Editor’s note: VCCS Chancellor David Doré’s keynote speech at the 2023 Chancellor’s Retreat was recorded and is available to view online. Full transcripts of Doré’s keynote and wrap-up speeches also are posted on the vccs.edu website.
The 2023 Chancellor’s Retreat was held at the Hotel Roanoke August 8-9.
VCCS Chancellor David Doré has outlined plans for Virginia’s Community Colleges to educate more students from high school through adulthood to meet the needs of the commonwealth’s people and employers. Dr. Doré, who came on board as the system’s new leader in April, described an ambitious vision for the VCCS during the Chancellor’s Retreat in Roanoke earlier this month. Doré called for “a transformation” to strengthen programs, increase collaboration with businesses and institutions across the education sector, and improve service delivery through better alignment with regional economic needs.
“I truly believe that the future wellbeing of the people of the commonwealth of Virginia will in large part depend on those of you in this room who will lead our colleges into the future,” Doré told about 250 community college faculty and administrative leaders gathered in Roanoke August 8-9.
VCCS Chancellor David Doré
Doré argued that institutions are in danger if they fail to keep up with the technological and demographic forces sweeping the globe. Doré’s vision continues the VCCS commitment to transfer-bound students but would refocus the system’s efforts toward recruiting from and serving the needs of the 3.2 million Virginia adults who face limited job prospects because they lack post-high school credentials. Doré says the community colleges need to focus on the “new majority of learners” that includes adult learners, veterans or military-affiliated, working Virginians who may have some college experience but no higher ed credential or degree, and working parents.
“This new recruitment strategy also requires us to shift our model of service delivery to be student-focused instead of institution-focused and align instruction to the places, times and formats that fit students’ busy lives,” said Dr. Doré. “We must remove as many barriers to entry as possible, including those we may have created.”
In addition to increasing opportunities for on-demand, anytime learning, the Chancellor embraced greater use of pay-for-performance programs and called for expansion of successful VCCS programs like FastForward and G3, and for scaling-up online learning enrollments by 8,000 annually by 2030.
The Chancellor has worked closely with our 23 community college presidents and their teams to develop these initiatives – – – the teams that will deliver. Community colleges are already coordinating workforce training offerings to meet needs of business and industry regionally based on the “Go Virginia” regions.
Also, Doré stated the community colleges had a goal of launching 10 new lab schools by 2027 and would continue to work towards blurring the lines with K-12 systems across Virginia to have high schoolers graduate with an associate degree or a meaningful post-secondary credential.
This year’s Chancellor’s Retreat was built around the theme “This is Our Time,” and Dr. Doré made it clear in his wrap-up speech that
ambitious goals and changes at Virginia’s community colleges cannot be achieved without substantial additional resources from the state.
Doré noted the Virginia Community College System remains the least-funded of all Virginia public institutions of higher education, receiving less than 57 cents for every dollar that goes to support a full-time equivalent student at a public Virginia university.
“We will not be best-in-class without significant and strategic financial investment,” said Doré. “At current funding levels, we will never break through the job and skills gap barriers we face in the Commonwealth – we need bold and decisive changes and significant investments in our colleges, our infrastructure, and our people.”
“Virginia’s Community Colleges are better positioned than any other network to lead the Commonwealth, to address these challenges head on, close these gaps and develop the pipeline that leads to the best workforce in the nation,” said Doré. “Our strategic priorities are not just a blueprint; they are the embodiment of a brighter future for our students, our communities, and our Commonwealth.”
You can view the program from this year’s Chancellor’s Retreat.
Also, you can view and download photos from the Chancellor’s retreat.
