor with The Center for Educational Partnerships;

• John Richardson III, assistant men's basketball coach; and

• Johnny Young, associate vice president for student engagement and enrollment services.