22. *expand programs that inform
people from groups that currently
have lower rates of higher
education participation about career
opportunities and college entrance
processes
As you heard from the Chancellor, the VCCS Six-Year Plan is about the hundreds of thousands of students we will serve over the next six years and meeting state needs. I’d like to give highlights of some of the strategies you see included in our plan that align with state needs. But first, let’s take a look at our enrollments <click>
enrollments since the beginning of Virginia’s Community Colleges. In its short history, not only has the number of colleges and campuses grown to 23 and 40, but also our enrollment has seen unprecedented growth, from 7,xxx in 1965-66 to nearly 280,000 in 2012-13. As you know, serving as an on-ramp to postsecondary education for thousands with an access mission means enrollments have been, are, and will remain unpredictable. In a short number of recent years during the recession, we added 50,000 students, somehow!
This slide adds our projections, which are modest as we see the job outlook changing and students returning to work. What we see (add line) taking out those few years of unprecedented growth is that we are continuing to increase enrollment.
Our degree estimates reflect continued increase in the number of graduates. You might ask why, given little enrollment growth reflected in our projections. The Achieve 2015 strategic plan (approved by our State Board in fall 2009) has as its central focus student success. Our efforts in moving students from access through persistence to credit completion to student success through graduation, transfer, or earning a workforce credential tell a story of significant impact on our state. These efforts have gained momentum; our six-year plan demonstrates a commitment to advancing students to graduation and preparation for the workforce.
Three state needs are reflected in our plan…
First (Access Slide and then paraphrase)
93% of students who use them also own them
Second (Increase Completion Slide and then paraphrase)
Third (Prepare Workforce Slide and then paraphrase)
Let’s revisit these needs one at a time and highlight ways that each need can be met by Virginia’s Community Colleges. We’ll look at selected strategies from the Six-Year Plan
Who are our students?
1 in 4 are first generation, 2 in 5 are minority race/ethnicity,
with an increase of 6% in the number of Hispanic students in 2012. Indeed, nearly 3 in 5 minority undergraduate students attending public colleges in Virginia are enrolled in community colleges Overall, more than half of our students come from what are considered under-served populations (URPs) Think about the choices across Virginia’s higher education landscape. Some institutions, particularly for-profits, are able to market their programs heavily to prospective students. The VCCS must use its resources in other ways.
We intend to expand access to higher education for students from underserved populations to help the Commonwealth reach the goal of 100,000 additional degrees by 2025.
Specifically, we will…
…expand programs that draw potential students from underrepresented populations to our doors so that we can serve them. Tools like the Virginia Education Wizard enhance student success. The Wizard tool will be critical moving forward as we seek to share with individuals about college and career opportunities and assist in college entrance processes.
We seek to…
…expand to statewide the existing Middle College and PlugGED in Virginia initiatives. Both of these programs transition individuals who have not completed high school through earning a GED and entering postsecondary education or training.
Dual enrollment is a significant on-ramp for high school students. Our data show that 86% of dually enrolled VCCS students attend college after high school. We anticipate increased activity in dual enrollment as a result of recent legislation (HB 1184) through which all of Virginia’s CC’s have signed agreements with all K-12 school divisions to create a pathway whereby high school students can earn a general education certificate or an associate degree concurrent with high school graduation.
Rural portions of Virginia have special challenges regarding access to postsecondary education. Another strategy is to…
…implement The Rural Horseshoe Initiative, which includes…
…14 community colleges who together have acute needs in college readiness and college going. The Rural Horseshoe Initiative seeks to elevate Virginia’s rural communities and economies by increasing rural Virginia’s high school graduation rate (79%) to meet the state average (86%) and by doubling to 52% the percentage of rural Virginian residents who hold a postsecondary credential.
A second strategy under the state need “Get more students into college” is about affordability. We intend to...
…raise awareness that affordable options are available for college. As you know, Virginia’s Community Colleges provide a high quality, lower cost higher education option to students and families. Our tuition and mandatory fees remain at under half of the average tuition and mandatory fees for four-year institutions.
The VCCS will…
…increase financial aid to low- and middle-income students, using the definition developed by SCHEV and the Higher Ed Commission. The Wizard highlights affordability by providing a financial aid estimator and a cost calculator so prospective students can assess the cost of college.
