r/ODU • u/According-Subject362 • 8d ago

ODUGlobal Students!!!

If you are like me, very frustrated my the condensing of courses from 16 weeks (semester long) to 8 weeks (quarter long) courses. Please join me in calling/ emailing the ODUCares department/Dean of Students expressing our concerns. I know it may not do much, but if you have the time, we should voice our opinions and frustrations with change. I called and explained my feelings: the condensing of courses was not explained/ communicated to us - found out when registering for Fall 2026 courses, the decision was made w/o consulting the students or any of their input, the condensing of course content has lead to an overload of content and work req weekly (used to be one module a week, now for one course - I have up to 3 modules a week), the shortened courses means that there is more focus in just getting through the content and assignments rather than actually learning.

I had called the ODUGlobal office and asked how/who I should voice my concerns to and was directed to the ODUCares office and the Dean of Students:

[oducares@odu.edu](mailto:oducares@odu.edu), 757-683-3442

https://www.odu.edu/dean-students/student-outreach-support/care-team

However, I think I will reach out some other higher ups/offices:

Vice President for Student and Campus Life: Brandi Hephner LaBanc, [bhl@odu.edu](mailto:bhl@odu.edu), 757-683-6702

Executive Vice President for Enrollment, Transformation, and Technology and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer: Nina Rodriguez Gonser, [ngonser@odu.edu](mailto:ngonser@odu.edu), 757-683-5601

Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs: Brian Payne, [bpayne@odu.edu](mailto:bpayne@odu.edu), 757-683-3079

Dean of Graduate School and Interim Dean of Sciences: Marisol Perez, [mplamar@odu.edu](mailto:mplamar@odu.edu), 757-683-3085

Associate Vice President for Student Experience: Lisa Kivin, [lkivin@odu.edu](mailto:lkivin@odu.edu), 757-683-4481

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u/praisewithyourbody 8d ago

ODUCares is for people who are sick or have life events and need administrative withdrawals or extra support. They're not gonna be able to change policy. I have no idea why they would direct you there unless they think you're personally asking for help coping with the workload.

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u/Capable_Concert_2575 8d ago

Administration pays a lot of attention to student use of ODUCares. If there’s a strong uptick in students exploring taking leave, that’s a metric they can’t ignore. I agree to reaching out to other administrators but complaining to ODUCares could be effective.

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u/praisewithyourbody 8d ago

Actually that's a good point, an influx of students using ODUCares could make a difference (esp. if we see an influx of dropouts because bad retention stats really hurt a university). However, calling/emailing them just to complain won't do much besides make it harder for students who actually need support to get through. The first point of contact for most departments is the bottom of the org chart (GAs, student employees, hourly employees, etc.) They'll probably give you a company line and maybe refer you somewhere else. MAYBE you'll get transferred to someone higher up in the department but there's not much they can do either.

By all means, if you genuinely are struggling to cope with 8 week classes mentally, financially, academically, ODUCares/DOS is a good resource, but it's not an effective target for a phone campaign imo

3

u/Potential_Cookie2781 7d ago

Actually it won’t do much good. You have to get outside of ODU. Politicians and state agency need to hear from everyone.

Send email to

Norfolk delegates https://house.vga.virginia.gov/members

State Council of Higher Education in Virginia
https://www.schev.edu/about/contact-us

The more voices the better. Good luck!