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Tag: James Madison University

Education

Abdullah

MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH

PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY, PETERSBURG

One of the state’s two land-grant universities, Virginia State was originally chartered in 1882 as the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. From an initial class of 126, the Petersburg campus now has 4,385 undergraduate and graduate students.

Since arriving in 2016 from his role as provost and senior vice president of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, Abdullah has transformed the once-sleepy farm school into a full-service university. The curriculum at the HBCU (historically Black college and university) now ranges from computer science and bioengineering to managerial economics.

Among other initiatives, the Chicago native has overseen the opening of VSU’s Academic Center of Excellence, a resource stop for first-year students. Abdullah also established an advisory board for LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

VSU was named 2018 HBCU of the Year by HBCU Digest, which also designated Abdullah the 2017 Male President of the Year. He earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in civil engineering from Northwestern University, where he was the youngest African American to receive an engineering Ph.D.

JAVAUNE ADAMS-GASTON

Adams-Gaston

PRESIDENT, NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY, NORFOLK

Adams-Gaston was hired last year, just in time to usher in the 5,616-student school’s new NSU Innovation Center (NSUIC), a business incubator designed to help the historically Black university establish job and training pipelines in the Hampton Roads area. Known as “Dr. J,” the Washington, D.C., native came to Norfolk State armed with experience in how to connect with students. As senior vice president for student life at Ohio State University, she expanded the school’s campus living focus, implementing the national Second-Year Transformational Experience (STEP) program and dramatically increased student organization activities. She also assisted in some of Ohio State’s biggest construction projects — such as a $350 million, 3,200 bed student housing area — and helped the university raise $29 million toward an advanced student affairs development program. Adams-Gaston is a graduate of the University of Dubuque. She holds a master’s degree in psychology from Dubuque, Iowa’s Loras College and her Ph.D. from Iowa State.

WHAT WOULD A COMPETITOR SAY ABOUT YOU? “She is a collaborator who works for the
greater good.”

FIRST JOB: Lifeguard

Alger

JONATHAN R. ALGER

PRESIDENT, JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, HARRISONBURG

At JMU, it’s a time for both growth and reflection. The school’s new $72.1 million College of Business building will open this fall, and the 8,500-seat Atlantic Union Bank Center is slated for 2021. At the same time, in June, Alger recommended to the board of visitors that JMU remove the names of Confederate leaders from three university halls.

Hired in 2012 as the sixth president in Madison’s 112-year history, Alger received his B.A. in political science with a minor in history at Swarthmore College and earned his law degree from Harvard. As assistant general counsel at the University of Michigan, he was a key adviser in two successful U.S. Supreme Court cases on diversity in college admissions.

In July, JMU’s College of Education announced it would partner with the Virginia Department of Education to form the Virginia New Teacher Support Program, providing coaching and professional development to 750 first- and second-year teachers. Alger also spearheaded JMU’s Valley Scholars program, which offers full scholarships to first-generation Shenandoah Valley college students from low-income backgrounds. The university partners with 22 middle and high schools and had 196 participating students last year.

PETER BLAKE

Blake

DIRECTOR, STATE COUNCIL OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR VIRGINIA, RICHMOND

Blake, the state’s point man for higher ed, is currently working to acclimate Virginia college students and faculty to the “new normal” of reopening this fall. That means more online courses, smaller class sizes, staggered schedules and new approaches to large-scale events. SCHEV will review each school’s reopening plan to make sure it complies with the state plan. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and still a big Reds fan, Blake came to SCHEV after serving as vice chancellor of the Virginia Community College System and spending four years as part of Gov. Mark Warner’s administration in the roles of deputy secretary and secretary of education. He was also a fiscal analyst for the Virginia House Appropriations Committee. Blake holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed The Executive Program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

BEST ADVICE: Say yes. If you say no, you might not be asked again.

I ADMIRE: My parents, Bill and Miriam Blake, for all the reasons you know.

RECENT BOOK: “The Big Fella,” by Jane Leavy

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA? Our tax structure needs to be modernized.

Broderick

JOHN R. BRODERICK

PRESIDENT, OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY, NORFOLK

Broderick announced in May that he would retire in 2021. With nearly 25,000 students, ODU has raised more than $1 billion in public and private dollars during his 13-year tenure, including a $37 million donation (the school’s largest ever) from Richard and Carolyn Barry for ODU’s Barry Art Museum. Broderick also oversaw construction of a $75.6 million chemistry building and the $20 million Student Success Center and Learning Commons. Football returned to the school, too, and the S.B. Ballard Stadium underwent a $67.5 million renovation.

He’s also helped to launch, among many other initiatives, the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding, the Center for Global Health and the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Broderick came to ODU in 1993 as the university’s public information director, later becoming associate vice president and acting vice president. He is the former chair of the Council of Presidents of the Southeastern Universities Research Association and is a past chairman of the Virginia Council of Presidents of public colleges and universities.

Retirement or not, he’ll always be a part of student life — the Broderick Dining Commons is named for him and his wife, Kate, honoring the couple’s commitment to inclusion and student success.

LANCE R. COLLINS

Collins

VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA TECH INNOVATION CAMPUS, ALEXANDRIA

Collins started his new job in August, heading up Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus, currently underway in Alexandria, with its first academic building scheduled to open in 2024. 

The first class of tech-savvy graduate students is slated to enroll this fall and will attend classes in other Northern Virginia spaces. Eventually, the campus, which was a key component in landing Amazon’s nearby $2.5 billion HQ2 East Coast headquarters, will house programs in computer science, artificial intelligence and data sciences for 2,000 students per year.

The campus will foster innovative partnerships with the tech industry and will include space for startups and corporate facilities.

Collins, who previously served as dean of engineering at Cornell University, was on the leadership team that successfully partnered with New York City to build Cornell Tech, which opened in 2017. He’s a graduate of Princeton University and earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

“We will build an education that integrates corporate America onto the campus in ways that you don’t see in a traditional campus,” Collins says.

