Kaine introduces legislation to establish HBCU business centers
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) announced Tuesday they have introduced the Reaching America’s Rural Minority Businesses Act, which would establish up to 10 minority business centers at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to serve rural and underserved communities. The legislation would authorize the Minority Business Development Agency (MBD[...]
Va. allocates $116M CARES funding for higher ed
As public universities and medical centers have depleted previously allocated federal dollars, Gov. Ralph Northam is directing more than $116 million in federal CARES Act funding to higher education institutions in Virginia, the governor announced Tuesday. Funding will go to public universities and medical centers in support of telework, distance learning, personal protective equipment, sanitizati[...]
U.Va. launches Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning
Using its largest-ever gift — a $68 million donation last year from Frank M. Sands Sr., founder of Sands Investment Group Inc. — the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business announced Friday it has launched the Marjorie R. and Frank M. Sands Sr. Institute for Lifelong Learning. The Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning will […]
Northam announces wind training alliance
Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday announced the formation of the Mid-Atlantic Wind Training Alliance, Virginia’s first workforce training collaborative for the offshore and onshore wind energy industries. The program will offer industry-required certifications for wind project operations and long-term maintenance. The New College Institute in Martinsville will serve as the host institution, [...]
Tech Innovation Campus announces advisory board
Amid its inaugural virtual semester, the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria is already kickstarting its future tech talent production through the creation of an advisory board, for which top Virginia executives will provide guidance to the campus on business partnerships and projects. Top executives from Qualcomm, Boeing, KPMG, Northrop Grumman, The Carlyle Group and […]
Richmond nonprofit wins $2.99M National Science Foundation grant
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Richmond-based nonprofit CodeVA a four-year, $2.99 million project award to develop a computer science program for teaching history to underserved communities in Virginia. This is CodeVA’s first federal grant award. CodeVA was awarded the Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) program grant for its proposal “Reaching Across the Hallway: An [&h[...]
K12 Inc. to hire 1,300 online educators during pandemic
Herndon-based online education provider K12 Inc. announced Wednesday it plans to hire more than 1,300 educators for the 2020 through 2021 school year, in light of a massive push to move education online during the pandemic. Across Virginia, schools have been making decisions regarding reopening in the fall, with some already opting for full online […]
Virginia Tech chooses School of Education director
Virginia Tech announced Tuesday it has hired Kristin Gehsmann as the director of the School of Education, effective Aug. 1. She will also serve as an education professor. Gehsmann was most recently a professor and chair of the department of literacy studies, English education and history education at East Carolina University. During her time at […]
NoVa and Richmond to enter Phase Two June 12
Northern Virginia and the city of Richmond will enter Phase Two of Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Forward Virginia” plan Friday, June 12, joining the rest of the state in loosened restrictions on dining areas, personal care and grooming services and other nonessential businesses, Northam announced Tuesday. The state’s mask mandate in enclosed, public areas remains in […]
Hampden-Sydney College receives $2.45M in anonymous donations
Hampden-Sydney College announced Friday that it received two anonymous gifts totaling $2.45 million to establish a biology laboratory and add to the college’s need-based scholarship funding. A $1 million gift will establish the Hinton Baxter Overcash Immersive Biology Laboratory in the Pauley Science Center, which is expected to be completed by fall 2021. The lab […]
Northam orders all Va. K-12 schools closed for at least 2 weeks
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered all K-12 schools in Virginia to close for a minimum of two weeks, due to the spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth. Schools will close starting on Monday, March 16, through at least March 27. Localities will be able to make their own staffing decisions to ensure students continue […]
Virginia Tech Innovation Campus names Cornell dean as executive director
Lance R. Collins, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell University, has been selected as the first vice president and executive director of Virginia Tech‘s $1 billion Innovation Campus, which is set to open in Alexandria’s North Potomac Yard area in the fall. He will join Virginia Tech as of Aug. 1. The Innovation […]