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News from around the VCCS
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A text-only version can be accessed online.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2021
In this issue:
• VCCS State Board allows colleges to provide mental health services, with conditions
• Call it “Virginia Peninsula Community College”, not Thomas Nelson
• VCCS joins campaign to create career pathways for adults of color
• Rankings from national organizations spotlight our colleges
• Transfer student success stories
• System’s facilities chief raises awareness of prostate cancer
• DCC to host Covid-19 info session and vaccination clinic
• Annual Charity campaign for state workers launches today
• GCC Police Chief honored
• LFCC (Laurel Ridge) celebrates new digs in Luray
• The significance of Dr. Jill Biden’s return to NOVA classroom
• TCC remembers instructor who gave students a second chance
• Other higher-ed news of note
• VCCS events calendar link
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Virginia’s Community Colleges will be permitted to contract with third party providers to offer mental health services to students. The VCCS State Board adopted the policy change at its meeting September 23. There are important limitations in the revised policy.
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“We have learned many valuable lessons during this process. We now look to the future — making Virginia Peninsula Community College the higher education institution of choice and supporting the vitality of the area.” Dr. Towuanna Porter Brannon, president of the institution formerly known as Thomas Nelson Community College, promoted VPCC’s new identity in a newspaper op-ed over the weekend. The VCCS State Board approved Virginia Peninsula as the new name for Thomas Nelson last week.
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Consistent with Opportunity 2027, our new system-wide strategic plan focused on eliminating equity gaps, Virginia’s Community Colleges are joining in the Racial Equity for Adult Credentials in Higher Education (REACH) Collaborative, a national initiative of the Lumina Foundation. With funding and support from the foundation, our colleges will create pathways leading to quality short-term career credentials for Black, Latinx and Native American learners aged 25-64. Community colleges participating in the collaborative will develop between four and eight academic pathways that align with in-demand career fields. Six states will receive Lumina funding for the project. Virginia’s Community Colleges were selected “for their efforts to serve and support adult learners and demonstrated commitment to equitable student success”
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Two of Virginia’s Community Colleges were recognized in this year’s Great Colleges to Work For program. The assessments were based on surveys completed by almost 35,000 faculty and staff members at institutions across the country. This is the 14th year of the program, which was launched to spotlight colleges that have created great workplaces.
“The Covid-19 Pandemic has only served to bring our college community closer and make us stronger in our resolve to serve students,” said Southside Virginia Community College President Quentin Johnson. “Together, faculty, staff, and students exude a strong sense of pride in all that we do as a community!”
Blue Ridge Community College President John Downey said, “In every aspect of our interactions with the public, through the programs, courses and services we offer, our faculty and staff understand that the impact of their work results in greater opportunities for each and every person they encounter.”
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Congratulations to our colleges who scored spots on a pair of national rankings of institutions who have policies and practices considered friendly to military and veteran personnel. Military Times Magazine listed Mountain Empire, Southwest Virginia, Thomas Nelson and Tidewater Community Colleges.
MilitaryFriendly.com recognized Central Virginia, Germanna, Lord Fairfax, Mountain Empire, Northern Virginia, Piedmont, Southwest Virginia, Tidewater, and Wytheville Community Colleges.
Southwest Virginia, Mountain Empire and Tidewater made both lists.
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Kudos to Piedmont Virginia Community College for being recognized as a college that goes the extra mile to encourage students to take an active role in American democracy. PVCC is the only Virginia community college to be included in Washington Monthly Magazine’s 2021 honor roll of American colleges that promote student voting. To make the list, the magazine says schools need to have shown a repeated commitment to increasing student voting—and have been transparent about the results.
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Piedmont Virginia Community College says its first cohort of “Piedmont Scholars” has transferred to UVA and its members have received scholarships covering full in-state tuition and fees. The University of Virginia announced the Piedmont Scholars Program in March. Made possible because of an endowed and matched fund, this scholarship program will enable a broader, more diverse pool of PVCC students to earn bachelor’s degrees from the University. “I salute these 10 outstanding students who comprise the inaugural class of Piedmont Scholars,” said PVCC President Frank Friedman. “For hundreds of students each year the pathway to a UVA degree begins at PVCC.” PVCC’s partnership with UVA dates to the 1980s.
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“Being in the Pathways Program has made the whole application process a lot easier for me.” With help from more than a year of workshops, events and focused coaching, two dozen humanities and arts graduates from John Tyler (soon to be Brightpoint) and Reynolds Community Colleges made the jump this fall to Virginia Commonwealth University. The students were participants in the Pathways Program, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which seeks to boost student success in navigating the sometimes tricky waters of college transfer.
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“I was completely blindsided when I got my diagnosis because I didn't even know what prostate cancer was. And these days I still just can’t understand why men don’t talk more openly about health issues.” VCCS facilities management chief Bert Jones is doing his part to change attitudes and boost public awareness of an illness that affects one in eight American men. Jones, seen above directing traffic, enlisted Richmond area golf enthusiasts last week to help raise money for his campaign to promote education, treatment and survivorship of prostate cancer.
