@ WDS E-Newsletter - January 2006
Meet the WDS System Office Staff!

Meet the new Vice Chancellor
System Office Updates
College Submissions
Calendar of Events
Workforce Development Academy
General News/Highlights

System Office Updates:

• Read the Legislative Line, a website created by the Office of Institutional Advancement highlighting the General Assembly session and legislative issues we are tracking.
  
  
• The Governor’s proposed budget includes an additional $3.5 million in 2006-2007 and $5.9 million in 2007-2008 to expand Middle College to 23 sites and to sustain funding for Career Coaches at 43 high schools. Additionally, the Governor’s proposed higher education research initiative includes funds for the VCCS to train biomedical lab technicians and to support modeling and simulation technical training.

• Where are Middle Colleges located?
  
  
• A statewide Career Coaches Academy will be held January 23-26 at the Hotel Roanoke in Roanoke, VA.  45 career coaches are registered to participate in the 3 ½ day foundation course that will include instructional modules on administration, career pathways, career resources, and core coaching strategies.  The event will cover eight of the 19 instructional modules that comprise the new statewide career coaching curriculum, including on-line modules, currently under development.
  
  
• Career Coaches will be the first VCCS WDS on-line community to go live on January 23 at the opening night of the statewide Career Coaches Academy.  Monica Razavian, Career Coach for Northern Virginia Community College, will be the new community coordinator for the Career Coaches on-line community.  Thanks to Heather Felts, VCCS WDS Coordinator of Communications and Events, and Karen Griffith, Consultant, for their many efforts in developing the on-line community and in coaching career coaches in use of the community as a tool for communications, inspiration, and sharing of best practices.  Additional on-line communities are scheduled to go live by February 2006.
  
  
• The VCCS has been approved to receive a $50,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to train victims of domestic abuse as Fiber Optics Installation Technicians.
  

• The Institutes of Excellence has issued an RFP to enable colleges to develop, improve, or purchase instructional courses and/or programs with local high schools or secondary Career and Technical Education Centers that lead to an industry certification or state licensure.  Proposals were due on January 13, 2006, and awards will be announced on January 20, 2006.
  
  
• Perkins Supplemental Funds awarded to community colleges in January 2006 totaled $1,187.060.82.   

• Meet the VCCS System Office January Intern!
  

  Written by Joey Novielli, Class of 2007, Randolph-Macon College This January I was assigned to be an intern for the Coordinator of Events and Communications at the Virginia Community College System in downtown Richmond. I wanted to gain some experience in event planning and marketing and the month I am spending at VCCS is great. From the people I worked with, to the events and projects I created, I was able to achieve a better understanding of what the real world is like. My experience as an intern was the same as a regular employee. I had to fight morning and evening rush hour traffic, work an eight hour day, and come home and prepare to do it all over again the next day. Working in the real world is a lot different than being a student. It makes you appreciate being able to roll out of bed and stumble to your one and only class of the day. Working for the VCCS was a great and rewarding experience. I think all college students should do an internship before they graduate to help them prepare for the real world. A better understanding of what is to come will help you in the present to make decisions that will help your future plans succeed. Some of the projects I worked on for the VCCS were helping plan the Career Coaches Academy in Roanoke, VA and the National Science Foundation Annual Committee meeting in Charlottesville, VA. I also worked on creating contact lists, working with hotels and catering companies and working with the Office Specialist on a variety of in-house work. The completed work was more rewarding and worth the fight through the traffic to gain experience that will be invaluable to me when I graduate and start my job search.

  
  
• “Everybody’s in Sales,” an article by Trenton Hightower

• Path to Industry Certification Grids, http://www.vccs.edu/workforce/institutes/P2IC.htm

College Submissions

• Blue Ridge Community College
  BRCC’s Students in Free Enterprise Club (SIFE) initiative to provide aid to Katrina victims, in mid-December Mike Eller, Coordinator of the Commercial Driving School (CDS), made pick-ups around the service region of donated clothing, toys, and household goods that had been coordinated by SIFE and designated for delivery to the devastated Biloxi, Mississippi area.  The BRCC SIFE team’s original objective was to secure enough donations to fill a large van, but the team was so successful that the donations filled a 40 foot semi-trailer.  With over $40,000 worth of donated goods, the next step was to arrange with the college administration and the Workforce Services division to have one of the CDS instructors transport the loaded trailer to the Biloxi area.  Mike Eller, who also teaches in the CDS program, volunteered his time, and from December 15-18, the BRCC truck made stops at three different community centers in the Biloxi area.
  
  The project itself was highly significant; however, the deeper significance of this mission trip was that, in part due to the efforts of the Commercial Driving School, the SIFE team was able to deliver the donated goods to some of the neediest families in small, rural communities that had received either minimal assistance or no assistance at all up to this point.  These families had no transportation, and could not travel to the major assistance center in Biloxi.

