VCCS Six Year Plan
Part II Section C
July 1, 2013
Virginia’s Community Colleges
2014-20 Six Year Plan
Evaluation of Previous Six-Year Plan
Substantial progress has been made on the current VCCS Six-Year Plan, which was developed in
2011 and revised in 2012. All of the strategies in the Plan support the VCCS strategic plan,
Achieve 2015, and the objectives of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011. Many of the
strategies were identified and are being implemented as part of the Reengineering efforts that
has been underway at the community colleges since 2009. Additional state and federal funds
supported many of the initiatives and a number were funded within existing budgets. A
number of the initiatives were funded through the $24 million U.S. Department of Labor Trade
Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant (TAACCT), which was
awarded in September 2011.
Highlights of the progress on initiatives include:
Increasing the percentage of courses taught by full-time faculty
In fall 2012, the colleges reached a level of 45 percent of courses taught by full-time
faculty. While this has been a long-standing goal for the VCCS, the issue is particularly
critical at this time as adjunct workloads are being impacted by the implementation of
the Affordable Healthcare Act.
These positions are being funded with a combination of general fund support, additional
tuition revenue, and reallocation of existing budgets.
Shared Services Distance Learning Program through Northern Virginia Community College
Through a shared services arrangement, students at twelve community colleges across
the state are enrolling seamlessly in on-line courses originating at Northern Virginia
Community College (NVCC) with all enrolling, billing, and financial aid processes
occurring at the student’s home institution. This program provides students access to
courses that the colleges would not have resources or enrollment demand to offer on
their own. While students have had the option to enroll in these online courses for
some time, they had to enroll at NVCC to receive the class, which caused a number of
administrative hurdles.
In academic year 2013, enrollment was 2,025 students in 616 unique courses,
generating 6,787 credit hours, and an annual student FTE of 226. Course areas offered
most frequently include foreign languages, history, information technology,
mathematics, and science. The goals for the two-year pilot of Phase I of the program
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have been reached for the initial six pilot colleges. Colleges are currently preparing
requests for sharing courses for summer and fall 2013. The next phase will be to build
the infrastructure to allow other colleges to originate courses taught by its faculty using
the NVCC shared services model.
This program was started and operates with no new funding, but it has expanded access
significantly across the Commonwealth.
Redesign of developmental mathematics and reading and writing courses
A major initiative of the Reengineering effort is the redesign of developmental
mathematics and reading and writing courses. The goals of the developmental
education redesign included reducing the need for remediation, decreasing the length
of time spent in developmental education courses, and increasing the proportion of
students reaching success measures of graduating or transferring. Through an extensive
process coordinated by the VCCS and led by college faculty, the new developmental
mathematics curriculum and placement test were rolled out to colleges in January 2012.
The redesign of developmental reading and writing was implemented in January 2013.
The next step in the process is to monitor and assess the outcomes.
The expenses have been funded primarily through reallocation of existing resources,
with modest support from a grant.
Further strengthening STEM-H programs
Using SCHEV’s CIP definition of STEM, the following six STEM programs were developed
over the past year by VCCS colleges:
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Mechatronics Systems Engineering Technology AAS degree (Virginia Western
Community College)
Mechatronics Plan of Study in the AAS Technical Studies Degree (Blue Ridge
Community College)
Electrical Controls Technician Intermediate Career Studies Certificate (Lord
Fairfax Community College)
Sustainable Agriculture Career Studies Certificate (J. Sargeant Reynolds
Community College)
Mineral Mining Career Studies Certificate (Southside Virginia Community
College)
Computer-Aided Drafting Design Technology Career Studies Certificate
(Southwest Virginia Community College)
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These programs have been funded with a combination of general fund support,
additional tuition revenue, and reallocation of existing budgets. The State Board
approved a portion of the 2013 tuition increase to provide resources to strengthen
STEM-H programs, which are a state priority. Colleges actually supplemented the $1.64
million generated from the 50 cents per credit hour of the FY 2013 tuition increase with
reallocation within the existing budgets of another $3.6 million.
Faculty evaluation
The goal of the project was to review current VCCS teaching faculty evaluation policy
and develop an improved process that will create an environment for teaching faculty
that promotes high performance and continuous improvement resulting in world class
faculty and increased student success. A new teaching faculty evaluation system has
been developed by a team of representatives from several colleges. Implementation is
proceeding on schedule. Ten colleges have submitted initial plans to the Chancellor for
certification thus far.
