General Assembly News January 31

Transfer Grant Technical Change Bill Moving Forward 

Today, SB 148  (Stosch) passed the Senate unanimously on third reading.  The bill will now be communicated to the House of Delegates.  SB 148 makes the transfer grant available to first-time students who started community college in the summer of 2007. (The transfer grant bill which passed the General Assembly in 2007 had applied to students who began community college a few months later, in the fall of 2007).   Other clarifying amendments make certain that a student’s state financial aid eligibility is no longer reduced by the size of the grant that they receive, rewards student improvement by changing the requirement of “maintaining a 3.0 GPA” to “graduated with a cumulative GPA of at least a 3.0,” and prorates the award for students taking less than a full-time course load.  In addition, the bill also stipulates that the grant award will be prorated in the unlikely event that the General Assembly does not appropriate adequate funds.

Send Your Tax Refund to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education!

Any Virginian who is eligible for a state tax refund may soon be able to earmark some of their refund for the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education!  HB 1000 (Bell) adds the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education to the list of charities and foundations that can receive voluntary contributions from Virginia state tax refunds.  The bill passed the House of Delegates today on a unanimous vote.  For example, if a Virginian is due a $100 refund,  in the future they will be able to check a box on their tax form and send at least $1 of their refund to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. The VFCCE would then award the funds collected in the form of scholarships.   The bill now heads to the Senate.

Scholarship Match Bill Passes Senate Committee

SB 125 (Edwards) passed the Senate Finance Committee unanimously on Jan. 30 and was heard on first reading on the Senate floor today.  SB 125 will establish the Community College Match program to provide matching funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia to the foundations of the 23 community colleges and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education.   

Should the bill pass and the General Assembly appropriate the funding of up to $5 million per year,  the match will  be paid on the basis of one dollar of state general fund appropriation for every one dollar donated by private individuals, foundations, or corporations beginning on July 1, 2008.  These funds shall be used to award scholarships to students who (i) are domiciled residents of Virginia, (ii) graduated from a public or private Virginia high school, and (iii) are enrolled in a Virginia community college.  The provisions of the bill are contingent upon an appropriation of general funds in the 2008 General Appropriation Act.

The counterpart bills in the House–HB 117 (Landes), HB 512 (Dance), and HB 1293 (Athey) have been assigned to the Higher Education subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and are expected to be taken up on Feb. 4.  

 Posted by Ellen Davenport

Mixing business with pleasure and classes and parenting…

After years of driving by his law office, Tara Clark finally got to meet Sen. Donald McEachin.  A voter in his district, this 37-year-old single mom visited the General Assembly to share her success at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.

 ”I’ve been following you,” the Highland Springs resident told him, relating how she has lived near his offices all over the Richmond area. ”Maybe I’ve been following you,” he responded, telling Tara and her classmates to contact him if they ever need anything at all.

One of the many community college students who juggle jobs and classes, Tara finished her 11 p.m. -7 a.m. shift as a machine tech –read: cigarette packer — at Phillip Morris, slipped on her pressed maroon ambassador’s jacket from Reynolds, and headed out to visit legislators — forgoing what otherwise would have been an overdue visit with her bed.

She’s been taking part-time classes for a few years now, and still has a few years to go to obtain an associate’s degree. But Reynolds has made it possible for her to pursue more than an education. At this point, she wants a career.  Just attending classes has already led to a better job — now she wants more. She plans to transfer to a four-year school and perhaps seek a career in employee development.

Last year, she noticed the application to become a Reynolds Ambassador for the college – that it included a scholarship. She applied and was accepted.  “I fell in love with being a student ambassador,” she says.  Now in her second year, it’s not so much about the scholarship, but more about “the chance to give a little bit back.” She counsels younger students (she got a hug just this morning), and represents the college in a number of settings, including in front of groups and tours.