We will also…
…promote the value of obtaining an applied degree or transferring to a four-year institution to obtain a bachelor’s degree. There is strong likelihood that the nurse, dental hygienist, radiographer, physical therapy assistant, or emergency medical personnel you may have come in contact with in a doctor’s office or hospital received training at a community college. The value of an applied degree is reflected in Mr. Massa’s recently released Transfer Cohort Lifecycle tool. A finding from that data source shows that:
Graduates of occupational/technical associate’s degree programs, with an average salary of just under $40,000, out-earned not just nonoccupational associate’s degree graduates (by about $6,000) but even bachelor’s degree graduates by almost $2,500 statewide.
A third state need is to “Help More Students Graduate.” Virginia’s Community Colleges are and will be significant contributors to meeting the goal of 100,000 additional degrees by 2025. Awards have more than doubled since 2003-04, with nearly 15,000 awards in 2003-04 to nearly 33,000 in 2012-13. We are uniquely positioned to advance more students into college to reach a student success outcome. We’ve seen a…
…50% increase in the number of transfers from VCCS colleges to four-year institutions between 2007 and 2012. The Two-Year College Transfer Grant, together with a comprehensive array of systemwide Guaranteed Admission Agreements, create a transfer infrastructure in Virginia that is unparalleled. In nursing, for example, the Governor’s recent announcement of our partnership with Western Governor’s University to provide a $17,000 bachelor’s degree has resulted in five additional guaranteed admission agreements, just in nursing. The VCCS plays a big part of a pathway to an affordable bachelor’s degree in Virginia.
Outcome of early engagementHow does a student get to that goal of completing 24 or more credits?
Challenge of navigating college for 1st gen students, othersImportance of initial student contact for student successSS isn’t just about academics but about an environment of support that nurtures them as learners, students, leading to student success
$17 million: Donna will provide data per FTE
TAACCCTCommunication infrastructure for student successLeveraging technology
Veteran’s Corner
CIF grants on veterans
More than half at least one course online; More than 140,000 HC in 2012-13
Pilot Chancellor’s OER Adoption Grant: 12 highest enrolled courses; pilot course in Fall 2013Joint Commission on Tech ScienceOpenVA Conference: Oct 15 at UMW
Add emerging technologiesHC of enrollees in DL coursesRatio for taking one or more online courses
Steve Sachs data points
A generation of workers, many of them highly skilled, will soon be retiring from Virginia’s workforce and need to be replaced. ManpowerGroup’s 2013 Talent Shortage Survey confirms that these workers are among those in highest demand by employers in the US and cites a lack of qualified candidates and a general lack of applicants as the cause of high demand. In 2012, over 50% of Virginians employed in skilled-trades were age 45 or older according to data compiled by Economic Modeling Specialists International. Virginia has a looming crisis if action is not taken. Virginia’s Community Colleges – as the Commonwealth’s coordinator of workforce training at the postsecondary level and through our broad network of regionally-focused colleges – is well positioned to provide workforce training to meet the existing and approaching needs of Virginia’s businesses and industries.
Renowned workforce economist Tony Carnevale from Georgetown University identified earlier this year that “Almost a third—17 million out of 55 million—new job openings between 2010 and 2020 are going to require middle skills, as baby boomers retire and new jobs are created.” These middle-skill jobs – found in industries like construction, manufacturing, technology, communications, health care, energy, engineering and transportation – are critical to Virginia’s economy and critical to the economic success of individuals. They typically pay middle-class wages with the majority paying $35,000 or more per year and more than one in eight jobs paying $75,000 or more per year. While most require either an associates degree or some form of licensure or certification, they frequently pay more than entry-level bachelor’s degree positions. So what can Virginia do to continue to ramp-up its workforce for these critical jobs?
