ODU+EVMS=Wrong for now

My latest op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Wednesday. In it, I take a brief look at some of the implications of a merger between Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School, a study of which has been proposed by Del. Johnny Joannou in HJ173.

As an ODU alum, I would love to have a medical school as a part of the university. But from a practical standpoint, I just don’t see how it ever happens. Not only would it be cost-prohibitive, but I suspect there would be significant pushback from those in Virginia with long memories.

I’m still researching but it appears that the only way the “Norfolk Area Medical Center Authority,” the name of the entity that was created by a 1964 act of the General Assembly, ever came into being was that it would be private and not require state funds. If memory serves, that was part of the argument in 2008 when EVMS asked to be included in the higher education bond package for construction projects.

Right now, I’d like to see ODU get its fair share of state funding. As I outlined in an earlier article, ODU is not getting the funding that its peers are. That needs to change.

Full disclosure: I am currently an instructor of accounting at ODU.