NEWS FROM AROUND THE VCCS
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A text-only version can be accessed online (http://www.vccs.edu/statewide-syllabus/) .
[Chancellor’s Statewide Syllabus with logo]
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 , 2020
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Continued huge response to REV Grants, and some touching personal stories from potential applicants
• John Tyler CC task force recommends name changes, Patrick Henry CC seeks community feedback
• US Navy enlists VCCS in its new community college project
• Northern Virginia CC receives $1 million grant to boost programs for students of color
• Latest clips in the ongoing national “Jill Biden Watch”
• Anti-maskers causing you trouble? Help is available.
• Yes, 2020 has been a train wreck of a year, but here are a few things to be thankful for: food drives for hungry students at SWCC and ESCC; CVCC students who helped to build a house; a homeless GCC grad who walked hundreds of miles to raise money for the homeless; students from DSLCC, PHCC and LFCC who lent their talents to a statewide college recruitment video.
• Other higher-ed news of note
• VCCS events calendar link
Virginians continue to turn in large numbers to Virginia’s Community Colleges for job training that could help them recover from the economic damage caused by Covid-19.
When the governor announced grants of up to $3,000 to pay for community college job training for Virginians who lost their livelihoods to the pandemic, he set a strict deadline for applicants to be enrolled: end of day December 14.
That means the finish line is a little less than three weeks away, and our navigators, coaches, and admission advisors are working overtime.
(https://www.vccs.edu/blog/rev-grants-the-huge-public-response-is-sobering-and-some-of-the-stories-behind-the-numbers-are-heart-wrenching/)
We have a couple of updates from Virginia Community Colleges that are considering name changes to better reflect their institutional commitment to success for all students.
A broadly representative task force at John Tyler CC is recommending the college change its name (https://www.jtcc.edu/commitment) , and the names on several campus buildings and streets. Tyler (above right) was a slave holder and a supporter of the Confederate cause. Meanwhile, Patrick Henry CC is seeking public opinion (https://www.wdbj7.com/2020/11/16/patrick-henry-community-college-looking-for-feedback-on-name-review/) as it considers whether to retain its current name. Henry (above left) also was a slave holder.
Last July, the VCCS State Board directed colleges to review the appropriateness of the names that are celebrated on our campuses and facilities, asking for reports back in time for the board meeting in March 2021.
(https://www.vccs.edu/blog/vccs-state-board-its-time-to-reexamine-the-names-of-our-colleges-campuses-and-facilities/)
Virginia’s Community Colleges are entering into a partnership to help enlisted naval service members access relevant education to make them better warfighters, improve operational readiness, and support lifelong learning. VCCS is a founding partner in the newly created U.S. Naval Community College program.
Students in the pilot program in the upcoming spring 2021 semester will be enrolled in cybersecurity courses at Northern Virginia Community College, with additional colleges involved as the program develops.
(https://www.vccs.edu/news/virginias-community-colleges-enlisted-in-u-s-naval-community-college-partnership/)
Bank of America is donating $1 million to Northern Virginia Community College as part of the bank’s $25 million national initiative to help students of color complete the education and training necessary to enter the workforce and embark on a path to success. NOVA is the only Virginia college or university to receive the funding.
“NOVA is committed to ensuring that every student achieves and every community prospers, and with this investment, we will connect even more students to in-demand workforce pathways that lead to meaningful, sustaining careers,” said NOVA President Anne Kress.
(https://www.nvcc.edu/news/press-releases/2020/BoA-jobs-initiative.html)
Arguably the most famous faculty member at Virginia’s Community Colleges, Jill Biden, prof. of English at Northern Virginia Community College and First Lady-to-be, understandably continues to be the object of substantial attention and speculation from national news organizations. Here’s a new batch of clips:
• Jill Biden took a break from teaching English at NOVA to help her husband campaign for president, but she has told several news organizations she intended to return to a full-time load in the spring 2021 semester, and noted she has been trained and certified for online teaching. Vogue Magazine (https://www.vogue.com/article/dr-jill-biden-interview-back-to-school)
• Academic courses like English at VCCS colleges will continue to be conducted online in the spring 2021 semester, but under normal circumstances, the Secret Service would likely vet Biden’s students, faculty and staff who have access to her classroom building, install metal detectors at entrances and have a guard posted around the clock. -CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jill-biden-first-lady-teaching/)
• “Having Jill Biden as first lady ensures the administration won’t lose sight of the importance of community colleges and the need to ensure that they’re affordable and adequately funded.” -Politico (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/12/jill-biden-first-lady-professor-436363)
• Jill Biden is fluent in discussions about student success, in no small part because she devoted her 2006 doctoral thesis to the subject. And her advice probably will sound familiar: better advising, faculty mentoring, mental health services, better student pathways -Chronicle of Higher Education (https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-do-you-retain-community-college-students-jill-biden-has-a-dissertation-for-that?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1725288_nl_Academe-Today_date_20201117&cid=at&source=&sourceId=) (free registration required)
Here’s a sign of the times: ODU is offering a free online workshop for college managers and supervisors who may need to de-escalate arguments when engaging with people who refuse to wear face masks during the pandemic. Leading the session: Dr. George Noell, is a professor of psychology and department chair at Old Dominion University. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, a member of the Society for the Study of School Psychology, a licensed psychologist, and a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. The workshop is open to VCCS personnel, and will be conducted at 3p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 3.
