Collegiate Times

When the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors raises the cost of tuition students notice. But what students often miss are the smaller changes enacted by the board.

On Monday, the board approved the naming of half a dozen new or renovated, smaller facilities to recognize financial contributions from individuals and companies.

?Basically the board, when it comes to naming buildings, has to approve the suggestion? as a part of the process for recognizing donors for their contributions, said university spokesman Mark Owczarski.

Starting this week, students taking classes in 636 Whittemore Hall will be studying in the ?Micron Technology Semiconductor Processing Laboratory? thanks to a $750,000 donation from the semiconductor manufacturer.
Two interview rooms in the Career Services Building will bear the name of Norfolk Southern Corporation after continued financial support from the transportation business, according to a university-wide statement.

Owczarski said corporate donations from large companies are not a new or unusual occurrence for places of higher learning, especially from businesses that recruit recent graduates, seek interns and benefit from research conducted at the university.

But corporate giants were not the only benefactors that the BOV recognized earlier this week. Two members of both the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund and the Ut Prosim Society ? John McConnell and Donald Anderson ? will have their names attached to a computer lab and a study hall room, respectively, in the newly-established Student Athlete Academic Support Services Department.

According to the statement, a private tutoring room in the same facility will be named the ?Quinton J. and Jacqueline L. Nottingham Room? to recognize a business professor as well as the director of admissions and academic progress for the Graduate School.

Although the BOV did not name some of the larger buildings with generic names ? such as New Residence Hall East ? Owczarski did say that the university was not holding back on the naming process.

?There?s so many opportunities to name things because, quite frankly, Virginia Tech is growing,? he said.