US Executive journal
The Magazine for Leading Industry Executives
Spring 2010
Employing a Wealth of Education
Central Virginia Community College
www.usexecutivejournal.com
Employing a Wealth of Education Produced by Mike Armstrong & Written by Molly Cohen Darrel Staat has a passion for education readily apparent in his past 11 years as president of Central Virginia Community College (CVCC). As the school’s sixth president, Staat has focused on forging a loyal and lasting relationship between his college and local businesses. “In 1999 we surveyed local businesses to see what they thought about the college and how well the college was doing in terms of [filling] their needs [by providing good hires] and found it was lacking,” Staat reflects. “We made an effort to remedy that and we’ve been very successful.”
Currently, CVCC counts about 2,750 full-time students out of 8,000 total students, making about 65 percent of students part-time. “Usually the younger students are fulltime,” Staat explains. “A lot of students come for a twoyear degree, but it might take three years or more if they have a family and job.”
Founded in 1966, the college offers programs preparing students to join local companies or transfer to other colleges and continue their education. Transfer students usually go in-state to the University of Virginia (UVA); Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech); Longwood University; Radford University, Lynchburg College or Liberty University. “CVCC has an agreement with 30 schools in the state so the students know they have a better chance of being admitted to them,” says Staat. In addition to the partnerships with other schools, Staat says students choose CVCC because, “We fit their particular needs at a price they can afford.” School Evolution Perhaps based on those reasons, CVCC has seen a 28-percent increase in enrollment over the last three years, according to Staat. “It has been difficult, because on one hand we want to serve those students; but on the other hand the state budget has been dropping very significantly, so we have had to raise tuition, which gets in the way of accessibility for students,” he adds.
Fortunately, CVCC has ample space for all students. The main campus in Lynchburg has 108 acres; buildings are on 20 to 25 acres. The rest of the land is comprised of six tennis courts, a soccer field and a wooded area with a walking path. Besides the main campus, CVCC has four offcampus centers throughout the college service area. “Offcampus centers are leased,” explains Staat. “In addition to traditionally taught classes, we offer classes through an interactive video format; so if we have a couple different people spread between the centers and the main campus who want to take a class, we can offer the course. Our faculty is very good at teaching remotely.”
Page 2 | Spring 2010
Another option for students is online education. About 15 percent of CVCC’s full-time students take classes online and 25 percent of the college’s students are taking at least one online course. “We had two online classes in 1999; now we have more than 70 and two online degrees,” Staat touts.
Distinctive Programs CVCC offers many curriculums that attract students, but the school is especially known for its transfer, health and business programs. However, it also has a large technical school focusing on machine tool, heating ventilation and air conditioning, welding, electricity, engineering and electronics.
CVCC has many individuals teaching and providing student services, whether online or on campus. The school has 65 full-time faculty members and 200 adjunct faculty members. Additionally, CVCC has an administrative staff of close to 65 full-time and another 50 part-time.
When Staat first came to CVCC, the technical labs were out of date. He was told to either close them or upgrade them. Working with local businesses and implementing state money, Staat raised $10.5 million to build and equip the facility.
CVCC subcontracts both cafeteria and vending machine services to one company; it also subcontracts janitorial and housekeeping services. Barnes and Noble is the school’s bookstore provider and the company is in the process of building its own free-standing building on campus. Managing vendors is beneficial for the school; CVCC profits from book and food sales. These profits, along with sources such as parking fines, equal annual gross revenue of about $16 million.
The school’s partnership with local businesses runs deep for CVCC. About four years ago, a local company called AREVA wanted to gear up with young engineers. “ We developed a program where we teach the first two years of engineering and the University of Virginia teaches the second two at the college so local students can take all their classes here leading to a bachelor’s degree in engineering,” Staat explains. “AREVA and 14 other businesses often hire the
3
graduates, and they also offer some students full tuition to participate in that program.” Similarly, CVCC also works closely with a local health organization called Centra Health to place students graduating with health services degrees. Careful Planning Even with such innovative, career-minded programs, CVCC still has its challenges. The school’s biggest competitor in the area, Liberty University, has about 12,000 students, and runs an online program involving nearly 25,000 students, according to Staat. About 2,500 of Liberty University’s students come from an area that CVCC services. In addition to overlapping target pools, Staat is also concerned about the school’s budget. With government cuts, CVCC will be forced to raise tuition. “We have a tentative budget, but we’re waiting to see what shoes drop,” explains Staat. “We’ve worked successfully to have no layoffs of full-time faculty or staff.” Based on the budget issue, Staat plans to spend the next one to two years keeping the school’s head above water, while developing new programs for students. “Right now we’re looking at a program for uses of agricultural land,
Page 4 | Spring 2010
but we would need a grant to get that started,” Staat explains.
years we’ve planned out what we wanted to do point-bypoint and followed that plan, but we have to be careful what we plan next, because if we can’t get grants to support it we’re out of luck,” Staat warns.
That said, this school year CVCC debuted its culinary arts program in a new, standalone building on campus. Other new expansion includes $4.1 million of library renovations. “We completely rebuilt it to include all kinds of electronic components – there are PCs on the ground floor and interactive, compressed video rooms on the second floor,” says Staat.
Hard work, however, trumps luck as the main factor in CVCC’s equation for success. Staat has studied the area’s needs and worked to shape the school to provide workable opportunities for CVCC’s students. With its wide variety of degree programs and deeply woven connections to local businesses, Central Virginia Community College should have a productive future full of striving students.•
Future growth will be centered on an existing building that will be renovated to include an electricity lab, aerobics center, cardio-vascular Sonography lab, workout facility and locker rooms. An old lecture hall will be updated with theater seating for around 85 people. “Over the last 10
COMPANY AT A GLANCE Established : 1966 President : Darrel Staat Annual Revenue : $16 million Employees : 375
www.cvcc.vccs.edu
5
Central Virginia Community College 3506 Wards Road Lynchburg, VA 24502-2498 United States
www.cvcc.vccs.edu www.usexecutivejournal.com