Sometimes the audience is right at home. The mother of three children (17, 14, and 12), she has a daughter who is a straight A student already planning her college career. But her 17-year old son said he didn’t need to go to college. He goes to the Henrico High School Center for the Arts and is hoping to become an actor or singer.

Tara didn’t argue or lecture. She changed her tactics. One Saturday morning, she took her son with her to her math class at JSRCC. She thought her dynamic teacher might just appeal to him, and the tall high school junior blended right in.

Now, she says, his grades are improving, and he’s talking about continuing his education at a Virginia Community College. 

In the halls of the General Assembly building, she whispers, “This is so exciting.”  Sleep? Maybe later this afternoon.

Posted by Susan Hayden

Second Chance for Success

Andrea Thaxton speaks passionately about her experience at Southside Virginia Community College.  Those who hear her are immediately enthralled with her dedication to promoting the benefits of a community college education. And Andrea is no stranger to speaking on the matter.

As a graduate of the Middle College program and a current SsVCC student, she has become a motivational speaker to other Middle College students in training preparation courses. She motivates other students to follow her lead and create a better life for themselves, their families and their community.

“I tell them my story. I tell them that everyone has obstacles to face in their lives, but community college can be their second chance for success.” 

Without completing her high school education, Andrea knew that her opportunities would be limited. Encouraged by her husband and her mentor, Deloris Suitt, she approached the faculty and staff at Middle College.

Offered at five colleges, Middle College allows individuals lacking a high school degree to pursue a GED, community college education and a workforce certification in a college environment.

“You have to want to make a change in your life. But once you make the decision, everyone at the community college will help you. They want you to succeed. They have changed my whole outlook on life.”

In addition to speaking to students, Andrea is working toward her associate’s degree in business management, interning for the Virginia Tech-Halifax Initiative and planning to pursue a four-year degree through the transfer program. The opportunities provided to her through SsVCC have inspired her to visit the General Assembly. 

Speaking to Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. in front of a conference room of Halifax business leaders, Andrea doesn’t hesitate to express her appreciation for the Senator’s support and to urge for continued funding for Middle College so that others may experience the same chances offered to her. 

The audience in the room is obviously impressed.

“I was a little nervous, but it feels good to get your point across. I just want everyone to know how community college has changed my life. Middle College is the most amazing program.”

A motivated and passionate student and mentor, Andrea Thaxton is already a great success!

Pictured: Andrea Thaxton was among Southside Virginia Community College students visiting the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Posted by Lauren Von Herbulis

Making a difference in many ways

Diverse. It’s the word that came to mind while accompanying the group from Danville Community College on their visit to the General Assembly. Three very different students sharing their stories with Delegates Marshall, Merricks and Poindexter about the many ways DCC has helped them, and the positive impact the school has made for each as they pursue their goals and education.

It’s a long way from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to Danville. But after a hectic start, 18-year-old, Brazilian-born Charles Terrell has settled in nicely and feels right at home and glad to be a student at DCC. It took a while for his travel papers to be approved and when they finally came through, he had little time to prepare for his departure. “It was a crazy time—stressful,” he jokingly conveys. “I was ready to come without packing clothes or anything.”

It didn’t come to that, but the school did get a call from airport officials in Atlanta for verification. We told them, “Yes, he’s ours. Send him our way,” says Cathy Pulliam, student recruitment and enrollment coordinator.

When he arrived in September, classes had already started and Charles had some catching up to do. But everything is fine. “I’m really applying myself,” he says. After graduating from high school with 25 classmates, it was a shock when he went to the Univercidade Federal Rural Do Rio De Janeiro to find himself among 150 students in a class. “There you are a number, not a name,” Charles says. After one semester he and his family decided he would live with an aunt in the U.S.–a family connection stemming from his American great grandparents who originally went to Brazil as missionaries and settled there. His grandfather and father both married Brazilians.

Charles is taking drafting design and wants to add general engineering credits with the goal of becoming an environmental engineer, a topic he discussed with Del. Poindexter. “Be sure and add science and biology to your studies,” the delegate advised him. “It will give you a solid foundation.”

