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Three Va. universities have ‘some viability risks,’ report says
State researchers found Radford University, Virginia State University and the University of Mary Washington had “some viability risks,” according to a report released Monday, but none are in immediate danger of closing. The good news from the report conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which conducts program evaluation, policy analysis and oversight of […]
Skanska tops off VSU academic commons building
New York-based development and construction firm Skanska USA held a topping-out ceremony this week for the $120 million Alfred W. Harris Academic Commons building being built at Virginia State University. The 175,000-square-foot building replaces VSU‘s Harris Hall and Daniel Gymnasium and consolidates its College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Education into […]
Education 2023: MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH
Abdullah received the ultimate show of support from VSU in 2022, when he signed a multimillion-dollar deal to stay on as president through 2029. The public historically Black university was struggling financially when Abdullah arrived in 2016, but he has since righted the ship, leading the school to a budget surplus. VSU was ranked No. […]
Two HBCUs eye region for satellite campus
Northern Virginia economic development officials are working with Virginia’s two public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to establish a joint satellite campus in the region that officials say would fill a gap in higher-ed offerings in Virginia’s largest population center. The presidents of Virginia State University and Norfolk State University have been talking with[...]
Counting on change
Royce Burnett remembers how challenging it felt in 1981 as a freshly graduated audit associate starting work at a Big Eight accounting firm in Texas. Of about 250 new employees hired at the time, Burnett, who’s now an associate professor and chair of Old Dominion University‘s School of Accountancy, believes he was the only African […]
White House taps Va. HBCU presidents for advisory board
The presidents of Virginia State University and Norfolk State University are on the list of intended appointees to the President‘s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Biden administration announced on March 31. Virginia State University President Makola M. Abdullah, Norfolk State University President Javaune Adams-Gaston and Janeen Uzzell, CEO of the [&hell[...]
STEM-ming the tide
Mariah Simmons arrived at Virginia State University in 2016 with a dream of becoming the first computer scientist in her family. The week before school started, she enrolled in an on-campus mentorship program called Project Knowledge, which provided her a road map for navigating college. Simmons, now 23, heard stories from students who had been […]
Two Va. projects are finalists for $100M U.S. EDA grants
Two Virginia projects — one to make Central Virginia an advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing hub and one to support the transportation and logistics cluster in Southern and Southwest Virginia — are two of 60 finalists for the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge, which will provide awardees with up to $100 million each. […]
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[...]
Education
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 […]
Four Virginia HBCUs to receive support from Dominion
Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University are among 11 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that will share $25 million in support from Dominion Energy Inc., the Richmond-based utility company announced Thursday. The awarded funds — precise amounts going to each institution were not disclosed — are part of […]