Crutcher

RONALD A. CRUTCHER

PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, RICHMOND

In an April open letter to the student body, Crutcher compared his 4,023-pupil university’s COVID-19 shutdown to a fermata — an orchestral term denoting an unexpected pause before the music continues.
It’s only fitting that the Cincinnati native, a world-renowned musician who became the first cellist to receive a doctor of musical arts degree from Yale, would employ musical terminology to convey his message. The Fulbright scholar has performed recitals across the world and could be found streaming classical pieces on Facebook Live during the quarantine. Before he came to Richmond in 2015, Crutcher was president of Wheaton College for 10 years. He sits on the boards of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the American Council on Education.

ODE TO JOY: “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven

NEW LIFE EXPERIENCE RECENTLY: Axe throwing. I really loved it!

I ADMIRE: My father, Andrew James Crutcher Jr. He was forced to quit school in the eighth grade to work on his family’s tobacco farm in Kentucky. … He eventually became the first Black manager at the world’s largest machine tool company.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: As a leader, not to take myself too seriously and, in particular, how not to internalize or personalize criticism.

GLENN DuBOIS

DuBois

CHANCELLOR, VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM, RICHMOND

DuBois has overseen the state’s 23 community colleges and 40-plus campuses for 19 years. Under his care, the colleges have become Virginia’s leading provider of workforce development services, while diversifying their funding approaches with more private investment. The colleges have also maintained a highly affordable tuition rate.

Considered an authority on the dynamics of community college education, DuBois raised eyebrows last year with his warnings that, by 2026, college enrollment will drop dramatically and schools will be competing so hard for students that it will feel like “The Hunger Games.”

His focus at present is on the safe reopening of Virginia colleges this fall, with new social distancing measures and remote classroom options in place.

DuBois announced in May that Virginia’s Community Colleges launched CollegeAnywhereVA.org, an online portal connecting students with affordable online courses and advisers who can streamline the application and course enrollment processes.

DuBois earned his doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Massachusetts and received his master’s in juvenile justice and criminology from Eastern Kentucky University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Florida Atlantic University.

Falwell

JERRY FALWELL JR.

PRESIDENT AND CHANCELLOR*, LIBERTY UNIVERSITY, LYNCHBURG

A controversial, conservative political icon, Falwell is one of Virginia’s top newsmakers. In August, he made headlines after taking an indefinite leave of absence from Liberty at the request of the Christian university’s board, whose chair is now acting president.

The move came following an Instagram photo Falwell posted showing his arm around a woman he said was his wife’s assistant. Their pants were unbuttoned and Falwell was holding a glass of dark liquid, which he wrote was “black water” and “a prop.” He later apologized in a radio interview, saying, “I promised my kids I will try to be a good boy from here on out.”

Falwell Jr. has built the university his father founded into one of the world’s largest Christian universities, with assets exceeding $3 billion. It’s also Lynchburg’s largest employer and Virginia’s largest college by enrollment, with more than 115,000 students, about 100,000 of whom are online-only. 

This summer, several Black staff members and students left Liberty, citing racial insensitivity, including Falwell tweeting the infamous blackface image from Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook. Before he took his leave, Falwell hired former Liberty football coach Turner Gill and 1986 alum and former NFL player Kelvin Edwards to lead diversity efforts at the university.

*Editor’s Note: When the Virginia 500 issue went to print, Jerry Falwell Jr. had taken indefinite leave from his leadership positions at Liberty University. Falwell resigned from Liberty on Aug. 24, amid mounting media reports of a scandal involving his wife’s extramarital affair with a former friend and business partner.

TRACY FITZSIMMONS

Fitzsimmons

PRESIDENT, SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY, WINCHESTER

Fitzsimmons became Shenandoah’s first female president in 2008 and oversees 4,000 students and 900 faculty and staff in Winchester with satellite campuses in Loudoun, Fairfax and Clarke counties. She originally served as Shenandoah’s dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, vice president for academic affairs and senior vice president. She earned her undergraduate degree in politics from Princeton and her master’s in Latin American studies and her doctoral degree in political science from Stanford. Like many schools, Shenandoah also is dealing with its checkered past. In June, the university’s board of trustees voted unanimously to remove the name of the late U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr., a key Massive Resistance supporter, from its School of Business.

WHAT WOULD A COMPETITOR SAY ABOUT YOU? “She works hard to get to a ‘win-win’ for all
parties involved.”

FIRST JOB? In high school, I worked the opening shift at a convenience store/gas station from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m.

FAVORITE VACATION DESTINATIONS Italy, Bhutan, Tanzania, Panama

FAVORITE SONG: “I Will Survive,” plus anything by Silvio Rodriguez

Harvey

WILLIAM R. HARVEY

PRESIDENT, HAMPTON UNIVERSITY, HAMPTON

Harvey is one of the nation’s longest-serving university presidents, and arguably one its most successful. The 152-year-old historically Black private university — which will hold online-only classes this fall — has grown from 2,700 students to 6,100 since the Alabama native’s 1978 arrival. He’s upped the former Hampton Institute’s endowment from $29 million to $310 million and grown the academic offerings of Virginia’s oldest HBCU to more than 90 different degree programs, with eight doctoral programs. The university has added 28 campus buildings, and the $225 million Proton Therapy Institute for cancer treatment. The school also purchased the downtown Harbor Center, the area’s tallest building, and began a partnership with NASA.

Harvey and his wife, Norma, own a Pepsi Cola bottling franchise in Michigan, and the couple has donated $8.5 million to Hampton University over the years. Hampton’s William R. Harvey Leadership Institute bears his name, the main thoroughfare through the 314-acre campus is William Harvey Way and the library is named for the Harveys.

Despite his successes, a Hampton alumni group circulated an online petition in June asking Harvey to step down, citing, among other things, the school’s slow response to COVID-19.

BRIAN O. HEMPHILL

Hemphill

PRESIDENT, RADFORD UNIVERSITY, RADFORD

In June, Radford’s board of visitors granted Hemphill broad powers to cut the university’s budget in anticipation of declining enrollment and a dramatic $8.1 million annual cut in state funding — the source of 40% of Radford’s educational dollars. The options look dire for the next two fiscal years, including salary and budgets cuts and programs and academic departments being consolidated or eliminated.

