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Tag: Virginia Community College System

VFCCE names Ben Davenport chairman

Davenport Energy Inc. Chairman Ben Davenport is the next chairman of The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, the Richmond-based foundation announced Tuesday.

In 2016, Davenport and his wife, Betty, invested $1 million through VFCCE to create a pilot program with four community colleges that provided early childhood programs to 150 early childhood professionals. Those students also received academic coaching, supportive services and onsite workplace mentoring.

“I think the community college system, by and large, has been taken for granted,” Davenport said in a statement. “I decided that I needed to get involved and that maybe this was one of the best ways to redevelop the workforce and the level of education in our region and across the state.”

Ben Davenport’s father founded Davenport Energy in 1941. The company employs 150 people and has offices in Danville, Gretna, Rocky Mount, Martinsville, Roanoke, South Boston, Covington and Siler City, North Carolina. It supplies propane and fuel oil, along with related services, to more than 30,000 customers in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia and supplies gasoline and diesel fuel to more than 200 convenience stores.

“We are thrilled and honored to have Mr. Davenport as our chair,” Jennifer Gentry, VFCCE’s executive director and vice chancellor for institutional advancement, said in a statement. “His passion and vision for how philanthropic support can play such a critical role in education, and Virginia’s economy, serve as guideposts for VFCCE’s board and mission.”

Davenport also serves as chairman of waste management company First Piedmont Corp. and holds leadership positions on the Virginia Growth and Opportunity (GO Virginia) Board and the boards of Hargrave Military Academy, The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, the Future of the Piedmont Foundation and Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corp.

He attended Hargrave Military Academy, served in the U.S. Coast Guard and graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1964. Davenport lives in Chatham.

Founded in 2006, VFCCE broadens access to education at Virginia’s 23 community colleges by supporting students with tuition, fees and books and by providing services ranging from technology to child care and transportation.

Thomas Nelson Community College renamed Va. Peninsula

Thomas Nelson Community College, based in Hampton and James City County, will soon be called Virginia Peninsula Community College, the Virginia Community College System’s state board voted Thursday.

In February, the college’s local advisory board voted unanimously to change the school’s name, bestowed to honor Thomas Nelson Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Virginia’s fourth governor — and also a slaveholder. Support gathered for a geographically descriptive name, and the local board signed off Sept. 1 on the moniker approved Thursday by the state board.

“Hundreds of names were suggested as the college began consideration of a new name,” Thomas Nelson President Towuanna Porter Brannon said in a statement Thursday. “Narrowing the list of suggestions down to three was no small task. However, when speaking with diverse groups of students, faculty, staff and alumni about the new name, one theme continued to emerge — ‘Virginia Peninsula Community College represents me.’ I believe we have identified a name that is welcoming, inclusive and representative of our unique region.”

Four schools have changed their names this year: Chesterfield County’s John Tyler Community College, which will be known as Brightpoint, after the board’s unanimous support for the new name in July; Lord Fairfax Community College, which serves Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont regions, will be known as Laurel Ridge; and Patrick Henry Community College, which is adding an ampersand to become Patrick & Henry, the two counties it serves. In November, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge is expected to seek approval from the board for a new name, which has not yet been announced. Name changes are expected to go into full effect within the next 12 to 18 months.

In summer 2020, following widespread racial justice protests spurred by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, VCCS requested that community colleges examine the names of their schools and buildings to reflect “values of inclusive and accessible education.”

According to TNCC, two buildings on the college’s Hampton campus named for associates of Nelson will be renamed, but three other buildings named for his contemporaries will not receive new names as they are set to be replaced in coming years.

“This new name emphasizes this college’s community and sends a welcoming and inclusive signal to the students they serve and those they seek to serve,” N.L. Bishop, chair of the state board, said in a statement. “I commend the college leadership who led a thorough and inclusive process to examine the college’s name and move the institution forward. Community colleges are life-changing institutions, and we want every single person in the community to understand that he, she or they are welcome here, and we exist to help them move forward.”

Chancellor of Virginia’s community colleges to retire in summer 2022

Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, will retire at the end of June 2022, he announced Tuesday.

DuBois was hired in July 2001 and is the longest-serving chancellor in VCCS history. He has led the system through three strategic plans and into a fourth.

“I announce this today knowing that with our new equity-focused strategic plan, Opportunity 2027, we are on the right track,” DuBois said in a statement, “and we are in very good hands. And I am excited – just as I’ve always been – by what we will accomplish by working together.”

