Today Chancellor Glenn DuBois paid a visit to J. Sargent Reynolds Community College to speak about what Virginia’s Community Colleges are doing to serve military-related students – and also ways to improve the military friendliness at each institution.

His speech highlights a few of the initiatives our schools have already taken to serve our active duty members of the military and reserves, veterans and their families. Read Dr. DuBois’ full remarks from today by clicking on the PDF attached to this post.

Dr. DuBois VCCS and Veterans Speech

posted by Krystal Gillespie

A recent article in the Washington Post took notice of this trend. The article cites a study issued by Sallie Mae that revealed that 22 percent of students from households earning $100,000 or more attended community colleges in the 2010-11 academic year, up from 12 percent in the previous year — which they note is the highest rate reported in the past four years.

The article highlights our very own Northern Virginia Community College, which is the second largest community college in the nation. As quoted in the Post today:

“You could pay for a whole year at NOVA for the amount you pay for room and board somewhere else,” said John Michie, 20, a second-year student at Northern Virginia Community College.

Community college is increasingly becoming more appealing to all types of students. It is no longer a last resort — it’s first choice, even for people who can afford the price of public and private institutions. There are many benefits of community college in addition to the savings.

Getting the general education requirements over and done with
All colleges require them, so why not get them done at half the cost and in a smaller classroom environment. After earning an associate degree through a Virginia community college system you are guaranteed admission into more than 24 universities.

More time to decide exactly what you want to do
Community college automatically builds in two more years for you to decide what career path college students want to follow.

Flexible class schedules
Classes are offered throughout the day, at night, on weekends and even in the summer. It allows students to work, be with their family and hang out with their friends all while earning their degree.

Those are just a few of the additional benefits to community college. What benefits make you put community college at the top of your list?

– Posted by Krystal Gillespie

“The Council is extremely pleased that Mr. Blake has agreed to return to SCHEV to direct the agency’s initiatives to help make Virginia’s colleges and universities affordable and accessible to all citizens,” said Council Chair Susan Magill, in a news release. The news was also published in the Times-Dispatch.

Taking on the responsibilities of interim vice chancellor for workforce development at the VCCS is Dr. Craig Herndon, who currently serves as Special Assistant to the Chancellor and provided significant leadership in the development of The Virginia Education Wizard.

Posted by Lauren Von Herbulis

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 something that I don’t understand:

But only 38 percent of Virginians can go to a Virginia school, he [McDonnell] said. “That says that we have a ways to go.”

I’ve never seen that figure before and I don’t know what it means.

At the end of the day, everyone can attend a Virginia Community College.  It’s our mission.

Over just the last four years, Virginia’s Community Colleges have added nearly 48,000 additional students.  Our fall-to-fall enrollment has jumped by 27,000 students during the same time.

The guaranteed transfer agrrements with more than two-dozen public and private universities means everyone can begin their pursuit of a UVA, Virginia Tech or VCU bachelor’s degree at a community college.  You can explore all those opportunities at the Virginia Education Wizard.

This is, of course, why the Governor’s Higher Education Reform panel applauded the transfer opportunites students have at our community colleges in its interim report:

“There is no doubt that an expanding community college system is an essential component in the state’s increased degree attainment strategy… Promoting community college transfer options [is an] essential strategy for providing affordable access to college degrees for an increasing percentage of college-age Virginians.”

Don’t be discouraged, Virginia!  Your community colleges are open for business and excited about helping you earn the credentials that we offer, and more.

Posted by Jeffrey Kraus

With all due respect to the professor, however, he wrote something near the end of the piece that isn’t quite so, at least not in Virginia:

The one certain thing about the future is that it is far from certain. I don’t know what emerging industries will be attracting college graduates four years from now, and neither does anyone else.

The Virginia Education Wizard was created, in part, to show individuals exactly what jobs are in demand today and what jobs will be in demand five years from now.

To illustrate the point, we recently published the second annual “Hot Jobs” Index that examines that very question on a statewide basis.

Of course, you can personalize that forecast to your interest by creating a free account on the Wizard – something more than 100,000 people have done to date.

Consider the professor’s advice on what humanities classes to pick up along the way.  His reasoning is sound. 

Come to the Wizard though if you want to know where the jobs will be and what those jobs will be that will let you put that knowledge to good use.

Posted by Jeffrey Kraus

Ginny is the "face" of the Virginia Education Wizard.

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 achieve your career goal, financial aid, and many other topics.

Ask a question!

– posted by Susan Hayden

You can read more about the agreement by following this link to a joint press release.

VCU and Virginia’s Community Colleges have been partners in guaranteed transfer for the better part of the last decade.