The situation has placed considerable pressure on Hemphill, who previously served as president of West Virginia State University.

Hemphill joined Radford in 2016. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. Augustine’s University and his master’s from Iowa State University. His Ph.D. is from the University of Iowa. Last year, Radford merged with Jefferson College of Health Sciences to establish the Roanoke-based Radford University Carilion (RUC), a health sciences educational center.

FIRST JOB: Working on a farm in rural North Carolina

I ADMIRE: My mother for her sense of humility, compassion and tenacity to persevere through challenging life situations

MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “College Unbound,” by Jeffrey J. Selingo

Kress

ANNE M. KRESS

PRESIDENT, NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, ANNANDALE

Kress took the reins at NOVA in January after serving for 10 years as president of Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. Prior to that, she worked for two decades in various positions — from English instructor to associate vice president to provost — at Florida’s Santa Fe Community College. She sits on the board of directors of the American Association of Community Colleges and earned two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s and a doctorate from the University of Florida.

Founded in 1964, NOVA is the largest community college in Virginia, employing 3,500 staff and faculty. More than 75,000 students attend classes on campuses in six Northern Virginia localities, and through its never-more-important online Extended Learning Institute. Reacting to COVID-19 concerns, Kress announced in June that the college would mostly offer virtual learning this fall.

FIRST JOB: Babysitting (for 50 cents an hour!)

HOBBY: Quilting

I ADMIRE: Malala Yousafzai. After an act of horrific violence, a young woman who simply wanted to attend school became an extraordinary global leader who continues to fight to ensure that all have access to the transformative power of education.

JAMES F. LANE

Lane

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, RICHMOND

The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests are sparking debates about racism and institutional white supremacy, but public education czar James Lane, appointed in 2018, has already been engaged in that discussion. Last February, the superintendent sent a strong message to local school divisions that racism would not be tolerated and in July he announced that Virginia is considering requiring K-12 teachers to receive teaching certificates in African American history.

Lane was previously a division superintendent in Chesterfield, Middlesex and Goochland counties — at the latter, he was recognized as the 2017 Virginia Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. As state superintendent, Lane assumes an executive officer role at the Virginia Department of Education and also serves as secretary of the Virginia Board of Education.

He was instrumental in developing Gov. Northam’s reopening schools plan, which was released in June.

In July, Lane announced that VDOE, along with James Madison University’s College of Education, would be initiating the Virginia New Teacher Support Program, which will provide coaching and professional development to more than 750 first- and second-year teachers across Virginia.

McDonnell

KARL McDONNELL

CEO, STRATEGIC EDUCATION INC., ARLINGTON

Online colleges Strayer University and Capella University are poised to make real inroads during the COVID-19 crisis. McDonnell oversees both for-profit companies as head of SEI, an education services holding company that, in the first quarter of this year, took in $46.5 million in profits.

Strayer and Capella merged in 2018 under SEI but remain separate entities with combined corporate governance. Collectively serving more than 80,000 web students, the schools still face questions about low graduation rates and students’ job preparedness. The Brookings Institution found that Strayer’s graduation rate ranged from 3% to 27% and many students were burdened with approximately $8 billion in loan debt, one of the nation’s highest rates. The New York Times reported that only 11% of Capella undergraduates earn a degree within eight years.

McDonnell, a graduate of Virginia Wesleyan College and Duke University, previously served as president and CEO of Strayer. Before that, he was COO of InteliStaf Healthcare and vice president of investment banking for Goldman Sachs & Co. For five years, McConnell was the general manager of Walt Disney World Resort. During his off time, he volunteers as a wedding photographer.

TROY PAINO

PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG

Paino

Paino came to Virginia in 2016 from Missouri’s Truman State University, where he served as president for six years. Since arriving at UMW, he’s concentrated on student and faculty diversity — creating a vice president position in charge of equity and access — as well as construction. Under his watch, Fredericksburg has seen the $3 million renovation of Mary Washington’s historic amphitheater, a $28 million expansion to Jepson Science Center, a $19.3 million renovation of Willard Hall and the establishment of Mary Washington’s Digital Pedagogy Lab.

Paino earned his doctorate and master’s degree in American studies from Michigan State University and holds a law degree from Indiana University.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Unless you are an arrogant S.O.B., life humbles us all.

I ADMIRE: Nelson Mandela — jailed for 26 years, yet could lead South Africa without bitterness or
revenge in his heart [and] led a racially divided country through a process of reconciliation.

NEW LIFE EXPERIENCE: Adapting a residential liberal arts university to meet the existential threat of the COVID-19 pandemic

FAVORITE SONG: “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” by John Prine

Qarni

ATIF QARNI

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION, COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND

As education secretary, Qarni provides guidance to the Virginia Department of Education, the Virginia Community College System, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, 16 public colleges and universities, 23 community colleges and five research centers, and offers support to seven state-funded arts/cultural institutions.

He helped to develop the state’s COVID-19 school reopening plan, released in June. He’s also charged with devising new guidelines to promote diversity. In the wake of this summer’s social justice protests, he announced that Virginia may soon require K-12 teachers to receive teaching certificates in African American history.

Appointed by Gov. Ralph Northam in 2018, the Pakistan native, whose family moved to Maryland when he was 10, has run for elected office twice, in unsuccessful bids for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2013 and the state Senate in 2015. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from George Washington University as well as a master’s in history from George Mason University. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom as a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant and, earlier in life, taught civics, economics, math and history at Beville Middle School in Prince William County.

MICHAEL RAO

Rao

PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND

The highest-paid state official, making $1.02 million annually, Rao fronts a 30,000-student university that is the largest employer in the Richmond area, with more than 20,000 employees. He’s also president of VCU Health Services, which includes the VCU Medical Center, ranked as the No. 1 regional hospital by U.S. News & World Report.

Arriving in 2009 after serving as president of Central Michigan University, Rao has overseen the construction of the $158.6 million James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Medical Education Center and a $50.8 million renovation of Cabell Library. In 2018, VCU opened the $41 million Institute for Contemporary Art, which was named in February as one of the top new museums in America by USA Today.

