Department of Biological Sciences Old Dominion University Retreat 27 March 2004

1. Department of Biological Sciences Old Dominion University Retreat 27 March 2004 State of the Department

2. The Numbers: Enrollment, Budget, Faculty Positions

3. Enrollments

8. Budget Commonwealth Funding

9. Budget 1999

10. Budget 2000

11. Budget 2001

12. Budget 2002

13. Budget 2003

14. Budget 2004

15. Budget Research Funding

16. Research Funding $2, 735, 350 2000 $2, 776, 030 2001 $2, 628, 967 2002 $2, 002, 453 2003 $984, 153 2004*

17. Research Funding Overhead Account Having a bare bones budget for operating the department, I have had to turn increasingly to our overhead account to pay for emergency repairs, computers, supplies, faculty and student travel, and other expenses. While keeping some reserve for emergencies, I intend to use as much of these monies as necessary to help faculty.

18. Research Funding Overhead Account Do we need to establish guidelines for the use of these monies? The only committed use of the funds is for publication and reprint costs. Do we want to designate a portion for large purchases?

19. Budget Summary Our budget has been static the past several years and will likely remain so unless it is decreased for additional state exigencies. We need to be articulate voices in the College of Sciences and the university as a whole, actively lobbying for any dollars we can obtain. In this regard we have been successful in obtaining additional funding for some course budgets.

20. Budget Changes Do we want to change some of our budget allocations? For example, do we want to reconsider the expenses of the transmission electron microscope and reallocate those funds to maintaining a larger sequencer? How should course budgets be determined?

21. Faculty Positions

22. Faculty Positions Lost--Rose position to budget cuts. Approved--Wolfinbarger (Stiffler) Approved--Slate (current search) Pending approval--Jones’ position.

23. Personal Goals as Department Chair Communication and work environment Resources Advocacy—working to obtain resources for our department; recognizing faculty and students for awards and promotion. Direction—building a consensus through clear communication and mutual confidence on where we should be moving as a department.

24. Personal Goals as Department Chair Communication-Our department has a wonderful diversity of research projects, teaching emphases, clientele, and--though limited--resources. To utilize strengths, clear and frequent communication is essential. In order to facilitate communication, the following have been initiated

25. Personal Goals as Department Chair Communication –Monthly faculty meetings with open invited agendas. –Weekly coffees. –Frequent meetings with classified and office staff. –Yearly department party. –Our annual holiday party has been continued.

26. Personal Goals as Department Chair Communication –Mentoring of new faculty. –Meeting with graduate students at least once or twice a semester. –Faculty input into budgetary matters.

27. Personal Goals as Department Chair Communication –Web presence

28. Personal Goals as Department Chair Communication –Web presence

29. Personal Goals as Department Chair Work Environment Work environment/public interface–I believe that the quality of our public space is a reflection on the quality of our operations. Some of the ways I am addressing this are:

30. Personal Goals as Department Chair Work Environment Remodeling front office. With the help of staff, we are working on improving the appearance and utility of our front office. Department directory. I have replaced the archaic directory in the foyer of MGB (it always reminded me of the directories I saw in medical buildings as a boy) with a poster which I plan to update each semester.

31. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources We are short on human, building, and financial resources.

32. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Financial resources -Virginia is in a fiscal crisis and there is little hope of any increased funding from the state. For this reason, it is essential that non-state sources of funds be identified and aggressively pursued.

33. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Private Endowments I have initiated several projects with private funds and am actively working on others, this work is in the “silent phase”. Successful projects to date include:

34. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial –J. Robert Stiffler Distinguished Professor of Horticulture and Botany. To date, approximately $1.05 million has been raised.

35. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Due to the small number of applicants, the search will be reopened with interviews scheduled for fall semester 2004. Two people will be hired temporarily for the fall semester. Diana Williams Kushan Tennakoon

36. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Private Endowments –Endowed Natural History Seminar Series. The inaugural lecture will be 15 April. To date, approximately $75 thousand has been raised. Once this series is established, I hope to begin a program for a Natural History Museum.

37. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Natural History Seminar Series

38. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Private Gifts Each year our department receives between 10-12 thousand dollars as part of the annual gift program. Several faculty and staff members have been generous givers to the department through this program. This fund is the ultimate “discretionary” account.

39. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Financial Private Gifts The chief use of these funds are for department activities which can not be funded from any other sources. In addition, our weekly seminars as well as some student travel are paid from this account.

40. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space

41. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Size of Mills Godwin Building 1981

42. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Size of Mills Godwin Building 2004

43. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Proposed New Building

44. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Proposed New Building

45. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Finding alternative space wherever we can--

46. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Space-If financial resources are a headache, space concerns are a nightmare. We have no more room in MGB and I will have to reallocate space soon to accommodate our new hire. This is a difficult task which I will pursue in accordance with College of Sciences guidelines.

47. Personal Goals as Department Chair Resources-Space Space-Not only research but also teaching faculty need space and I am committed to developing as much “new” space on the first floor as possible for teaching faculty. I will ask the department to develop guidelines for the assignment of space to emeritus faculty, both those active in research and those who do not maintain an active research program.

48. Department Objectives AY 2003-2004 1. Pursue lost positions. 2. Identify additional lab and office space in another building. 3. Determine if department wants to rename PhD in Ecological Sciences. 4. Revamp undergraduate curriculum.

49. Department Objectives AY 2003-2004 5. Increase communication within department. 6. Establish (or verify) research emphasis. 7. Try to address salary compression. 8. Promotion of associate professors.

50. Department Objectives AY 2003-2004 • Faculty productivity–balancing active researchers • teachers load. • 10. Produce a strategic plan.