ODU supply chain/logistics school approved by SCHEV

Old Dominion University’s School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations was approved Wednesday by the state’s higher education council, and it’s set to start programming on Oct. 1, according to the university.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) OK’d the new school, which will support ODU’s Maritime Consortium, which was created in 2021 to expand the university’s maritime resources and support local maritime workforce and research needs for the military, defense, shipbuilding, port, commercial shipping and offshore wind industries.

ODU’s board approved the supply chain school in June 2022, pending SCHEV’s approval, and it builds on the university’s bachelor’s degree program in maritime and supply chain management through ODU’s Strome College of Business.

According to Wednesday’s announcement, the new school will offer graduate-level courses, convene a committee to develop a strategic plan for maritime and supply chain academic and research programming, create a structure for maritime and supply chain faculty in different departments to also work within the school, and develop and administer a seed fund to promote collaborative research. The school will collaborate with the Coastal Center for Cyber Innovation (which includes a focus on maritime cybersecurity), the Hampton Roads Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem, OpenSeas Technology Innovation Hub, the Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience, and the Spatial Analysis Interdisciplinary Laboratory, among other research centers.

ODU’s supply chain and logistics bachelor’s degree program is the only such degree offered in the nation east of the Mississippi River, the university says.

“The establishment of this school is another significant step forward in our efforts to be not just a regional leader, but a national and even a global trailblazer in this critical area,” ODU President Brian O. Hemphill said in a statement. “The school will prepare our students to enter the workforce ready to take on the jobs that are vital for our national defense and our regional economy.”

A search is underway for the inaugural director of the new school, according to the announcement. Mileta Tomovic, an ODU professor of engineering technology, is serving as the school’s interim director.

The new school will also offer certificates in maritime history, coastal engineering, supply chain management and spatial analysis of coastal environments, in addition to undergraduate majors in maritime trade, ocean and earth sciences, civil engineering and geography; and graduate programs in maritime trade and supply chain management, ocean and earth sciences, and environmental engineering.

“As an ODU alum, industry employer and someone who remains active with the university, I’m excited that graduates of the School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations will have the opportunity for an education both academic and practical born out of collaboration between the university and will launch their careers in the transportation industry with a world-class degree,” said Wayne Coleman, chairman of Norfolk-based CV International and chair of the school’s advisory board. “This one-of-a-kind school in Virginia is only the beginning of a brand that will propel ODU into the spotlight not only regionally but across the nation as the place to go for your education in supply chain, logistics and maritime operations.”

The school will be located in Innovation Research Park 1 on Monarch Way and housed under the Office of Academic Affairs, the university said.