In June, Rao joined University of Virginia President James Ryan and Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in urging the state to set aside $200 million in federal relief to increase campus coronavirus testing. At the same time, despite an expected 10% admissions drop due to the pandemic, VCU’s board of visitors approved a $1.4 billion annual budget that avoided staff furloughs and kept tuition prices from rising.

Responding to social justice protests, Rao also announced a restructuring of VCU’s police force.

Reveley

W. TAYLOR REVELEY IV

PRESIDENT, LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY, FARMVILLE

Reveley is a rarity: a third-generation college president. The Richmond native’s grandfather, W. Taylor Reveley II, was head of Hampden-Sydney College for 14 years, and his father, W. Taylor Reveley III, was president of William & Mary for a decade.

Reveley IV clearly inherited some aptitude for the job. Longwood has received more than $100 million in grants and donations since he came to the 5,096-student public liberal arts university. In 2019, Longwood received its largest-ever donation, a $15 million gift from alumna Joan Brock, which will go toward the construction of a new $40 million convocation and events center slated to open in 2022. In accordance with the school’s ambitious 2025 master plan, the school also renovated its iconic Frazer and Curry residence halls.

In April, Reveley announced that a new COVID-19 planning task force had been assembled from the campus community and Farmville to help Longwood reopen safely in the fall.

A graduate of Princeton University, where he played on the football team, Reveley also holds a master’s degree from Union Presbyterian Seminary and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He previously was managing director of U.Va.’s Miller Center of Public Affairs.

M.G. ‘PAT’ ROBERTSON

Robertson. AP Photo/Steve Helber

CHANCELLOR AND CEO, REGENT UNIVERSITY, VIRGINIA BEACH

Nonagenarian televangelist Robertson, a longtime player in Republican politics, is best known for his Christian Broadcasting Network show “The 700 Club,” but Regent has broad influence as well. Known as the “Harvard of the Christian Right,” it has a student enrollment of more than 8,600 and its alumni include former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, actor Tony Hale and radio host Jay Sekulow, who is also one of President Donald Trump’s lawyers.

The Lexington native originally founded Regent as CBN University in 1977 on his television network’s Virginia Beach campus. It has grown to include eight academic schools, offering associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 study areas. Robertson established the Regent School of Law in 1986 and the university’s accreditation was reaffirmed last year by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Regent plans to reopen this fall with coronavirus-sensitive study options, including online courses, gap year alternatives and early college possibilities for high schoolers.

Robertson, whose “The 700 Club” TV show claims to reach 1 million viewers worldwide each weekday, has long been a controversial public figure, using his televangelism pulpit to denounce gay and lesbian people, Muslims, liberals and feminists.

Rowe

KATHERINE A. ROWE

PRESIDENT, WILLIAM & MARY, WILLIAMSBURG

Discussing the university’s fall reopening plans, Rowe came across as a comforting voice of optimism during her June appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Hired in 2018, the former Smith College provost and dean of faculty has already put her stamp on the 328-year-old university, America’s second-oldest learning institution.

A former entrepreneur who co-founded Luminary Digital Media and received her master’s and Ph.D. from Harvard, Rowe spearheaded an entrepreneurship hub next to the Miller Center at the Mason School of Business, partnering with Launchpad, the region’s business incubator, and James City and York counties.

William & Mary has already received some large gifts during Rowe’s tenure — a $10 million donation from alumna Jane P. Batten to expand online programs, a $19.3 million anonymous gift to establish the Institute for Integrative Conservation and the donation of alumna Sybil Shainwald’s prestigious art collection, including works by Picasso and Matisse.

BEST ADVICE: Cross-train

HOBBY: Playing and coaching the sport of Ultimate

FAVORITE SONG: “Feeling Good,” by Nina Simone

ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA: The humidity

JAMES E. RYAN

Ryan

PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE

In December, the 24,000-student U.Va., founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, kicked off the public phase of the largest-ever capital fundraising campaign by a Virginia university, with a goal of raising $5 billion by 2025. Ryan, who took the helm at U.Va. in 2018, is already more than halfway there.

In January, U.Va. received the largest single private donation in school history, a $120 million gift from alumni couple Jaffray and Merrill Woodriff to start a School of Data Science. And, in October 2019, Darden School alumnus David Walentas and his wife, Jane, gave $100 million to fund scholarships for first-generation students.

Previously dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Ryan graduated summa cum laude from Yale and earned his law degree from U.Va., graduating first in his class. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

There have, however, been some bumps in Ryan’s tenure: He was criticized for supporting the appointment of President Trump’s legislative affairs director, Marc Short, to U.Va.’s nonpartisan Miller Center for Public Affairs. (Short is now Vice President Pence’s chief of staff.) And a coalition of students was unhappy with Ryan’s initial response to Black Lives Matter protests, decrying violence by protesters.

Sands. Photos courtesy Virginia Tech

TIMOTHY ‘TIM’ SANDS

PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA TECH, BLACKSBURG

On the job since 2014, Sands is still basking in the glow of Tech’s planned $1 billion Innovation Campus, which state officials have said sealed the deal in landing Amazon’s $2.5 billion HQ2 headquarters.

A celebrated scientist and expert in the field of light-emitting diodes, Sands oversees a university founded in 1872 that serves 34,850 students in 280 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and has a research portfolio of $522 million.

Sands earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering physics and his master’s and Ph.D. in material science and engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He came to Blacksburg from Purdue University, where he served as acting president and executive vice president and provost and was director of Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center.

Sands announced in June that Tech will blend in-person and online teaching this fall and make COVID-19 testing available to thousands of students in university housing. He also joined VCU’s Michael Rao and U.Va.’s James Ryan in urging the state to set aside $200 million in federal relief to increase testing on the state’s college campuses.

 

Washington

GREGORY WASHINGTON

PRESIDENT, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY, FAIRFAX

With 38,255 students, GMU is Virginia’s largest four-year public university. It’s also the state’s most racially diverse and financially inclusive, as nearly a third of Mason students qualify for Pell Grants and 40% are first-generation college students.