(https://odu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkdemtqD0pHNfjE5kdzH_rMVUpP2qHDmK-/)
Undeterred by the Covid-19 pandemic, at least two of our colleges managed to find ways to reach out to help students in need this Thanksgiving season. Southwest Virginia CC prepared holiday meal kits for more than fifty student families, each kit providing the makings for a full Thanksgiving dinner for four. The kits were distributed during in a drive-by event (https://sw.edu/news/2020/11/19/thanksgiving-meals-to-go-for-southwest-students/?utm_campaign=Press-Release&utm_medium=email&utm_source=VCCS) . Meanwhile, Eastern Shore’s student government association and foundation partnered with a local Food Lion supermarket to assemble kits (https://es.vccs.edu/news/food-lion-supporting-escc-students/?fbclid=IwAR1r7wUQfhBWee_qIlcY_NfnheXMf6UsxOi1B8SwuqCvldfXu5p9DzPC7pE) containing non-perishable foods, cleaning supplies and paper products to help keep twenty families fed and safe during the holiday.
TALK ABOUT YOUR HAPPY ENDINGS! In September 2019, we told you about the Central Virginia Community College students who got a first-hand lesson in compassion and community involvement by framing-in a Habitat for Humanity house right on the CVCC campus (https://www.wsls.com/news/2019/09/14/more-than-100-college-students-help-build-habitat-for-humanity-house/) .
The home was for longtime Lynchburg health care worker Florence Coles, who put months of “sweat equity” into the construction project. Her new home was completed and dedicated recently, and Habitat announced that an anonymous local donor had given $60,000 to help fund the project.
(https://wset.com/news/local/anonymous-volunteer-donates-60000-to-sponsor-house-for-next-habitat-homebuyer)
Editor’s admission: we’ve been holding on to this story for awhile. Thanksgiving week seems the perfect time to share it.
Homeless since graduating high school, Gordon Wayne worked long shifts at Kings Dominion and delivered pizza until he had enough money to buy a car. That’s where he lived when he attended Germanna Community College, making A’s on the way to his Associate Degree and a full-ride scholarship to transfer to Boston College.
He was offered a free flight to Boston. But he decided to walk the 550 miles to raise money for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Wayne’s GoFundMe account (https://www.gofundme.com/f/wu2vh-a-cause-i-care-about-needs-help?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link) is closing in on raising $170,000. It’s no surprise that ABC News chose Gordon Wayne to be its Person of the Week (https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/homeless-student-finishes-500-mile-walk-raise-funds-73796658) in late October.
(https://starexponent.com/news/once-homeless-germanna-grad-treks-from-virginia-to-boston-to-help-others/article_7b101f4a-d1dd-5c64-a176-789a0441f197.html)
Thanks, and kudos, to Kathryn Burgess of Dabney Lancaster, Christian Hull of Patrick Henry, and Jasmine Edwards of Lord Fairfax Community College. The trio lent their on-camera talents to a State Council of Higher Education video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZJx6iSFcEY&feature=youtu.be) project promoting college admissions statewide. SCHEV’S 123Go! Project coincided with the launch of Virginia College Application Week, November 16-20, designed to support under-resourced Virginia high schools in helping seniors to apply to at least one institution of higher learning.
(https://schev.edu/index/institutional/k12-college-access/123go!/virginia-college-application-week)
OTHER HIGHER ED NEWS OF NOTE:
• As students head home from residential colleges for the holidays, the big question: are they taking home Covid-19? -Times-Dispatch (https://richmond.com/news/local/education/college-students-are-going-home-are-they-taking-the-coronavirus-with-them/article_dbd3433f-9c6e-5a0c-8fce-95bb31a646f3.html)
• Political pressure is mounting for president-elect Joe Biden to use executive authority to cancel federal student debt as a form of economic stimulus, a proposal that is exposing sharp divisions among economists, consumer activists and policy wonks. –Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/11/18/student-debt-cancellation-biden/)
• Eleven reasons why the next Education Secretary should come from a community college –Inside Higher Education (https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/11-reasons-why-next-education-secretary-should-come-community-college)
• Community Colleges must step up their connection and engagement with students if they want to avoid permanent and serious damage from relying mainly on virtual instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic. -Community College Daily (https://www.ccdaily.com/2020/11/a-strategy-to-ensure-equity-retention-amid-covid/?fbclid=IwAR2WBY6COMCYBgknn4x4uHtj8RNeXYl1yulUQ0nIscLx0yHYmEC8q-Uh4QM)
• Community colleges experienced an 8.3% decline in international students in 2019-20, and higher education advocates expect even bigger declines for the current academic year due to the global pandemic and political and social unrest in the U.S. –Community College Daily (https://www.ccdaily.com/2020/11/a-huge-drop-in-international-students/)
• Paul Ewell says he apologized profusely and asked for forgiveness, but a social media posting has cost him his job as professor and dean at Virginia Wesleyan University. On his personal Facebook page, Ewell had called supporters of president-elect Joe Biden “ignorant, anti-American and anti-Christian,” touching off an uproar at the eastern Virginia private liberal arts college. –Associated Press (https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/university-dean-resigns-over-statements-about-biden-voters/article_3498a002-84c8-5766-8eae-ea9e4fc4140c.html#utm_source=richmond.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fdaily-headlines&utm_medium=PostUp&utm_content=990f05004290162e00384520a8dcf02f4fda9f7)
• And finally, a cause we can all get behind: saving Northern Neck Ginger Ale! -Free Lance Star (https://fredericksburg.com/news/local/lifelong-fan-of-northern-neck-ginger-ale-leading-the-charge-to-bring-it-back-from/article_9dbcc38b-917f-5e90-94aa-748d49c6d477.html)
To see the VCCS Events Calendar, clickhttps://www.vccs.edu/news-and-events/#event-calendar here (https://www.vccs.edu/news-and-events/#event-calendar) .https://www.vccs.edu/news-and-events/#event-calendar
With thanks to the sponsor of VCCS Special Events and Conferences
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