Old Dominion University

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Old Dominion University

Image:Odu seal.jpg

MottoPortal to New Worlds
Established 1930
School type Public university, Sea-grant
President Dr. Roseann Runte
Location Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Enrollment 14,209 undergraduate,
6,593 graduate
Faculty 591
Campus Urban
Sports teams Monarchs
Endowment
Website odu.edu

Old Dominion University (ODU) is a university located in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. ODU awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1956 and became an independent institution in 1962.

Old Dominion is ranked as a tier 4 public university by US News and World Report.


Contents

Maglev Project

In 1999 ODU agreed to work with American Maglev on a project to build a Maglev system[1] on its campus. The project was conceived as a test of the technology and spans less than a mile in length. Originally offered to several other institutes of higher learning, including Virginia Tech, all of these institutes rejected it due to concerns regarding the projected cost and safety of such a system. At least one of these concerns has proven true, as the $14 million originally slated towards this project has proven inadaquate, and the project has therefore frequently missed deadlines. The project began groundbreaking in 2001 and still awaits completion. The original lofty goal of connecting Hampton Roads with Washington, D.C. by the Jamestown 2007 celebrations looks unlikely to be reached at this point.

ODU Real Estate Foundation

University Village, a $55 million private, mixed-use development of the nonprofit ODU Real Estate Foundation provides modern apartment living for 1000 students on the eastern border of the campus. Various restaurants and businesses have opened up in University Village, which began in early 2005, and more retail, office, and apartment development is planned. In addition, negotiations were underway in the spring of 2005 for private development of a hotel and grocery store.

E-Learning

Old Dominion University is one of the largest providers of distance learning degree programs in the country via its TELETECHNET initiative. The University serves 4,000 students at 50 sites in Virginia, D.C., Arizona, Illinois, Washington and Georgia. Thanks to a partnership with the Virginia Community College System, no Virginian is more than 50 miles from an Old Dominion University site. More than 3,500 students have graduated from Old Dominion via distance learning, including Navy personnel who took classes while deployed around the world.

Athletics

Image:Odumonarchs.PNG
Old Dominion's fourteen athletic teams are known as the Monarchs and compete in the Colonial Athletic Association. Old Dominion University athletic teams have captured 28 team national championships and four individual titles. The school's best-known sports team is its women's basketball team, which is often nationally ranked and has won three national championships in 1979, 1980 and 1985. ODU athletic teams have won a further 29 national championships including 15 in men's and women's sailing and 9 in women's field hockey. Old Dominion’s nine national titles in field hockey are unprecedented in NCAA record books for most titles in that sport by the same school.

In 2001 ODU opened the Ted Constant Convocation Center for the 2001-2002 basketball season. "The Ted" has 7,319 fully cushioned seats, 16 luxury suites, and a state-of-the-art scoreboard. In addition to being used for home basketball games, the Constant Center hosts family-oriented events as well as concerts and lectures.

ODU has not had a football program since it was still a division of William and Mary, but on June 14, 2005, its Board of Visitors approved by a 14-0 vote the creation of a NCAA Division I-AA team. The team is expected to begin play in 2009.

Environmentally Friendly Intiatives

In 2004 ODU opened the brand new Engineering & Computational Sciences building, which is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified higher education building in Virginia. This building has met rigorous environmental standards with regards to energy and resource efficiency in its design, as set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Environmentally friendly aspects of the E&CS building design include water-efficient landscaping, construction from recycled or locally manfactured materials, louvers outside windows that allow the most sunlight into the building but block heat in the summer, and sensors that turn lights off when everyone has left a room.

Large plastic recycling bins for cans and plastic bottles are in central locations around campus. These were placed by a program is called Recycle NOW (Next to Our Waste) which featured WWII Recruiting poster style flyers posted around campus regarding recycling.

Beginning in Spring 2005 ODU offered for the first time the NewPAGE course, which stands for "New Portals to Appreciating our Global Environment." This innovative new course, which is required for all incoming freshman students, examines such topics as global climate change, sustainable development, and environmental justice, among many others. This course is very controversial among the university community, especially the student body, for several reasons. Critics of the class talk about scheduling conflicts due to the required 2,000 student lecture and a perceived liberal bias. Also, the course relies heavily upon computer technology because students are required to take an online quiz each week. These quizzes are often inaccessible, or other technical problems prohibit many students from completing these quizzes each week.

Student Organizations

Old Dominion University recognizes over 200 student organizations. There are student groups for students with similar majors, professional organizations, honor societies, religious organizations, minority students, and groups for students with common interests.

The Office of Student Activities and Leadership is in charge of matters relating to student activities on campus.


Notable Student Organizations

  • The Student Government Assocation is an advisory body to the university administrators on issues relating to the student body, and also manages university funding to student organizations. Adam Perry is the current Student Body President.
  • Monarch Maniacs is a student organization for students who are fans of ODU athletics. Benefits to Maniacs are reserved seating at ODU basketball games, priority registration for road trips to away games, and free giveaways at selected ODU athletic events each month.

Campus Ministries at ODU

ODU is nationally known for the strength of its campus ministries, which is co-ordinated by the University Chaplain's Association (UCA). The United Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Lutheran. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries also have a presence at ODU and are members of the UCA. Each of these churches have a campus ministry presence at ODU, as does Hillel, the Society for Jewish Students, and the Tidewater Islamic Center, which serves the Muslim community at ODU. The UCA and its constituent members are nationally recognized as one of the most effective campus ministry programs in the United States.

Campus Ministry Websites and Ministers

Colleges within ODU

External links


Image:ColonialAthleticAssociation 100.png
Colonial Athletic Association

Delaware | Drexel | George Mason | Georgia State | Hofstra
JMU | Northeastern | ODU | Towson | UNC-Wilmington | VCU | W&M

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