It’s only fitting that Washington, who became the university’s eighth president in July, is the first African American to lead GMU, originally established in 1949 as a Northern Virginia satellite of the University of Virginia. He was also the first person in his family to attend college.

After earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University, Washington was a faculty member and then interim dean of Ohio State University’s engineering college. He then became dean of the Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine, where he was the first African American dean to lead a California state engineering school. Washington also helped Irvine land a $9.5 million donation for scholarships and established a STEM education outreach program. He also diversified the faculty, hiring more Black female instructors and staff and chaired the University of California’s UCI Task Force on Ensuring Positive Campus Climate for the African American Community.

 

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More college students head into quarantine as COVID-19 cases rise

RICHMOND — As more universities open, they’re collecting and releasing COVID-19 data and grappling with contingency plans for those who contract the disease.

As of Thursday evening, universities across Virginia were reporting that more than 550 students, staff and faculty members have tested positive for COVID-19 since schools reopened two weeks ago, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The University of Virginia in Charlottesville released its first set of COVID-19 testing data on Wednesday. There have been 58 total positive cases at the university since Aug. 17, including 31 students. The university’s quarantine rooms are currently 5% occupied and the isolation rooms are not occupied.

“Students living off-Grounds will be expected to quarantine or isolate at their off-Grounds housing,” the university wrote in its public health plan. “Students who can safely travel home to isolate or quarantine will be encouraged to do so.”

The university is exploring monitoring COVID-19 among the student population by testing wastewater from certain buildings and is considering point prevalence surveys, which test every person in a certain area or building regardless of symptoms.

Virginia also has an online portal for students and those in the surrounding community to report infractions of the university’s coronavirus policies.

James Madison University in Harrisonburg debuted its COVID-19 dashboard Tuesday, which showed 125 positive cases mostly tied to students. Fifteen JMU students on campus tested positive since July 1 and 107 self-reported their positive test results since Aug. 17. Three employees also self-reported positive results since then. The university has tested almost 820 students since July 1. Eleven students that live off-campus and are affiliated with the same organization tested positive, JMU said Wednesday.

“If [students] need to isolate or need to quarantine, we are asking that they do so at home, where they can be supported by family or friends if that’s possible,” said Caitlyn Read, JMU spokesperson.

JMU can provide students that cannot return home to quarantine or isolate with a space to do so, Read said. The university health center staff checks on the students daily, provides them with food and makes sure they have access to coursework, Read said.

As of Thursday, JMU had 14 beds occupied for students in isolation or quarantine out of 143 available beds.

Various factors will determine if JMU goes to a virtual format for all classes, including the number of cases on campus and isolation and quarantine space available on campus, Read said. She also said the amount of personal protective equipment available for health workers on campus and the COVID-19 positivity rate in Harrisonburg will be considered.

Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond added prevalence testing data to its COVID-19 dashboard, logging 70 tests with one positive COVID-19 result as of Thursday, for a 1.4% positivity rate. VCU’s prevalence testing program tests asymptomatic people within the university, including employees and about 5% of students that live on campus and about 2% of students that do not.

VCU had 110 active cases on campus as of Thursday–98 students and a dozen employees. The university reported a cluster of 44 cases within the athletic department, forcing it to open an isolation space at the former Honors college dorm. VCU reported 167 students are in on-campus quarantine or isolation. The cases have increased 205% since the dashboard launched a week ago with 36 total cases.

On Thursday, a Grainger vending machine appeared on VCU’s campus, stocked with face masks and hand sanitizer.

Blacksburg-based Virginia Tech reported 16 more COVID-19 cases on campus on Aug. 23, an increase from five cases the week before. The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg has tested almost 4,600 students and 607 employees. Fifteen students and less than 10 employees tested positive prior to arriving on campus on Aug. 19. Fairfax-based George Mason University conducted almost 2,950 tests since Aug. 2. Eight tests were positive since then, including six students and two employees.

Some colleges are currently fully online. Virginia State University in Petersburg announced this week that all classes will be conducted remotely for the fall semester due to COVID-19 concerns. The university won’t have residential students on campus, VSU President Makola M. Abdullah said in a video posted on the university’s Facebook page.

On Tuesday, the University of Lynchburg announced classes will remain virtual until Sept. 2 due to positive COVID-19 cases after shifting to remote learning on Aug. 20. The university has 44 positive cases as of Thursday–31 on campus and 13 off campus.

JMU introduces COVID-19 dashboard

Joining other state universities, James Madison University introduced a COVID-19 dashboard Tuesday to track positive results among students, faculty and staff.

According to the dashboard, JMU has 24 self-reported cases and four positive tests performed at the university health center; all but one of the cases were among students. The university noted in its description of the dashboard that it “cannot guarantee that this information is complete” because self-reported cases make up the majority of its case count. “Individuals not tested at the University Health Center who test positive may choose not to report,” the site says, “but their positive status should be included in the Virginia Department of Health’s total case count.”

According to a Daily News-Record story, Harrisonburg police said move-in weekend was relatively calm compared to previous years, with no citations for large parties, which have been banned by its city council due to the pandemic. No gatherings of more than 50 people are currently allowed in the city, and the university has told students that it will suspend lease holders who host large parties and receive more than one warning.

VCU reported 63 active student cases Tuesday and 13 active cases among employees. Other schools across the state are providing updates as well.

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JMU leaders want Confederate names removed from buildings

James Madison University announced Monday that university leadership is asking the JMU Board of Visitors to rename three campus buildings on its Quad that are named for Confederate leaders Gen. Thomas  “Stonewall” Jackson, Col. Turner Ashby Jr. and Matthew Fontaine Maury.

“We recognize that these building names are a painful reminder of a history of oppression, and that they send an unwelcoming message to Black students, faculty and staff in particular. That is not who we are or who we want to be,” JMU President Jonathan R. Alger said in a statement. “Much has changed since those buildings were named more than 100 years ago.” 

The university will recommend to the board of visitors immediate removal of the building names and assignment of temporary names. It also will recommend establishing a process in which the JMU community can brainstorm new names for the buildings. University leadership is planning to hold a virtual board meeting this summer to discuss plans. 

