Nat Marshall, chairman of the State Board for Community Colleges, testified Tuesday at the Senate Finance Education Subcommittee in support of Governor McDonnell’s Top Jobs legislation. Here are his remarks:  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. I am delighted to spend a few minutes to talk about the Top Jobs legislation; the [...]

The week of January 24 began with a presentation by Chancellor Glenn DuBois before the Education Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee on the VCCS’ role in noncredit occupational funding.  The Governor’s introduced budget includes $3 million to expand the public-private partnership with Virginia companies and individuals. This partnership has been in existence since the [...]

As a student of Wytheville Community College, I recently was part of a group that had the privilege to visit with several Virginia state legislators regarding their support of funding for the Virginia Community College System. We felt it was imperative to make a positive and personal appeal for legislative support in continuing education for [...]

Yesterday, SB 819 (Community College Scholarship Match) was reported unanimously out of the Senate Education and Health Committee and passed the Senate today on first reading. Senator Stosch’s SB 1363 to enhance Two-Year Transfer Grants was also heard in Senate Education and Health and reported unanimously yesterday. Senators on the committee were very complimentary of [...]

Governor Bob McDonnell held a press conference yesterday to talk about his legislative plan to increase the number of Virginia college graduates. My colleague Ellen Davenport wrote about that yesterday. The Governor’s plan is the right public policy and Virginia’s Community Colleges support it. In their coverage of the press conference, however, the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote [...]

On Thursday January 13th 2011, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to go to Richmond and visit our state lawmakers. This year, I was as excited about the trip to the general assembly as I was last year; it’s not every day I get a chance to have one-on-one face time with the state lawmakers, even [...]

How much responsibility does a college have when someone on campus poses a threat of violence? A campus safety professional I talked to got it right when she said, “That’s the sticky wicket, isn’t it?” While the phrase is tired and over-used, everything changed after the shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007. [...]

The close ties between community colleges, achievement, economic development and global competitiveness are getting a close look nationally today and tomorrow as the White House convenes its summit on community colleges. Tomorrow, Second Lady Jill Biden – a faculty member at Northern Virginia Community College and a national spokesperson for the value of community college education – [...]

The value of higher education has been much in the news this week as students of all ages begin a new academic year. And community colleges are being touted as a “smarter” way to begin. In this morning’s Washington Post, Sarah Kaufman asks sobering questions about whether bypassing a higher education is smarter than paying [...]

Career coaches and Virginia Education Wizard staff will be answering the phones at Call12 tonight on NBC 12 in Richmond. Virginia Education Wizard gives students and parents a simple one-stop place to investigate higher education and career plans at Virginia’s Community Colleges and beyond. You can find information about programs and majors that will help you [...]