“The community college is so good,” says Charles. “It gives you the responsibility, but provides the small classes. It really helps you to prepare.” His opinion is readily shared by fellow students Valerie Haar and Dennis Dawson.

Valerie enrolled at DCC after graduating from high school and will graduate this spring. She speaks fondly of remaining at home in Dry Fork with her family and the horses they own while attending Danville. “I’ve been involved and serve as the Student Government treasurer,” she says.

She is proud and excited that she has already been accepted to three colleges and is waiting to hear from Virginia Tech before she makes a final decision. Valerie credits the transfer agreements with four-year schools for the ease of her next step—majoring in elementary education to become a teacher. “I’ve already applied for financial assistance through the Tobacco Commission to help continue my education,” she says. 

Dennis Dawson, a DCC student at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center in South Boston, is majoring in business management and wants to use what he learns to open a music store and provide lessons for a variety of instruments. A lifelong musician who plays guitar and trumpet, Dennis also worked in the graphics department of Dan River Mills until last February. When the plant closed its operations and moved to India, Dennis was out of work. A Trade Act student, Dennis thanks legislators for their support, saying “This has provided me with a great opportunity.”

He likes taking classes at the higher ed center because of the age diversity among the students. As an older student, he feels comfortable there, and jokes, “We older students feel like we kind of run the place, but the younger students are respectful—there is no generational gap—everyone feels at home.”

Charles summed it up for everyone as they left Del. Merricks office. “I think, being here, you are not able to see everyday, but the community college really makes a difference for many people—thank you.”

Pictured left to right, Dennis Dawson, Valerie Haar, and Charles Terrell.

Posted by Carol Kyber

VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 1 – Chancellor Glenn DuBois discusses campus safety

 VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 1 – Chancellor Glenn DuBois discusses campus safety and the report from the task force on emergency preparation.

Tune in for the first in a series of podcasts featuring voices from Virginia’s Community Colleges.  Kicking the series off is a discussion of what was behind the Chancellor’s decision to take a comprehensive look at campus safety at the 23 colleges in the Virginia Community College System. Click on the podcast button above to download and listen. 

You can also subscribe to this podcast through a feed

Budget Conferees Already Meeting

Traditionally, conferees to reconcile the differences in the House and Senate versions of the budget are not named until after the budget bills have been amended in the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees, crossed over to the opposite house, and then rejected.  Based on the legislative schedule approved by the Joint Rules Committee earlier in the year, the day for naming of the budget conferees would have occurred around Feb. 21.

This year, House budget conferees were named last week, following the release of December revenue data by Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner.  Wagner’s letter to Governor Tim Kaine contained news that revenue collections through December were the weakest since December 2002 and that the national economic picture was not improving.  Once January’s revenues have been tallied, a midsession revenue forecast process will occur and be released on February 15.  Speaker of the House William Howell released the names of House budget conferees in a press release shortly thereafter, and urged the Senate to name conferees and for the two groups to begin their discussions.

House budget conferees are Delegates Lacey Putney, Phillip Hamilton, Kirk Cox, Johnny Joannou and new appointees Beverly Sherwood and Clarke Hogan.  Senate budget conferees will be Senators Charles Colgan, Edward Houck, William Wampler, Walter Stosch, and new appointees Janet Howell and Kenneth Stolle.

Posted by Ellen Davenport

VaHigherEd Podcast Debuts Next Week

 Watch for VaHigherEd Podcasts! (play the promo)

VaHigherEd Podcast, featuring voices from Virginia’s Community Colleges, will premier next week on VaHigherEd.com.

The first episode will feature an interview with Chancellor Glenn DuBois discussing the newly released campus safety task force report.

Use the link above to listen to a 30-second promo for VaHigherEd Podcast.