JMU’s Task Force on Inclusion has studied the history of the three buildings in question, and information was compiled by the History and Context Working Group of the task force. Findings were shared with the campus community, and individuals were invited to share their thoughts with university leadership about changing the building names. 

“JMU has evolved into a national institution that welcomes students from all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds,” Alger said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to change and evolve, and while that process can be messy and painful at times, it is at the heart of what it means to be a university.”

The university is named for the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, also known as the Father of the Constitution. Madison owned slaves, and the university “recognizes Madison’s flaws as well as his virtues.”

“The university will continue to honor his legacy through the name of the institution, and carry forward his vision ‘to form a more perfect union,’” read the statement from JMU.

 

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Colleges need to play a role in rebuilding the economy, panelists say

As Virginia moves into its recovery phase from the COVID-19 pandemic, economic leaders say there is work to be done to support college students and Virginians who are changing careers, especially in terms of equal opportunities.

Thomas Barkin, president and CEO of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, and Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Stephen Moret discussed the role of higher education institutions in rebuilding the economy during the Vibrant Virginia Virtual Forum Series hosted by Virginia Tech on Friday.

“I think one of our really big challenges is how do we get those people back into the workforce,” Barkin said of students and adult learners. “And in many cases, they’ll be back in jobs they had before … but in many cases they won’t. There’s an opportunity to extend what’s been innovated in online learning into retraining.”

While colleges, universities and workplaces transitioned into virtual working and learning experiences, the inequities present in higher education became more clear, panelists agreed. Those who were already struggling financially before the pandemic were affected more during it. 

“In general, folks who have less than a college degree face much more economic impact than those who have a college degree,” Moret said. “This is something that’s had a tremendously negative impact on our country, but it’s an impact that’s been even more harshly felt by certain sectors and certain types of individuals.” Panelists also said that degree and certification rates are down as the result of the pandemic, largely due to the inequities that exist with broadband access, which has been held back in many rural areas because of the expense in building the “final mile” to individual homes.

“We’re actually dealing with multiple crises in higher education and society,” said James Madison University President Jonathan Alger. “The pandemic itself had brought to the forefront a whole series of equity issues, such as access to broadband.”  

At his news conference Thursday, Gov. Ralph Northam noted that about 550,000 Virginia households lack access to broadband internet, which limits their ability to take online classes and work remotely. Although the state had budgeted about $70 million to expand access over the next two years, new spending has been paused because of the economic impact of the pandemic. 

Economic boosters, including the VEDP, are champions of ubiquitous broadband access, but accomplishing that is no small task. At the pace projects and funding are moving, it will take an additional seven to eight years for all Virginians to gain broadband access, Moret said. The state is now pursuing federal funds to assist the effort, Northam said Thursday. 

Panelists compared today’s higher education and workforce needs to those during the 18th and 19th century’s Industrial Revolution and post-World War II. Just as soldiers returned home from war in need of new jobs outside their military training, today’s students will need more access to digital technology training to adapt to a post-COVID-19 world, panelists said.

“The biggest problem is actually the folks who don’t complete [college degrees] and that have this huge burden of debt without getting the earnings premium associated with going to college,” Moret said. “We’ve got to deal with completion rates. We’ve got to deal with better helping students to finish college. We need to develop a more stable funding structure for public higher education in the United States.” 

Also, the pandemic has put even greater strain on community colleges, which host more technical programs that require in-person training, said Virginia Western Community College President Robert H. Sandel. All in-person classes had to be put on hold until summer and fall sessions, so his college has been at work on new certification programs in the digital technology sector to continue to prepare students for the workforce.

JMU, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and Marymount University have also invested more time and effort into creating certification programs and creating talent pipelines for its students to help boost local economies post-pandemic.

Students can prepare for the demands of a digital economy by getting additional work experience while attending school, through partnerships with regional businesses and nonprofits, panelists said, which may also help students find jobs after graduation.

“Higher education should be viewed as central to the economic recovery and moving beyond where we are,” U.Va. Wise Chancellor Donna Henry said. “In difficult times, like after World War II and the Industrial Revolution, there were investments in higher education when it was difficult to find [jobs]. I think that the commonwealth and the country really need to step up and pour more resources into higher education so that we can create the workforce that’s needed.”

 

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U.Va. moving all classes online as coronavirus spreads in Va.

UPDATE, 3:34 p.m., MARCH 11: The University of Virginia’s College at Wise is the latest state higher education institution to announce that it is suspending in-person education and will be moving all classes online as coronavirus spreads in Virginia. 

U.Va. Wise plans to switch to online classes as of March 23 for the remainder of the semester, though it will reassess the situation on April 5.

UPDATE, 3:34 p.m., MARCH 11: Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is canceling all in-person classes and moving classes online as of March 18. NOVA has told students not to return from spring break. NOVA will be canceling all classes on March 16 and March 17 in order to allow for the transition, according to a statement released Wednesday afternoon. Classes will be conducted virtually until April 4, the college said. NOVA has also canceled all in-person student-organized activities until April 4.

“NOVA is implementing this remote-learning policy to mitigate the risk of transmission,” according to the statement.

There are no known COVID-19 cases on NOVA’s campuses, which hosts more than 70,000 students. NOVA campuses will remain open for faculty and staff.

UPDATE, 12:45 p.m., MARCH 11: University of Virginia President James E. Ryan announced Wednesday that U.Va. will be moving all classes online as of Thursday, March 19. “We will not be holding classes on Grounds for the foreseeable future, quite possibly through the end of the semester,” Ryan said in a statement issued Wednesday. U.Va. will reassess the situation after April 5, he said. 

“The university — including university buildings and the Health System — will remain open, and we will bring students back to Grounds as soon as we can do so safely. While we hope to do so before the end of the semester, we may not be able to and are working on a number of contingency plans, including plans for graduation,” Ryan added.

U.Va. also has canceled or prohibited all university events with more than 100 people. The university is also “strongly” encouraging students traveling for spring break to return home or to remain home.

“Our approach is guided by three goals: (1) to protect the health of our students, faculty, staff, and Charlottesville neighbors; (2) to help slow the spread of the virus in Virginia and the nation; (3) to ensure the continuity of our teaching, research, and clinical care. All of those goals are advanced by reducing the number of people who are living and meeting on Grounds,” Ryan said.

