THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250691
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Old Dominion University's president said Thursday that his top budget priority this year will be to lobby the state for a substantial pay raise for faculty members to stop a ``brain drain'' that threatens to slow ODU's progress.
``The sine qua non for our future prosperity . . . is a talented, energetic faculty,'' James V. Koch told more than 400 sympathetic professors and staff members. ``We cannot continue to achieve at our current level if our faculty departs or slowly deteriorates.''
Five years ago, Koch said, ODU ranked in the top half of similar schools nationwide in faculty pay. Now it's in the bottom third. And ODU's average salary of $46,300, he said, ranks at least $3,000 behind the averages at other state schools with doctoral programs.
An ODU study released this summer found that more than two dozen professors had left for higher-paying jobs since last summer. At least 10 got five-digit raises at universities including Eastern Kentucky and Arizona State.
Koch said afterward that he'd like to ask Gov. George F. Allen for a 10 percent raise for faculty in the 1996-97 school year. He said he didn't know whether the governor, who unsuccessfully sought cuts in college aid this year, would go for it. But, Koch said, ``we have provided evidence that they (the low salaries) have made a difference.''
In his annual back-to-school speech to faculty, Koch also said the university might try to redistribute its own money next year to raise pay. But he said he didn't know how much it could provide.
Robert L. Ake, chairman of ODU's Faculty Senate, also drew attention to the issue during brief remarks. ``A raise of less than 1 percent a year for five years is not nearly enough to buy faculty silence - what do you think?'' he asked, drawing a burst of applause.
Koch focused mostly on achievements and goals to improve the university. Among the points he noted:
The university is inching closer to its 75-acre expansion east of Hampton Boulevard. If the state approves the plan this year, ODU could acquire land by January. Businesses could open in 1999, and the convocation center could be done by 2000. But he said progress will be slow because ODU lacks money.
ODU is revising its core curriculum to prepare students better for jobs as well as ``sensitize them to the moral and ethical dilemmas that confront us. . a living, but also how to live.''
More than 20 professors and staff members have won awards and national attention in the past year, including Helen Rountree, an anthropology professor who was named one of a dozen outstanding faculty members in the state. Lately, Koch said, she ``has had her hands full dealing with the media investigating the verisimilitude, or lack thereof, in Disney's movie version of `Pocahontas.' ''
But the morning was not just a pep talk. Ake, in his remarks, raised concerns about the declining quality of students at ODU.
Although average SAT scores have been rising, he said, students are performing worse than ever when they get to ODU. ``Do we have virtually an open admissions policy?'' he asked.
Koch said in an interview that he, too, was concerned that more students are on academic probation. ``I don't quibble with Bob's perception; he has pointed out an interesting contradiction,'' Koch said.
That, he said, might be attributable to grade inflation in public schools or a decline in student motivation. ``Maybe we're seeing something beyond our control, but maybe there are some things we can do here,'' Koch said. ILLUSTRATION: James V. Koch, president of Old Dominion University, addressed
faculty and staff members Thursday.
by CNB