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“We have a responsibility to educate beyond the classroom,” said Dr. Muriel Mickles, interim president of Danville Community College. DCC is teaming with state and local health officials to put on a Covid-19 information session and vaccination clinic next week. To entice the reluctant, there will be door prizes, and a local limousine service is even offering free rides for the October 7 event.
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The 2021 Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC) kicks off today (Sept. 28). CVC is the officially sanctioned, non-profit, fundraising program used by more than 120,000 state employees. Since CVC was organized in 1997, state employees have donated more than $50 million to the combined campaign to support more than 900 different charities across the commonwealth. You can support the collective fund, or earmark your donation for your favorite charity. (The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education is one of the participating organizations.)
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Germanna Community College Chief Craig Branch has been hailed as a “champion” for Virginia police during difficult time for law enforcement. Branch was honored by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police for his “steadfast dedication to the profession” during the association’s annual conference in late August. “Craig’s one goal in his lengthy career of public service has been to advance professionalism in Virginia policing,” said association president Maggie DeBoard. “He does so in a quiet fashion that is characteristic of his humility and selflessness.” Branch has more than 25 years in law enforcement; he has led GCC’s police department for ten years.
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Lord Fairfax (soon to be Laurel Ridge) Community College celebrated the grand opening of a new permanent facility in Luray this month, providing classroom, science and health labs, a trades lab and meeting spaces for people in the Page County area. The 13,000 square-foot Jenkins Hall replaces older space the college had occupied in Luray for the past 15 years. Named for the family that donated the land, the $7.5 million facility had a limited opening in January, due to the pandemic. The formal opening September 10 brought out a crowd of about 200 dignitaries and community members. “Community is in our name for a reason, and our commitment to our students and our communities is stronger than ever,” said college president Kim Blosser.
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Prof. Jill Biden’s decision to return to the classroom at Northern Virginia Community College this fall is being watched closely by educators across the country. “Her returning to the classroom means that we’re in recovery mode and community colleges will be able to bounce back after a difficult year,” said Claudia Schrader, president of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY. She believes Biden’s presence in the national spotlight could inspire more high school students to consider two-year institutions as an option and perhaps reach students who hadn’t considered college at all. Others hope Dr. Biden’s visibility and stature will help promote congressional action to provide funding for free community college nationwide.
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“Some of my students had trouble with the law and had priors or were in jail. They could come to TCC and complete the trucking program and eventually earn a good living if they worked hard. I felt I could connect with them and help change their lives.” Tidewater Community College is remembering Tom Riffe, a CDL instructor who was most proud of helping students get a second chance.
Riffe brought decades of experience in trucking to TCC and had helped to maintain the college’s fleet of trucks. He lost his battle with cancer in July. TCC shared the photo above of Riffe with his grandson, Mason.
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Virginia’s Community Colleges were well-represented during the recent investiture of Norfolk State University president Javaune Adams-Gaston. Dr. Adams-Gaston (above, left) took the helm at NSU in September 2019, but the formal ceremonies occurred earlier this month. Turning out for the investiture ceremony Sept. 16 were (above, right) Southside Virginia VP Daryl Minus, Paul D. Camp Interim President Corey McCray, Northern Virginia President Anne Kress, Reynolds VP Terricita Sass, Tidewater President Marcia Conston, and Germanna President Janet Gullickson. Also present but not pictured, Thomas Nelson President Porter Brannon, and Piedmont Virginia nursing professor Charemon Brooks.
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Other Higher Ed News of Note:
• College and university leaders are taking steps to counter the sharp decline in enrollment among Black men during the pandemic. -Inside Higher Ed
• A pair of recent newspaper editorials spotlighted the role of community colleges in preparing workers for the jobs of the future. “The commonwealth’s plan for a cleaner future won’t happen without developing a new generation of talent.” -Richmond Times Dispatch (limited free access)
• “President Biden is rallying Democrats with a call for free community college, but what most proponents of the measure have in mind is traditional academic instruction leading to a degree or other academic credential. What’s needed most at the federal level is reform to make Pell Grants and student loans available to noncredit learners.” -Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
• President Biden’s proposal for free community college is evolving (and shrinking) in the halls of congress. -NPR
• A largely unreported aspect of the president’s free community college plan: the fact that states would have to agree to fund programs as federal dollars decrease over time. -Inside Higher Ed
• A federal judge has ruled that a computer policy at Virginia Tech meant to protect students from intimidation and harassment by their peers is too vague and broad to be enforced. -Roanoke Times
• Eight arrested and three indicted in alcohol-related frat party death of VCU student Adam Oakes. -Richmond Times Dispatch (Limited free access)
• After more than two decades on the job, approaching the age of 75 and citing the health of his wife, Paul Trible announces he’ll step down as president at Christopher Newport University in the spring. -Daily Press
• Michael Maxey, president of Roanoke College since 2007, will retire in the spring. -Virginia Business
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Achieving equity in access and outcomes for all students at Virginia's Community Colleges is the goal of Opportunity 2027 - our new six-year strategic plan.
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