August 2, 2012
Dear Colleague,
Many of you have contacted me regarding the recent announcement from EVMS and William and Mary. Questions have also been raised by alumni, current students and volunteers.
As I said when we were first made aware of this, any school has the right to choose its partner in any endeavor and we support these institutions in their right to explore the best future for themselves.
However, I believe that local media and other public commentators were unfair in their comparisons of Old Dominion and William and Mary, effectively pitting one institution against the other. The two schools are very different, yet each is excellent in its own identity.
Old Dominion University is not William and Mary, nor have we ever tried to be.
We unabashedly serve a multi-cultural student population ranging from first-year traditional freshmen to doctoral candidates, international students to online learners, active duty military to transfer students from a strong partnership with the Virginia Community College System.
We have outstanding faculty and staff. Old Dominion professors have garnered more SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Awards since 1991 than any other institution, except one. Our recent SACS accreditation visitors gave Old Dominion an outstanding reaffirmation with a commendation for our distance education. Moreover, we will be recognized nationally as a Great Place to Work for the second straight year because of your commitment to this institution.
We have research that is recognized globally and makes an impact locally. Modeling and simulation and bioelectrics, in both of which we are international leaders, are key to the economic development of Hampton Roads. Our comprehensive efforts in sea level rise monitoring and adaptation, the health of the Chesapeake Bay, community health, port and military studies and nuclear physics at Jefferson Lab show our commitment to leveraging our strengths for the betterment of the region and the commonwealth.
We offer innovative, engaging and relevant learning opportunities to our students, so they are well rounded and well equipped for future successes.
We have students who can, and do, stand with the best students in higher education, bar none. In a few short weeks, we will open the fall semester to more than 25,000 students. Some will come from as close as Maury High School, while others will travel from as far as China and India. Still more will be transfer students from across the state and across the country, while others will never step foot on the campus because of our pioneering use of technology.
They, like you, will become engaged in all sorts of efforts to improve the part of the world where we work and live.
Some will go on to become a Rhodes Scholar, a promising Harvard Medical School student with a full scholarship, or a gold medal winner in this summer's Olympic Games.
Colleagues, Old Dominion University is an outstanding institution because of you. What I've mentioned above doesn't come close to defining all we do, but it does express our overriding imperative: providing access to excellence.
With your continued dedication and hard work, we will continue on our collective journey to make Old Dominion University an even greater institution. Rest assured we will not stop in our efforts to secure the resources and support necessary to achieve our goals.
Sincerely,
John R. Broderick
President
Many of you have contacted me regarding the recent announcement from EVMS and William and Mary. Questions have also been raised by alumni, current students and volunteers.
As I said when we were first made aware of this, any school has the right to choose its partner in any endeavor and we support these institutions in their right to explore the best future for themselves.
However, I believe that local media and other public commentators were unfair in their comparisons of Old Dominion and William and Mary, effectively pitting one institution against the other. The two schools are very different, yet each is excellent in its own identity.
Old Dominion University is not William and Mary, nor have we ever tried to be.
We unabashedly serve a multi-cultural student population ranging from first-year traditional freshmen to doctoral candidates, international students to online learners, active duty military to transfer students from a strong partnership with the Virginia Community College System.
We have outstanding faculty and staff. Old Dominion professors have garnered more SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Awards since 1991 than any other institution, except one. Our recent SACS accreditation visitors gave Old Dominion an outstanding reaffirmation with a commendation for our distance education. Moreover, we will be recognized nationally as a Great Place to Work for the second straight year because of your commitment to this institution.
We have research that is recognized globally and makes an impact locally. Modeling and simulation and bioelectrics, in both of which we are international leaders, are key to the economic development of Hampton Roads. Our comprehensive efforts in sea level rise monitoring and adaptation, the health of the Chesapeake Bay, community health, port and military studies and nuclear physics at Jefferson Lab show our commitment to leveraging our strengths for the betterment of the region and the commonwealth.
We offer innovative, engaging and relevant learning opportunities to our students, so they are well rounded and well equipped for future successes.
We have students who can, and do, stand with the best students in higher education, bar none. In a few short weeks, we will open the fall semester to more than 25,000 students. Some will come from as close as Maury High School, while others will travel from as far as China and India. Still more will be transfer students from across the state and across the country, while others will never step foot on the campus because of our pioneering use of technology.
They, like you, will become engaged in all sorts of efforts to improve the part of the world where we work and live.
Some will go on to become a Rhodes Scholar, a promising Harvard Medical School student with a full scholarship, or a gold medal winner in this summer's Olympic Games.
Colleagues, Old Dominion University is an outstanding institution because of you. What I've mentioned above doesn't come close to defining all we do, but it does express our overriding imperative: providing access to excellence.
With your continued dedication and hard work, we will continue on our collective journey to make Old Dominion University an even greater institution. Rest assured we will not stop in our efforts to secure the resources and support necessary to achieve our goals.
Sincerely,
John R. Broderick
President