• Central Virginia Community College
  CVCC helps those with disabilities – The College for Living Plus Program teaches life skills and self-sufficiency
  

  CVCC initiated the College for Living Plus program Fall Semester, 2005 with the cooperation of the Lynchburg City Schools.  This unique effort is a post-secondary campus-based instructional program that provides students with moderate/severe disabilities, ages 18-21, an opportunity to continue to learn independent living, work adjustment, and employment skills in an age-appropriate setting where they can interact with their non-disabled peers.  The goals of the program are to: Increase the student’s work adjustment skills Develop job specific skills Provide the student with a “mentor” to assist the student in the transition to campus life Provide over four hundred hours of instruction to prepare the student for traditional college-level classes in a variety of career fields As work skills are developed, give the student the opportunity to participate in an internship with a variety of employers in Region 2000 Increase each student’s level of independent functioning in the home, community, and the work environment

  Members of students along with instructors and mentors from the first class

• Thomas Nelson Community College
  Hampton, VA -Automotive professionals can now achieve National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification through the ACT Center at Thomas Nelson Community College utilizing the expanded Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format. Read the press release.
  
  
• Virginia Highlands Community College
  The Center for Business and Industry at VHCC sends monthly updates of programs/events electronically to business contacts.
  
  Save the date for 2006 AchieveNET Regional Conference!
  
  
•  Virginia Western Community College
  Several updates from VWCC including an update on the college’s 40 th anniversary of service to the Roanoke Valley Region plans!

WDS Calendar of Events (January/February/March):

• January 15 – 20 – SIS Taskforce Meeting, Roanoke
• January 18 - State Board Meeting, Richmond
• January 19 - State Board Meeting, Richmond
• January 19 – Sales Training Workshop, Northern Virginia
• January 23-26 – Statewide Career Coaches Training - Roanoke, VA
• January 25-26 – Kuder Training for Career Pathways Practitioners, Roanoke, VA
• January 27 – NSF State Leadership Team Meeting ( Charlottesville)
• February 7 – Technology Council Spring Meeting, Roanoke
• February 8 – Technology Council Spring Meeting, Roanoke
• February 15 – Tech Prep Grant Writing Workshop and Directors Meeting, Roanoke
• February 16 – Perkins Grant Writing Workshop, Roanoke
• February 16 – Industry and Occupational Cluster Analysis Regional Meeting (Hampton)
• February 21 – Advisory Council of Presidents (ACOP), Richmond
• February 22 – Advisory Council of Presidents (ACOP), Richmond
• February 22 - Tech Prep Grant Writing Workshop and Directors Meeting, Richmond
• February 23 – Perkins Grant Writing Workshop, Richmond
• February 28 - Industry and Occupational Cluster Analysis Regional Meeting (Southside)
• March 1 - Industry and Occupational Cluster Analysis Regional Meeting (Southwest)
• March 2 - Industry and Occupational Cluster Analysis Regional Meeting (West Central)
• March 6-7 – Apprenticeship/CRC Peer Meeting ( Charlottesville)
• March 7 – 9 to 10 a.m. WDS Advisory Council Steering Committee Conference Call to Plan April Meeting
• March 7 - 10 to 11 a.m. ASR+ WDS Joint Committee Conference Call to Plan April Meeting
• March 9 - Industry and Occupational Cluster Analysis Regional Meeting ( Northern Virginia)
• March 15 – State Board Meeting, South Boston
• March 16 – State Board Meeting, South Boston
• March 19 - 22, League for Innovations, New Orleans
• March 22 – 24, Academic Advisory Council Meetings (ASAC)
• March 28 – Virginia Workforce Council, Richmond
• March 28 - Grant Writing Workshop, PVCC

Workforce Development Academy:

• Since August 2003, the Workforce Development Academy has seen over 100 workforce development professionals complete the Workforce Development Professional Competencies course at the University of Virginia. The students are primarily from the VCCS; however we have seen an increase in interest and participation from the Virginia Employment Commission, Department of Rehabilitative Services, One-Stop Centers and the private sector. More importantly, this past year we welcomed three non-Virginia folks to the course from California and Bermuda! Ten individuals have completed UVA's Workforce Development Graduate Certificate Program with an additional 25 having completed one or two courses. This past fall, the workforce development professional competencies were updated and the piece de resistance is securing CVS Pharmacy's support for 2006! The WDA anticipates more exciting things to occur this year laying the foundation for a national audience. Thank you for your continued support.
  
  Professional Development Opportunities

  • Workforce Development Professional Competencies Summer 2006 Institute (one week format) - dates TBA PSWD 590 will be offered May-July 2006 PSWD 591 will be offered twice this year - May-July and September-November.
  • JMU's Workforce Development Campus - Session I of the online courses in program development, e-learning, etc. start January 16th. http://www.jmu.edu/wdc/home/index.shtml
  • NCCET's Leadership Training is coming to Roanoke, Virginia - dates TBA. www.nccet.org
    
    For more information on any of the professional development opportunities, contact Barbara Kessler at: 434-243-5337 or bkessler@virginia.edu.

General News/Highlights:

Dr. Cheryl Thompson-Stacy to Become Eastern Shore President

Deputy Secretary of Finance Pamela A. Currey Joins Virginia Community College System Staff

The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) is launching its new and exciting Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship Program and is now recruiting 40 first-year community college students for its first scholarship recipients.

VCCS Career Switcher Program
The VCCS Career Switcher Program is a statewide program offering a fast track to teacher licensure for those with bachelor’s degrees and five years of work experience.  It is one of a handful of Career Switcher Programs approved by the Virginia Department of Education.  The program is offering endorsements in mathematics and science at the middle and high school levels.  Foreign language and English as a Second Language endorsement areas will be piloted in the Spring 2006 cohort.  A statewide network of information and referral is available through nine regional advisors located around the state.  For the Fall 2005 group, five VCCS colleges are offering once per month compressed video sessions.