The Old Dominion Board of Visitors is the university’s governing body, responsible for overseeing the university’s operations, establishing policy and procedure as well as fiduciary control of the university’s appropriations and expenditures.  In 1919, the College of William and Mary began offering extension courses in the Norfolk area to increase educational opportunities for adults who lived outside the commonwealth’s large university centers.  The governing body responsible for the supervision and management of instruction conducted in Norfolk during this period was the William and Mary Board of Visitors and William and Mary President J.A.C. Chandler.  As demand for classes steadily increased in the Norfolk area throughout the 1920s, an extension campus was established in 1930 known as the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary.  The Norfolk Division was under administrative jurisdiction of the William and Mary Board of Visitors, but received assistance from a local advisory committee composed of Norfolk business and civic leaders who advised on matters related to infrastructure development and capital improvement.  In 1947, Norfolk Division director Lewis Webb expanded the role of the advisory committee by encouraging liaison with the local community to understand how the school could meet the educational needs of the region.  William and Mary’s Board of Visitors relinquished administrative control of the school on July 2, 1962, when the Norfolk Division became independent of the parent school and the first meeting of the Board of Visitors of what was soon to be named Old Dominion College took place.  The current Board of Visitors at Old Dominion University is a 17 member panel, appointed to a four year term by the Governor, responsible for executing all duties related to the university as outlined in the Code of Virginia.  The board may delegate its authority to the University President for matters concerning day to day operations, but retains total authority and responsibility for executing its duties according to Virginia law.

Note written by Special Collections Staff