As of March 11, the coronavirus has spread to Central Virginia, with a ninth Virginia case confirmed in Hanover County.

This is a developing story. Virginia Business will add updates as more information becomes available.

MARCH 10, 2020 — Amid fears of the novel coronavirus that spread to Virginia this week, the University of Virginia and other state universities are considering moving classes online — a move already being taken by several major universities across the nation that have been cancelling in-person classes, including Harvard University, Columbia University and Princeton University.

And universities are not the only educational systems mulling such measures in Virginia. Fairfax County Public Schools, the nation’s 11th-largest school system, is closing on Monday “to prepare for the possibility of distance learning in the event of a school(s) closure,” according to a statement from the school system. Henrico County Public Schools issued a statement to parents Wednesday saying that while it does not immediately plan to close schools, “The Virginia Department of Education is encouraging school divisions in Virginia to find opportunities for students to learn from home. This week, HCPS is working on plans to ensure the continuity of learning for all students in the event of an extended closure.”

In Charlottesville, U.Va. has been holding COVID-19-related planning meetings in which university officials have discussed the possibility of extending this week’s spring break and moving its classes online, a university source told Virginia Business.

“All options are on the table,” though no decision has yet been made, University of Virginia Rector James B. Murray Jr. said Tuesday, adding that he and U.Va. President James E. Ryan have been discussing the rapidly changing situation, which is developing “hour by hour.”

Ryan has convened a work group to assess the health threat to the university and to discuss potential responses, Murray said. University spokesperson Brian Coy said Ryan would be updating the community on coronavirus-related actions later this week.

While U.Va. is working closely and sharing information with the state government, it’s his understanding, Murray said, that the Northam administration is allowing state universities to individually decide what actions may need to be taken in response to the coronavirus based on potential risks. For instance, he said, U.Va.’s Charlottesville campus is probably at a higher risk for coronavirus due to the fact that some students are traveling internationally during spring break. But the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, which is relatively isolated in Southwest Virginia, probably isn’t at as much risk.

First and foremost, Murray said, U.Va’s decision making will be focused on the safety and well-being of the university’s student body. However, he noted that U.Va.’s coronavirus planning is also focused around U.Va. Medical Center’s responsibility as a safety-net hospital, treating patients regardless of their income or insurance status.

At Virginia Tech, Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke sent a letter to faculty Monday urging them to explore and prepare options for delivering coursework outside the classroom.

“Due to the continuing spread of COVID-19 infection in the United States, we must accelerate planning necessary to sustain our academic mission, including the use of online platforms to deliver instruction,” Clarke wrote. “Please use this spring break when most classes are not in session to become familiar with strategies to continue teaching through disruptions and to plan for the possibility that students and faculty may not be able to meet for course sessions in person.”

“As of [Tuesday], we have not made the decision to move all courses to an online format, but that could change in the future,” said Mark Owczarski, Virginia Tech’s assistant vice president for university relations.

James Madison University is also looking into how it could move its courses online, JMU spokesperson Caitlyn Read said Tuesday.

“We are looking at how do we move our courses online,” Read said. “Our libraries and our online learning centers have ratcheted up support services for faculty who are looking … to get classes online. They’re working through that with a number of faculty members right now.”

As of Tuesday, Read said, the university is still planning to resume classes after its spring break, which ends March 16. The university is also looking into its policies on telecommuting, flexible leave and sick leave, Read says, by working with human resources to better understand  what the university can do as far as contingency planning. The university plans to release that information by the end of the week.

Other universities, such as Virginia Commonwealth University and Christopher Newport University, responded that as of Tuesday they had no plan to move classes online.

Virginia now has eight verified cases of the coronavirus, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).

Among the people currently awaiting test results for coronavirus is a Longwood University student, who is self-quarantining, according to a report Tuesday afternoon from the university, and was tested for the virus Tuesday.

“The Virginia Department of Health is closely involved and in regular contact with us, and has told us no one else on campus needs to self-quarantine at this time,” Longwood University said in a statement to students.

Longwood students returned to campus on Monday from their spring breaks.

 

The way forward

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Amy Cortes always figured that she’d go to work as a day laborer like her parents after she graduated from Fort Defiance High School. But somewhere along the way, the Augusta County teen decided, “I wanted to push myself and go to college.”

Last year, Cortes, 18, was one of 31 students in the first cohort of high school seniors to successfully complete James Madison University’s Valley Scholars program. Begun in 2014, the program recruits potential first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds across the Shenandoah Valley.

Starting in middle school, students are mentored by JMU students and faculty and introduced to higher education and its various academic disciplines. The pupils can receive a full scholarship to JMU if they stay in the program through their senior year of high school and meet the university’s standards for admission. JMU partners with seven area school divisions — encompassing 22 middle and high schools — for the Valley Scholars initiative.

Now a JMU freshman, Cortes hopes to become an occupational therapist and is working toward a degree in kinesiology. “This may not have happened if I didn’t go through the program,” she says.

A new world

Valley Scholars was inspired by an initiative that JMU President Jonathan Alger helped to establish in 2007 when he was vice president and general counsel of Rutgers University. “One word that I would use to describe the intent of the Valley Scholars program is ‘hope,’” he says. “The idea is to be life-transforming by giving these students a chance at an age early enough when you can still affect the trajectory of their lives and educational careers, to tell them that finances are not going to be a barrier and that college is an option available and open to them … and that they’re not in this alone.”

There are residual benefits too, he adds. “We have JMU students that serve as the Valley Scholar mentors, and they are in the middle and high schools on a weekly basis. This is having an effect on the scholars, but also on JMU students, many of whom are interested in the field of education or want to be future teachers themselves.”

Cortes, a first-generation American citizen, says the Valley Scholars program opened up her world.

“In the beginning, in eighth and ninth grade,” she recalls, “I feel like they were more focused on developing our soft skills and introducing us to JMU’s campus. I like to call that the fun stuff. Once we got into high school, and AP classes were available, they started focusing more on academics. … They’d bring us to campus and I would learn about the majors here, and learn about [different] academic interests. There was a good support system, too. If there were times [when] high school got hard academically or emotionally, the staff was always available to us.”

