
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 15, 1990                   TAG: 9007150241
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

ODU PRESIDENT PLANS TO GO SLOW

James V. Koch, the new president of Old Dominion University, spent much of his first weeks in office reassuring staff, faculty, and the community that no major changes were in the works just yet.

"I plan to do a good deal of listening. I need some first-hand information. I plan to look before I leap. There will be no immediate decisions on large, important issues," he told a news conference a day after he took over July 1.

In a later interview with The Associated Press, Koch said that does not mean he doesn't have some strongly held beliefs as to where the university should be heading.

"In 10 years, I would hope we would been seen as a metropolitian university serving its geographic area so well that it is getting national recognition. . . . The challenge of the job is this is a university in the largest metropolitian area of the state with a burgeoning business and technological community," Koch said.

Koch came to Old Dominion from the University of Montana where he had been president since 1986. An economics professor, Koch taught one night a week at the school while president, and published several articles for professional journals.

His expertise in economics will come in handy at Old Dominion. Less than a week into the job Koch was faced with the task of returning money to the state because of budget shortfalls.

"Tight finances force you to set priorities. It helps us make decisions about who we are and what is important," he said.

What is important, Koch said, is academics. Athletics are important, but not at the expense of the rest of the school, he said.

"Universities don't exist because of intercollegiate athletic programs. . . . I don't think the tail should wag the dog. We are first and foremost an academic institution," he said.

The University of Montana had considerable success on the playing field during Koch's tenure producing championship Division I-AA football teams and women's basketball teams.

Koch said he believes in the student-athlete concept, and would like to see the NCAA cut both the length of seasons and the time demanded of athletes.

"In Division I football, 30 hours a week are demanded of a player. That makes it difficult for a player to live the normal life of a student," he said.

by CNB