THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060341
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 61 lines
Old Dominion University has won legislative approval to expand its distance-learning program outside Virginia and may begin beaming courses to other states this summer, ODU President James V. Koch said Monday.
The state Senate and House recently approved the expansion of ODU's Teletechnet program, providing it doesn't cost the state any more money, Koch said. He said he expected Gov. George F. Allen to sign the measure.
The move could greatly increase enrollment in the program and raise Old Dominion's profile across the country.
ODU's Teletechnet program now beams engineering technology, criminal justice and nursing classes live to about 2,000 students each semester at more than 30 sites, primarily community colleges, in Virginia, Koch said. He predicted a 25 percent increase in enrollment with the out-of-state expansion.
State officials have praised the program for expanding access to higher education to Virginians who don't live near a four-year school. The General Assembly last year approved about $13 million for a new Teletechnet building on campus. That should be built by the end of 1998, Koch said.
Koch said he didn't know which states would be linked, but ODU has been talking to schools in states including North Carolina and Indiana. He declined to identify the North Carolina colleges considering the program, but said they were four-year colleges.
ODU, he said, has also been talking to the U.S. Department of Defense to transmit courses to military bases across the nation.
``It's a good thing,'' Koch said, ``because it will give students a great deal of flexibility. If they start taking courses from ODU and transfer to San Diego, they can continue as Teletechnet students. They're not going to have to worry about finishing a degree program.''
Koch also said the expansion could be a moneymaker for ODU. ``Typically, we'd be aiming for a Teletechnet price that will cover all of the . . .cost, and we add something on. . . .There are no state resources that will be used. We're going to bill everything: time, space and transmission.''
He said he expected the charge for out-of-state Teletechnet students to be more than the current cost of $3,600 for a full-time course load for in-state Teletechnet students, but less than the $10,380 cost for out-of-state students on the Hampton Boulevard campus.
Old Dominion didn't receive legislative approval this year for another Teletechnet request - more than half a million dollars for a larger site in Northern Virginia to accommodate Teletechnet students.
But ODU, Koch said, may win another victory in Richmond.
The State Council of Higher Education last year recommended a $1.4 million cut in state aid to ODU because it didn't meet enrollment projections. Old Dominion officials argued that they should not be penalized because they were not far off the mark and because they get less state money than the other doctoral-granting universities.
Both houses in the General Assembly appear poised to approve the cut - but they have proposed offering additional ``equity'' money to Old Dominion. The House has proposed $1.8 million extra and the Senate $600,000, Koch said. ``It would appear that most of the $1.4 million would be covered,'' he said.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
James V. Koch says ODU's distance-learning enrollment may go up by
25 percent under the plan.