Among the highlights of her study was the chance to travel with other scholars to Richmond and have lunch with the city’s mayor, Levar Stoney, a JMU graduate.

‘Bright and capable’

“This program fills a need in the community because we’re reaching students who otherwise may not attend college,” says Shaun Mooney, who has served as director for the Valley Scholars program since its inception. “In some cases, we’re improving outcomes. There are a lot of bright and capable kids living in rural areas, and if we provide that access and training and support from eighth grade all the way up to 12th grade, their outcomes are going to be better.”

Students apply for the program at the end of seventh grade. “They have to be low-income, and that would mean they are on free or reduced lunch in the public schools,” explains Mooney. “Their teachers and their principals and guidance counselors also have to identify them as having the academic ability and potential to pursue college education. And they have to be first generation … the first person in their immediate family to have attended a four-year college.”

Currently, 196 students from across the Shenandoah Valley in grades eight-12 are participating as Valley Scholars. Thirty-one of the first 35 participants completed the program and all 31 have entered college — 26 are attending JMU and five went to other institutions, leveraging scholarships and Pell Grant funding.

“And 10 of those [26] now participate in the JMU Honors program. That’s a huge deal,” adds Mooney.  “In another four years, we’ll see how many of those students persisted and graduated with their college degrees.”

Ten of the 31 students who make up the inaugural class of Valley Scholars are JMU Honors students. “That’s a huge deal,” says Shaun Mooney, director of the program. Photo by Norm Shafer

A helping hand

JMU is not the first Virginia college to start an outreach program for disadvantaged high schoolers or to recruit first-generation college students, for that matter. Other programs include George Mason University’s Early Identification Program, a college prep system for first-generation students that began in 1987. And, since 2007, the University of Virginia has offered a “College Guides” initiative in which U.Va. students advise in-need high school students statewide.

However, the Valley Scholars program is different, Alger argues, because it concentrates on the rural areas surrounding the university. “The emphasis on geography is important. We want to be a good neighbor and good partner with our local schools and the communities around us. And we saw that there was a significant need when we did the research. There were a lot of students in Harrisonburg and Rockingham and Page and Shenandoah and Augusta who clearly were not going to college because they came from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

The cost to fund JMU scholarships for the first five cohorts of Valley Scholars is divided between private donors and university funding, and is estimated to be around $7.5 million, officials say.

“I’m very impressed with the program,” says Bill Holtzman, the owner of Mount Jackson-based Holtzman Oil Corp., and a JMU philanthropist who has donated $650,000 to the Valley Scholars. “For the money spent, I get the biggest return that I can imagine.”

Holtzman’s alma mater is Virginia Tech, where he’s a generous donor. (Tech’s Holtzman Alumni Center is named for him.) But he also supports the school in his own backyard. “I live near [JMU] and my businesses are in Harrisonburg … and I like to pay back,” says Holtzman, who intends to keep supporting Valley Scholars. “It opens up the doors for children who, as they say, need a little help.”

A time for growth

Amy Cortes and her fellow cohort members feel lucky “knowing that there are people behind us, supporting us,” she says. “Once we get to college, they let go … but they still check up on us. It’s like a family that has been created.”

“I’m very impressed with the program,” says area philanthropist Bill Holtzman, who has donated $650,000 to the Valley Scholars initiative. Photo by Norm Shafer

“Four of our students graduated from the program last year and all four are at JMU now,” reports Michelle Swab, a guidance counselor at Stonewall Jackson High School in Shenandoah County. Her job is to coordinate between the school’s 23 current Valley Scholars and the university. “Not only is this a huge help financially, it also gets the students ready to handle college. Without this, I don’t know if they’d be able to go straight from high school to a four-year college.”

Hundreds of people — public school teachers and JMU faculty, student mentors and program officials — work with the students year-round. But the program also involves another important group: parents.

“We do family workshops where all of the families come in and tackle different issues that could be obstacles or barriers to the students. Very few programs do that,” Mooney says.

The first class of Valley Scholars is entering the university at a time of notable growth and expansion for James Madison. The school’s nursing program, housed in the state-of-the-art Health and Behavioral Sciences building, has recently begun admitting 23 additional students per semester for a cohort of 113, a 25% increase. And sounds of construction ring out across the grounds. A new 8,500-seat Atlantic Union Bank Center — designed for Dukes basketball games as well as concerts — is being readied for 2021, as is a new $72.1 million College of Business building.

“There’s a lot of work that we’re doing on our campus, in conjunction with the community, to live out this vision we have of being a national model of the engaged university,” says Alger. “One of our goals is to make sure we’re providing access and opportunities to students of all backgrounds — whether socio-economic, racial [or] ethnic.”

JMU announces partnership with Handshake

James Madison University has partnered with San Francisco-based jobs listings tech company Handshake to produce a live feed of job and internship opportunities on its website, JMU announced Tuesday. Although more than 900 colleges and universities use Handshake, JMU says it’s the first school in the nation to fully integrate Handshake into its website, making live jobs and internships listings available for each major it offers, for example.

“Our recent ranking as the best college in Virginia for getting a job says a lot about how we do career services at JMU,” JMU President Jonathan Alger said during a news conference held at the ChamberRVA office in Richmond on Tuesday. “We owe it to our students to increase their career prospects. This partnership with Handshake merely serves to match that preparation with opportunity in a new and innovative way.”

Visitors to JMU’s website can access a live feed of job and internship opportunities for JMU students without having to log in with account credentials. The feed can be accessed directly through the academic page on the university’s website. 

Employers who post opportunities to Handshake can target the schools where they want their job postings to appear. Additionally, students can post and read reviews of companies and can message peers and alums through Handshake’s platform.

Graduating JMU senior Avery Archibald says she used the platform to land her “dream job” at Amazon.com Inc.

“There I was, a new hire for Amazon, waiting to graduate, sitting down with one of the most powerful people at one of the most powerful companies in my own backyard of Harrisonburg, Virginia,” she said, recalling her meeting with an Amazon executive.