On February 17, Governor Bob McDonnell announced how he plans to balance the current year’s budget and the upcoming 2010-12 biennial budget from the budget prepared by the previous governor.  The announcement was predicated on a communication from Secretary of Finance Ric Brown to the Governor announcing the revised revenue forecast and effect on the budget.  The [...]

The Progress-Index of Petersburg published a good story about students from John Tyler Community College visiting with their lawmakers to talk about their community college experience and to ask for support for their college.
During each meeting, the students shared their personal stories and spoke about the important role John Tyler Community College is playing in [...]

HB 1011 (Athey) would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in the high-demand fields of nursing, education, applied technology and other high need areas. The bill was heard on February 2 in the Higher Education Subcommittee of House Education.   Athey offered amendments to the subcommittee to narrow the bill to two pilot programs, one [...]

Two pieces of legislation of interest to the VCCS moved forward during the week between January 18 and January 22. In addition, legislation creating a community college scholarship match program will be heard beginning January 26.
SB 182 (Stosch) lowers the grade point average for students eligible for the community college transfer grant from 3.0 to 2.5. [...]

Danville residents can now save time and effort in their search for employment at the new, comprehensive One-Stop Center that opened its doors to the public on January 7. The facility houses multiple state agencies that have coordinated their services to provide seamless employment assistance to job seekers and businesses that are looking to hire. The [...]

If you want to know what Virginia’s Community Colleges are all about, look no further than the editorial pages of two small community newspapers this month.
Both editorials touched me, and are a reminder of the critical role each Virginia Community College plays in its’ community.
The first was published Sunday Nov. 15 in The Southwest Times. This sweet [...]

Here’s a small buffet of news items that are or may affect Virginia’s Community Colleges and the people and communities they serve:
According to USA Today, your community college should be chatting you up on Facebook and Twitter:
The survey found higher levels of engagement among students who said they used social media multiple times a day [...]

Want to know the top “Hot Jobs” in Virginia?
Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges, showcased a new tool today that will help Virginia’s students and workers find the top job markets for the future. The Virginia Hot Jobs Index, presented by the Virginia Education Wizard and powered by JobsEQ, proprietary software from Chmura Economics [...]

This week, workforce liaisons from 22 states across the country met in Newport News, Virginia for the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices Workforce Liaisons meeting. The liaisons, who meet each year at this time, discussed a broad range of workforce, economic and educational subjects ranging from global competitiveness, emerging industries, role of community [...]

Glenn DuBois, the chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges did a great job this morning in a live interview with the FOX Business Channel explaining how President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative, with it’s focus on the nation’s community colleges. will help move forward America’s economy.