News from around the VCCS
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Chancellor’s Statewide Syllabus with logo
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
In this issue:
• Big changes are coming to the way students are enrolled in Virginia’s Community Colleges
• Pot may be legal in Virginia now, but federal laws still mandate no drugs on VCCS property
• Leaders at Reynolds and VCU team up to push for transfer reforms
• BRCC is spotlighted in a feature story about expanding Workforce Pell
• Times-Dispatch salutes state grants that make FastForward possible
• NOVA prof. Jill Biden attends to academic duties during hectic travel schedule as first lady
• TCC offers the state’s first degree program for funeral directors
• RCC pays tribute to workforce leader who died at age 54
• Other higher-ed news of note
• VCCS events calendar link
Imagine you’re standing at your favorite food truck. You can smell the aroma, can’t wait to explore the menu, and you know other happy customers. But the vendor announces, “Sorry, most of you will have to come back tomorrow, and even then, most won’t be served.”
Now you know the frustration faced by so many applicants to Virginia’s Community Colleges. Two out of three applicants at our open-enrollment colleges don’t actually get in, and those who succeed often spend weeks in a frustrating enrollment process.
That, in a nutshell, is why we’re embarked on a mission to create a simpler, more standardized enrollment process that will benefit students, and our institutional success.
(https://www.vccs.edu/blog/virginias-community-colleges-move-toward-a-simpler-more-standardized-enrollment-process-to-boost-student-and-institutional-success/)
There’s been a lot of news coverage in recent weeks about Virginia’s new law that legalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana. But it’s still illegal to use pot in public. And under federal laws, marijuana will continue to be prohibited on VCCS campuses.
https://www.vccs.edu/blog/new-state-law-will-not-affect-ban-on-possessing-or-using-marijuana-at-virginias-community-colleges/)
“Just as the pandemic accelerated and exposed many disparities in society, it also magnified problems of access and equity in higher education. The good news: We have seen that solutions are within reach, and all of us have an opportunity to improve economic and cultural prosperity across Virginia.”
Reynolds Community College President Paula Pando and VCU President Michael Rao teamed-up to make the case for continued reforms to a system that still places confusing and cumbersome burdens on students who want to transfer to senior institutions.
(https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/michael-rao-and-paula-p-pando-column-counting-on-community-college-transfers-to-shape-the/article_ef2b01dd-4067-5620-bbcc-c244b4b70f01.html)
“Workers displaced by the pandemic, for instance, ‘have a hard time envisioning themselves going to college for two years to get an associate’s degree,’ said BRCC President John Downey. ‘They don’t have two years of their life to set aside.’ Shorter-term programs can offer a much shorter on-ramp and still deliver results. Blue Ridge Community College is the primary setting for a feature length article about the status of federal legislation to extend Pell Grants to students in workforce training programs.
Pell Grants Should Cover Good Short-Term Worker Training Programs
“Five years from now, we hope to see more enrollments, more completed training and credentials, and more policies that remove barriers for the students who are ready to take on careers in high-demand, skilled jobs — and the businesses that are ready and willing to hire them.”
Five years into FastForward workforce training programs at Virginia’s Community Colleges, the Richmond Times-Dispatch looks at the their successes, and the success of the Workforce Credential Grants that fund FastForward.
(https://richmond.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-in-a-public-health-crisis-virginia-s-new-economy-workforce-credential-grant-program-is/article_9e2cc83c-cc68-59a1-a82d-d641a8444f41.html?fbclid=IwAR28_0o1HcAzJ91A23Xe2bjaPd1W506Xl4fv47p0QSv_iRzwfH3g8xs14U0)
As first lady, NOVA English professor Jill Biden has maintained a hectic travel schedule, but media reports indicate she always made time to attend to her teaching duties. The Associated Press (https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-jill-biden-coronavirus-pandemic-sports-baseball-92fc409d69e0103596bf0a47c42dd260) covered Dr. Biden’s recent swing through Dallas, Houston and Phoenix to promote COVID-19 vaccinations: “Along the way, she continued the juggling act that comes with being the first first lady to continue the career she had outside the White House. In Texas, she set aside an hour to Zoom into a book club meeting back in Virginia with women at the community college where she teaches English.”
Meanwhile, in its recent a cover story, Vogue Magazine (https://www.vogue.com/article/first-lady-dr-jill-biden-profile) recounts a White House conversation with Dr. Biden in May, as the spring semester ended: She already misses her students, who were, for whatever reason, mostly men this semester. “Maybe two months ago they said, ‘Hey, Dr. B…. Can we ask you a question?’ I said yeah. They said, ‘When we write in our journals, can we curse?’ I said, ‘Yes, you can curse.’ Because I tell them they can write anything.”
Tidewater Community College will offer the first program of its kind in Virginia to train funeral home operators. The nationally accredited associate degree program will be offered online, starting in the fall semester.
The new program came about after Virginia lawmakers approved separate licenses for funeral directors and embalmers. In the new program, “students will gain insights into funeral home operations and management while learning to provide care for grieving families,” said Joseph “Frank” Walton (seen above), the head of TCC’s funeral training program.
https://news.tcc.edu/tcc-to-offer-first-funeral-directing-degree-in-virginia/
“I am so shocked and saddened by Jason’s passing. He was such a happy, fun person that was always positive and inspiring.”
“He was very caring. He had integrity and character. He was genuine.” Those are just a couple of the tributes posted to the Rappahannock Community College website in memory of RCC’s VP of Learning, Jason Perry. Perry died in June at age of 54. Dr. Perry was a longtime educator in the Fredericksburg area and on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula.
https://www.rappahannock.edu/jperry
Other Higher Ed News of Note:
• A new study of higher ed funding in Virginia is focused on fairness and equity, and may recommend changes to benefit colleges with more part-time students. –VPM (https://vpm.org/news/articles/23565/virginia-studying-higher-ed-funding-for-equity-fairness)
• Some college students are already challenging rules forbidding the possession and use of marijuana on Virginia college campuses. –Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/30/virginia-colleges-marijuana-legalization-debate/)
• Yale experiments with anonymous job applications in effort to combat bias and boost diversity in hiring. –Chronicle of Higher Education (https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/race-on-campus/2021-07-13) (free signup required)
• A conservative group is asking a court to temporarily prohibit Virginia Tech from enforcing some of its policies against harassment and discrimination. –Associated Press (https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/conservative-group-asks-judge-to-halt-virginia-techs-anti-bias-policies/article_6339c609-e03e-5de3-8876-7807dc497e49.html)
• A pair of surveys indicates U.S. high school students are changing their college plans, opting to study closer to home and inexpensively. –Inside Higher Ed (https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/06/23/stress-coronavirus-changed-plans-high-school-students)
• President Biden’s recent congressional spending proposals have not included college debt relief, but the idea is not necessarily totally off the table. -Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2021/07/05/yes-student-loan-cancellation-is-still-on-the-table—key-details/?sh=1e62493363dc&fbclid=IwAR2UKSjO27KyxmyT5cb6qPuAzAfU3u6doxBxW2kxJ93cHmmkIF5CNdGRF0o)
• The federal government will have to step up to help community colleges offer comprehensive student support programs, experts say — and the Community College Student Success Act provides a way for Congress to do so. –Inside HigherEd (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/07/08/bill-provide-community-college-students-support-services-may-have-new-path-forward?fbclid=IwAR3Ki3BDGTgIgZjsZRC2Tg8rztd_MOOTnIcAMIPBDXaDfMFLgf7n7uPKQ2Y#.YOb2niSy4zg.twitter)
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
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