Mr. John T. Casteen

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported today that Mr. Casteen will join the VFCCE board, dedicated to raising scholarship money to help students, including young people in foster care, attend Virginia’s 23 community colleges.

“They send us excellent students and provide an alternative for people who don’t have access or prefer being at home….Their impact on Virginia has been very dramatic,” Mr. Casteen said about Virginia’s Community Colleges.

The article points out that Mr. Casteen was an early supporter of guaranteed transfer agreements, signing one with the VCCS in 2004. He also was the keynote speaker at a ceremony honoring donors to Virginia’s Community Colleges last spring, and a scholarship endowment for community college transfer students bears his name.

Tonight, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at Tidewater Community College.

Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges, said

Mr. Casteen’s expertise, connections, and ability to articulate the community colleges’ mission on a large scale will be huge assets to the foundation and the students it supports.

– posted by Susan Hayden