The State Board for Community Colleges will conduct a national search to find the next chancellor.

“While I congratulate Glenn on a well-deserved retirement, I know that we have big shoes to fill,” Board chair N.L. Bishop said in a statement. “Thanks in large part to Glenn’s leadership, the Virginia Community College System is seen as a national leader.”

Recently, DuBois presided over community college name changes — like John Tyler Community College becoming Brightpoint Community College — after the VCCS requested that their colleges examine their school and building names in fall 2020.

Thursday, DuBois announced that students and employees will be required to wear masks while indoors at VCCS schools.

Before coming to Virginia, DuBois held executive roles in higher education such as the commissioner and CEO of what was then New Hampshire Community Technical Colleges and director of community colleges for the State University in New York.

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society presented DuBois with their State Community College Award of Distinction at its 2008 national convention.

DuBois has a doctorate in higher education administration, research and policy from the University of Massachusetts. He holds a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University, a bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and an associate of science degree from the State University of New York at Farmingdale.

John Tyler Community College renamed Brightpoint

John Tyler Community College will become Brightpoint Community College after receiving unanimous approval from the Virginia Community College System state board in its Thursday meeting.

On July 8, John Tyler Community College President Edward “Ted” Raspiller announced that he had recommended Brightpoint Community College as the school’s new name to the state board.

The Chester college had formed a naming task force in fall 2020, after the Virginia Community College System requested that community colleges examine the names of their schools and buildings, according to the formerly John Tyler Community College’s website. The task force recommended the name be changed, and the college then asked members for possible name choices in January.

The task force provided its rationale on the college’s webpage for the renaming process. Tenth U.S. President John Tyler owned two plantations in Charles City County. “He was a slaveholder, supported slavery throughout his political career, and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives,” the site says.

Raspiller said in a statement, “Today’s decision by the state board to rename our institution Brightpoint Community College allows us to move forward with a name that reflects who we are and the experiences people have with our college. Brightpoint is a name for all. It speaks directly to the experiences people have with our institution, connects with our vision of a success story for every student and describes what our students and communities mean to us.”

 

Tuition-free program for eligible community college students becomes law

Legislation creating a tuition-free community college program in Virginia became law Monday, as Gov. Ralph Northam held a bill signing ceremony at Northern Virginia Community College for the “Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back” program, one of his signature initiatives.

Known as G3, the program provides funding for tuition, fees and books and other expenses for eligible low- and middle-income students who are pursuing degrees in high-demand fields, including health care, information technology and computer science, manufacturing and skilled trades, public safety and early childhood education. It is funded via a $36 million state budget allocation.

Northam signed identical House of Delegates and state Senate bills Monday at the ceremony at NOVA’s Alexandria campus.

First pitched in 2019 as a $145 million budget item, G3 was one of numerous programs frozen last year during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn.

G3 recipients must have a total household income that does not exceed 400% of the federal poverty line and must have applied for other federal or state financial aid programs for which they are eligible. The G3 program makes up the difference between what federal or state financial aid pays for tuition, fees, and books.

Eligible low-income students who qualify for full federal Pell grants and are enrolled full time also can receive student support grants of up to $900 per semester and $450 during the summer term to assist with expenses such as food, transportation and child care.

Participating institutions will receive a performance payment for each G3 student who completes 30 credit hours and an additional performance payment for each student who receives an associate degree.

“Building an equitable and inclusive economy is more important than ever as we emerge from this pandemic,” Northam said in a statement. “The G3 program will connect thousands of Virginians with the skills, training and resources they need to secure jobs in high-demand fields and support themselves and their families — all without being forced to shoulder mountains of student debt. Tuition-free community college was one of the key issues I ran on during my campaign for governor, and I am thrilled to be delivering on that promise.”

In a statement, NOVA President Anne M. Kress said, “For NOVA, G3 puts a college degree that leads to a meaningful career within reach of the full diversity of the commonwealth. An investment in community college students is an investment in Virginia, one that will help families find economic security while helping the state achieve economic growth.”

According to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), associate’s degree graduates in 2018-19 pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Virginia had a median debt of $12,000 at graduation, and those graduating with occupational or technical associate’s degrees that year had a median debt of $15,863 .

“With increased financial stress due to the pandemic, we are seeing more middle- and low- income Virginians delay looking for new job opportunities,” Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni said in a statement. “The G3 program provides critical funding to ensure students are equipped to complete the training that will enable them enter and excel in high-need fields.”

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