I just voted for Wytheville Community College  in the Governor’s Public Safety PSA challenge.  You can join me in supporting community college students by voting for the WCC video through Aug. 26 at 5 p.m.  The winning video will be used in a statewide television campaign. Three Wytheville students were among the many college groups that created a [...]

The redesign of developmental math courses grabbed national headlines this week as the Chronicle of Higher Education focused on the efforts of Virginia’s Community Colleges to better meet the needs of under-prepared students. The article quotes Chancellor DuBois as warning of his “perfect storm” as he initiated the reengineering process to allow the system to “become smarter in [...]

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post comes from one of the participants in the inaugural Chancellor’s Developmental Education Institute. Reforming developmental education is a priority of Virginia’s Community Colleges and this new institute is among the many strategies being pursued in that effort. Dressed in matching yellow shirts, 45-50 developmental educators from Virginia community colleges stood [...]

  There is a lot of media coverage today of a survey revealing that Virginia’s state lawmakers are among the nation’s most educated. Here’s how the Richmond Times-Dispatch is describing it: Nearly 89 percent of members of the General Assembly have earned at least a bachelor’s degree, ranking Virginia second among the states in the educational achievement [...]

“Danville’s One Stop Center has been a great resource for me,” Connie Moore told visitors Delegate Danny Marshall, Senator William Stanley and Delegate Don Merricks during their tour of Danville’s One Stop Workforce Center on Tuesday. A single mother who had lost her job to company downsizing, she expressed her gratitude for the financial and educational assistance she had [...]

The General Assembly will be back in Richmond on April 4-6 to consider redistricting and act upon the Governor’s recommended bill amendments and vetoes. On April 4, the House of Delegates and Senate will convene to adopt redistricting plans according to population counts determined by the 2010 census.  One House redistricting plan and bill has [...]

The General Assembly finished its work yesterday, a day later than scheduled. Included for Virginia’s community colleges over and above what the Governor had recommended in his introduced budget are: An additional $9.92 million from the general fund in FY 2012  to support the goals of the Governor’s Higher Education Commission of access, affordability, quality [...]

In an article published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this past Sunday, Lieutenant Governor Bolling focused his attention on Virginia’s high unemployment in the manufacturing industry and the policies he plans to implement to combat the problem. “Virginia has a long tradition of supporting a thriving manufacturing industry. However, during the past decade, the manufacturing sector [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]