Dr. Susan Wood has described a number of strategies Virginia’s Community Colleges intend to deploy relative to supporting student access and success among students seeking degrees and other credit-bearing programs, but that is only part of our mission and part of the need that faces our Commonwealth. Virginia’s community colleges are poised to expand our efforts to provide workforce training and education for high-demand, high-skilled and high-income workers in such areas as guided, regionally, by business and industry, but let me share just an example from the peninsula. In a study undertaken by Thomas Nelson Community College, the Peninsula Workforce Council and more than a dozen of the region’s largest manufacturers, it was identified that more than 11,000 job openings are expected by 2016. Among a need was identified for 1,700, electrician and 1,700 welders. In other parts of the Commonwealth, the industry certifications and licenses in demand may include a Commercial Driver’s License or a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (LFCC – boot camp – average pay is $30,000 – complete administrative and clinical tasks including lab tests, taking vitals, disposal if contaminates, giving injections, sterilizing equipment, prepping for x-rays)
Slide: Guy in a vest holding a certification, no text These occupations, like so many middle-skill jobs, rely on a workforce that is certified via industry credentials. Virginia’s Community Colleges are thrilled to have received a $3.5M investment by the Governor and General Assembly and those funds have been productive in allowing Virginia’s Community Colleges to move from providing services to 5,000 (82K to 87K) more noncredit students in one year and move from providing workforce training and services to just over 7,000 employers to more than 9,400 employers (31% increase) in the first year that these new funds were available. There is more to be done and rather than seek to create a model which calls upon the state to pay for more bodies in enrolled in noncredit workforce instruction, we are calling for a new model – one which rewards colleges for the creation of Virginians who obtain industry-recognized credentials.
Our efforts will remain should be guided by local business and industry to best respond to the regional variation and differentiation in skills that are in greatest demand. Incentive funds will be used to both reduce the cost of instruction for students, thereby making industry credentials more affordable, and help community colleges build needed capacity in critical areas of high demand in their local economies. In such a model, colleges only receive funding for students who complete credentials in high-demand areas – not students who enroll – and therefore there is a strong incentive for colleges to efficiently deliver successful outcomes.
In addition to providing industry credentials, there is another key ingredient in fueling the workforce needs of Virginia’s middle-skill jobs. Last year, the Governor and General Assembly made a historic move by expanding access to the Higher Education Equipment Trust fund to include noncredit workforce training. We have applied that $1.5M to a select set of five pilot colleges (PHCC, VWCC, BRCC, RCC, and LFCC) which have each begun the process of purchasing much needed equipment to serve their regional workforce needs. I look forward to sharing with you information on the Return on Investment of those funds once the equipment has been purchased and deployed and cohorts of student using the equipment have completed their training and obtained employment.
Planning for the initial investment of these funds, to meet the training needs of businesses who are deficit trained workers, has demonstrated that the need for modern equipment statewide, exceeds the current supply of equipment trust funds available. We propose expanding the available equipment trust funds.
I have had the pleasure of hearing Tom Lohr of Rolls-Royce describe his workforce needs and the process that he and his colleagues in manufacturing undertake in accessing the capacity of workforce training providers. I won’t do justice to his well-articulated message, but among the most important factors that Rolls-Royce considers in assessing the quality of its potential workforce is the quality and modernity of the equipment on which students are trained. There are numerous training facilities at Virginia Community Colleges that lack the modern equipment necessary to prepare the workforce for Rolls-Royce, its supply chain and others in its industry.
It is also within Advanced Manufacturing that Virginia’s Community Colleges seek to identify and address gaps in curriculum and other gaps that may impede the rapid growth of a workforce to meet the needs of Virginia’s industry. Virginia’s Community Colleges are proud to serve a wide base of manufactures, statewide. And while the need for various skills varies by region, we work closely with our partners in industry and in K12 to prepare a modern workforce. In the last budget, funding was afforded to support the expansion of Danville Community College’s (DCC’s) Precision Machining. Since the 1990s, over 90% of the program’s graduates have received job offers in their field and the funding that was supplied to this program will allow the college to double its current capacity. In addition to Danville Community College, funds were provided to support planning for a Governor’s Academy for Student Apprenticeships and Trades as well as a Feasibility Study for the Virginia Peninsula Center for Advanced Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Center in Hampton Roads. We look forward to keeping stakeholders apprised of the progress from each of these initiatives and we appreciate the support that has been afforded to training a workforce for this priority industry.
Funding in 2011 session47.5% in 2014Make furher improvements