State Board Accepts VCCS Campus Safety Report

The Virginia State Board for Community Colleges accepted the community colleges campus safety report created by a special VCCS task force.  You can read a press release and follow a link to the entire report here.

The task force was created in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting last April.

While the issue of weapons on campus is emotional, controversial and high-profile, it is only one of the many issues addressed in the report’s 40 recommendations.

“I appreciate the leadership and hard work of the panel members,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “We serve two out of every three undergraduate students attending public colleges in Virginia and they’re all commuter students.  We serve them in 5.7 million square feet of instructional space in 224 buildings located on our 40 campuses in urban, suburban and rural settings. Our sheer size and diversity make campus safety a challenge while underscoring its priority.”

The report focuses a great deal on streamlining the campus safety information that is required in different forms by dozens of government agencies; the need for a high-tech and low-tech layered approach to communications in an emergency; and the need and benefit for a single point of contact, on each college campus, to coordinate emergency planning and preparedness efforts.

Posted by Jeff Kraus

Those are my roots

Samantha Hobbs is just 18, but she knows the value of an education. 

Without the financial aid and scholarship opportunities open to her at Virginia Highlands Community College, “I’d be in a lot more debt….. or not in college at all,” says the Abingdon High School graduate and first year student at VHCC.

She’s delighted to be at “Highlands,” where she’s saving money and working at tractor dealership, pulling a 4.0 average and the chance to transfer to Virginia Tech to complete a degree in an agricultural finance field. “Think of all the money I’m saving,” she says, “and all the support I get at home.”

Like her peers, she’s aware of Community College Transfer Grants, which may help her cut $1,000 off the tuition at a four-year school after graduating with an associate’s degree — and she’s aware of guaranteed transfer agreements.  She may transfer to Virginia Tech; her peer Ed Harris, also visiting, is already tuned into the guaranteed agreement with UVA-Wise.

Samantha grew up in agriculture; her family owns a beef cattle farm in Washington County. “Being in farming, we don’t have the best income,” she says. But she’s made the most of opportunities offered through Future Farmers of America, the Governor’s School for Agriculture, and lots of service activities at her high school — along with excellent grades. A Community Scholar, she has a full tuition scholarship to Virginia Highlands.

She and fellow students met another VHCC alum, Del. Bill Carrico. They talked about the turns a career can take. Brittany Lutzo isn’t sure about her career path; Bobby Patrick wants to earn an associate of applied science in radiography and work in a regional hospital. Del. Carrico told them he studied drafting and design at Virginia Highlands — and then went into the State Police. ”You just never know for sure what you’ll do,” he said. But it all comes around. When his drafting skills were discovered by the State Police, they put him on the accident reconstruction team where he could use his drawing ability.

Samantha’s been sure for a while she wants to stay in agriculture, and looks forward to a VHCC-sponsored trip to an agriculture economics conference at Virginia Tech later this spring. “Those are my roots,” she says. “That’s my foundation.”

Posted by Susan Hayden

An Update on the Transfer Grant Legislation

Very, very few items, during the time that I’ve been working with community colleges, have caught people’s attention like the Two-Year Transfer Grant proposal the General Assembly passed in 2007.  The grants are an effort to help working-class families afford the opportunity of a college education for their children.

One of the sponsors of last year’s proposal, Henrico County Senator Walter Stosch, is working this year to slightly expand the eligibility of students for these grants.  You can read the details of his bill, SB 148, and follow its legislative progress by clicking here. 

P.S.  We are frequently being asked by students who support these grants what they can do about it.  The answer, of course, is to communicate with your delegate, your senator and the governor.  Policymakers don’t know what you want if you don’t tell them.  You would be surprised at the power a clear, concise and heartfelt letter or email can carry.

(And of course, for this and other student-related issues, you can get involved with Virginia 21 who are, according to their website, “involving young people across the Commonwealth in the political process by providing information, directing advocacy and coordinating political action on a non-partisan issue agenda.”)

Posted by Jeff Kraus