VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 14- This week’s VaHigherEd podcast features First Lady Anne Holton, keynote speaker at the Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy on April 23, 2008.
The First Lady paid tribute to the philanthropy leaders being honored from Virginia’s 23 community colleges and shared her passion for Virginia’s families and their youth through the foster care initiative she is spearheading.
Virginia’s Community Colleges have initiated a complementary program, in partnership with the First Lady, called “Great Expectations,” helping Virginia’s foster care youth through higher education.
Listen to her keynote address by clicking on the audio link above or downloading the link to VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 14.
My colleague, Ellen Davenport, did a great job in this post of summing up what state leaders have done with the Virginia Higher Education bond bill and what it means for Virginia’s Community Colleges:
There are 25 projects included for Virginia’s community colleges. The total value of the projects is estimated at $240.7 million. Community colleges received 23.8% of the total capital outlay funding provided in the bill.
I wanted to add to it by sharing with you some of the news coverage the legislation is getting in media across Virginia (click on the publication’s name to follow a link to the story):
Central Virginia Training Center in Madison Heights received $43 million for safety improvements and planning for the future in a statewide bond package approved Wednesday by the General Assembly.
Those projects include $18.4 million to construct the Dahlgren campus of the University of Mary Washington, $37 million to construct an information and technology convergence center at UMW, and $25.8 million for an academic services building at Germanna Community College.
The bond package includes projects for two community colleges serving Franklin County. It contains $22.7 million for a new science and technology building at Virginia Western Community College. Patrick Henry Community College will receive $8.7 million for a new motorsports workforce development center.
The Virginian-Pilot:
Tidewater Community College will get $36.9 million for a new learning resources building on its Virginia Beach campus and $20.6 million for a new academic building on its Chesapeake campus.
During Special Session I of the General Assembly yesterday, the General Assembly quickly approved SB 5001/HB 5001 which set out planning and funding for capital projects encompassing higher education, state parks, mental health facilities, and state prisons. The capital package was not finished in time for the adjournment of the regular General Assembly session, and new legislation was introduced and conferees appointed on March 13. The capital package was kept confidential until it was unveiled yesterday in a briefing to the members of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. After the General Assembly concluded the reconvened or “veto” session to finish up the governor’s amendments to various pieces of legislation and to the budget bill (HB 30), the General Assembly went into Special Session I to consider the legislation. The Governor has 30 days to sign the bill, but it is unlikely that further changes will be made to the bill.
There are 25 projects included for Virginia’s community colleges. The total value of the projects is estimated at $240.7 million. Community colleges received 23.8% of the total capital outlay funding provided in the bill.
Posted by Ellen Davenport
Special Session II of the General Assembly will be convened by the Governor to address transportation.
VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 13- This week’s VaHigherEd podcast features an elite group of community college students, members of the “First Virginia Team,” named by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society as the “top ten” two-year students in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
These “top ten,” along with more than 50 of their high-achieving peers who comprise the All-Virginia Academic Team, were in Richmond April 16 for the annual PTK Honors Luncheon, where they were recognized as the best and the brightest of Virginia’s community college students.
These students are not very different from any Virginia community college student. They are looking for transfer options, looking for affordable, quality higher education close to home. They are taking advantage of sometimes the only opportunity available as they seek a better future. They have found those opportunities – and they have risen to the top of their class.
Stephanie Umphlette attends Rappahannock Community College as a dual enrollment student – while finishing high school at the Governor’s School in Warsaw. She’ll graduate from RCC in May – before she graduates from high school in June.
Cynthia Spencer had been out of school 20 years when she decided to commit to an engineering career – starting at the Loudoun Campus of Northern Virginia Community College.
David Dutton, profoundly deaf since birth, has overcome many difficulties to attend complete his education at Lord Fairfax Community College, where he has started an American Sign Language society.
And Samantha Cousin made a conscious decision to save on college with two years at Tidewater Community College before a zoology career takes her to Idaho State University.
Pictured from left to right: Stephanie Umphlette (RCC); Cynthia Spencer (NVCC); David Dutton (LFCC); Samantha Cousin (TCC)
Jacob Neal, honored last week as part of the USA Today First USA Team and also the “New Century Scholar” for Virginia, will be leading a group of Virginia’s best and brightest community colleges students tomorrow when they are all honored at the Omni in Richmond.
Fifty-one two-year students in all are part of the Virginia team, and on Wednesday, the top “10″ will be named as the “First Virginia Team.” Jacob automatically earns a place at the head of the First Virginia team by being named the top-ranked community college scholar in Virginia.
If you want to be overwhelmed, just read through the achievements of this year’s group of award winning students.
Governor Tim Kaine released today his amendments to legislation passed by the General Assembly during the 2008 session, including amendments to the 2008-2010 budget. A summary of Kaine’s amendments are contained in this press release. There were 41 budget amendments, including some exchange between general funds and the Virginia College Building Authority for VCCS projects, and language clarifying the salary differential for Northern Virginia Community College Faculty.
Amendments must be approved by a majority of each house of the General Assembly. The General Assembly comes back to consider the Governor’s amendments on April 23.
VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 12- The horticulture program at Virginia Highlands Community College provides Navy veteran Jillian Holcombe with what she calls the best educational experience of her life. One of the highlights: A recent coastal ecology research trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a life-changing trip that allowed her first-hand knowledge of ecological marvels. A blog about her experience is available on her Myspace page.
“I think I’m getting a better education right here at Virginia Highlands than I would be if I were at a traditional four-year university,” she says. She’s saving her GI Bill for when she transfers, and looking for a future career in horticulture therapy.
Governor Timothy Kaine signed omnibus mental health billsin a special ceremony Wednesday, representing a renewed focus on - and significant investments in - the mental health system in the Commonwealth after last year’s tragedy at Virginia Tech.
“Working with members of the General Assembly, we will make significant investments in our mental health system and the bills before me today will establish standards for the system and increase accountability,” the Governor said.
The bills will make it easier for Virginians to receive treatment for mental health issues, allow more information sharing among providers, require closer monitoring of people in community based treatment and expand criteria under which a mentally ill person can be barred from buying guns, according to the Washington Post today.
Some of the bills (and some already signed by the Governor) specify additional planning and procedures for higher education institutions to prevent future tragedies. Virginia’s Community Colleges got a head start on emergency preparedness with a task force on emergency preparedness that published a report in January.
VaHigherEd Podcast: Episode 14 - This week’s VaHigherEd podcast features First Lady Anne Holton, keynote speaker at the Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy on April 23, 2008.
Jacob Neal, honored last week as part of the 
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