However, the new agreement gives transfer students greater access to services and support from the university:

The new agreement extends an existing guaranteed admission agreement signed in 2006 and updated in 2009 between VCU and the VCCS, and gives students the opportunity to feel more a part of the university at an earlier time – by providing access to the library, ability to meet with transfer advisors and participate in school-related events, a VCU email account, and discount admission to VCU sports and cultural events.

At the agreement signing today, the two leaders talked about the benefits this would have for the roughly 11,000 transfer students that attend VCU every year. 

Dr. Rao further talked about his desire to begin visiting Virginia Community College campuses across the state to learn more about the VCCS and help spread the word about the opportunities this agreement will create for students.

Posted by Jeffrey Kraus

As expected, they found an expert willing to say it isn’t, or maybe it isn’t.  This time is was economist Richard Vedder who directs the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.

RICHARD VEDDER: In our zeal to get everyone a college education, we’re finding more and more people going out with a bachelor’s degree that are having a hard time getting a job that fits the skills that they believe they picked up in college. And maybe the notion that everyone should go to college is one that we need to rethink in light of this labor market experience.

Two things strike about Mr. Vedder’s remark.

1. “We’re finding more and more people going out with a bachelor’s degree that are having a hard time getting a job that fits the skills that they believe they picked up in college.”  The jobs recovery from the latest recession is slow – that’s been covered extensively in the media.  Not only are recent university graduates finding it tough to land a job, everyone is.  It’s interesting, however, that he used the word “skills” as opposed to “knowledge.”  Look at the mission statements of various colleges, like the VCCS, and universities.  More often than not you will find the word “skills” associated with community colleges, not universities – the institutions that award bachelor’s degrees.
2. “Maybe the notion that everyone should go to college is one that we need to rethink…” Really?  Are those who dropped out of school or earned only a high school diploma finding greater success in “this labor market experience?”  What I take from Mr. Vedder’s remark is that perhaps the blind pursuit of a bachelor’s degree is not the best path for everyone these days.

And that’s where the media has it all wrong with these kind of stories.  By and large, reporters graduated from journalism programs with four-year degrees.  Some of them go on to earn graduate journalism degrees.  Therefore the question about the value of post secondary education becomes a question of “Bachelor’s or bust?”

That is simply an insufficient way to explore and examine higher education and its value.

Virginia’s Community Colleges, like community colleges across the nation, help people earn two-year associates degrees.  We help people transfer to four-year universities to complete the bachelor’s degree.  We help people earn professional certifications.  We help connect people with apprenticeship opportunities. And that’s not all.

Each of these paths can be successful.  Each can lead to good-paying jobs and long, productive careers.  It all depends on the individual student we are serving.

(In fact, we customize that journey for every individual with the Virginia Education Wizard.  If you haven’t visited yet, please do.)

Success takes on many shapes.

The press needs to wake up to that fact.

More importantly, we all must.

Greg Foley, left, with daughters Josie and Bridhit, receives a "big check" from Chancellor Glenn DuBois and Germanna legislators.

Greg Foley, from Germanna, is retired from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue service after being injured as a first responder to the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11. 2001. On a fixed disability income, he plans to complete his associate’s degree before transferring, with a long-term goal of earning a doctorate in psychology.

James Barchanowicz, from John Tyler, joined the Army the day of the terrorist attack, served for three years and now works in public safety with Caroline County. He is completing an associate’s degree in police science and continues to serve in the Virginia Air National Guard.

Wizard scholarship winner James Barchanowicz with JTCC President Marshall Smith, Foundation Chair Julien Patterson, and JTCC legislators

The scholarship winners were randomly selected from among the 72,000 that have signed up for an account on the Virginia Education Wizard, the online resource for planning higher education and careers. The scholarships were sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education.

The legislative reception, held at the Library of Virginia, was sponsored by the VFCCE through the generosity of its corporate supporters, which also included Verizon, Electronic Systems, Deloitte, Canon, Feridies, Oracle, Froehling & Robertson, Inc., HDH & Associates, Siddall, Moseley Architects, Gilbane, and Cole & Denny.

posted by Susan Hayden

And now that middle and high school students in public school systems across the Commonwealth are being introduced to the one-stop resource for career and higher education planning, that number will continue to grow.

In a news release about the milestone, Chancellor Glenn DuBois said he was not surprised.

“The worst economy since World War II is pushing people to really think about how to begin or even restart their career. The Wizard puts a wealth of information right in their hands and makes it so easy to use.”

It’s particularly gratifying to see the surge of visitors just since the start of school in September, notes Craig Herndon, special assistant to the chancellor and the architect of the Wizard project.

Planning has already begun for Wizard 2.0 – which will launch in the spring and include additional information from coalition partners in K-12 and higher education - and Wizard 3.0, scheduled for next fall, which will allow students to create and store academic and career plans, merge career pathways into those plans, and allow guidance counselors and teachers to create Wizard reports.