Win-Win Project (Assist Former Students to Complete Degrees)
Six colleges have participated in Project Win-Win over the past two years. Project WinWin is a national project seeking to identify students who had nearly completed an
associate degree but were no longer enrolled, contact them, and move them to
graduation. Five thousand seventy-one students were initially determined to meet the
criteria based on a data review. Over 60% of these students had transferred to fouryear institutions. Of 312 students determined “eligible,” 66 degrees were
awarded. Most colleges encountered significant issues in contacting students who were
close to completing their degree requirements. Colleges also learned that particular
courses, such as Math, English and Technology, presented barriers for students in
completing their requirements. The final report on Project Win-Win is due in July 2013.
Articulating Learning Outcomes for Courses (Course Redesign)
Another major Reengineering initiative underway is to identify and articulate expected
learning outcomes for courses, particularly in prerequisite courses and high enrollment
courses with low success and/or low persistence rates. The first course for which the
standard outcomes were developed was Psychology (PSY) 200. The Curriculum
Committee, consisting of PSY faculty from all 23 colleges, developed a revised course
description, course prerequisite recommendations, detailed student learning outcomes,
an assessment plan, a resource repository, and a professional development plan.
Faculty at three colleges have been awarded grants to develop model PSY 200 courses
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in on-campus, hybrid, and online formats. A professional development plan has been
developed to prepare psychology faculty for the implementation of the revised PSY 200
course in fall 2013. Similar processes are underway for the Biology 101 and Accounting
211/212 courses.
Credit Audit of Academic Programs
The Credit Audit of Academic Programs, prompted by one of the recommendations of
the Chancellor’s Reengineering Task Force, was launched in August 2011 to reduce
credit totals of programs to achieve two student benefits: (1) reduce time-to-degree;
and (2) eliminate some tuition expense for students. The audit has focused separately
on three clusters of programs and three corresponding phases:
 Phase One: transfer degrees: Aug. 2011-Sept. 2012
 Phase Two: applied degrees: Jan. 2012-Dec. 2012
 Phase Three: certificates and diplomas: Jul. 2012-Jan. 2013
All three phases of the system-level credit audit have been completed. Colleges have
completed curricular revisions prompted by the credit audit of transfer programs and
are in the midst of completing curricular revisions for applied degrees, certificates, and
diplomas.
When the program actions for the credit audit are aggregated by award cluster (transfer
degrees, applied degrees, certificates, and diplomas), it is evident that this
reengineering initiative has transformed the landscape of VCCS programs. Prior to the
audit only 45 percent of VCCS programs (429/951) were in alignment with the
recommended credit totals for each of the program clusters. As a result of the credit
audit, 77 percent of programs (694/907) are in alignment with audit thresholds for the
four clusters of programs. In addition, 44 programs will be discontinued. A total of
1,069 credits was removed from programs targeted for credit reduction.
The estimated savings resulting from the credit audit provide compelling evidence that
this work will not only reduce tuition costs for students and families, but also result in
general funds savings. The estimated annual tuition, mandatory fee savings, and
general funds savings based on the expected annual number of graduates (3-year
average) are as follows:
 Transfer degrees (Phase 1): $1,991,822
 Applied degrees (Phase 2): $1,069,686
 Certificates (Phase 3): $216,358
 Diplomas (Phase 3): $196,544
The annual total savings for the credit audit is $3,474,408. Over a three-year period, the
total savings is estimated to be $10,423,224. As a result of the work of VCCS colleges
over the past two years, the credit audit initiative has contributed to meeting the
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student success goal of Achieve 2015 to assist students in moving from earning a VCCS
award to the workplace or to further higher education.
Dual enrollment (HB1184)
Signed by Governor McDonnell in April 2012, House Bill 1184 requires that each of
Virginia’s community colleges and the local school divisions they serve develop
agreements allowing high school students to complete an associate's degree and
general education certificate concurrent with a high school diploma. Accordingly, all
VCCS colleges have submitted pathways that articulate a pathway for a dual enrollment
student to earn the specified credentials concurrent with high school graduation. The
pathways were developed in conjunction with each of the K-12 school divisions within
the college’s service region and will be implemented in the coming semesters.
3PL Program (Support for Pregnant and Parenting College Students Grant)
Since October 2011, VCCS has partnered with the Virginia Department of Health on the
3PL Program - Support for Pregnant and Parenting College Students with the goal of
strengthening the academic achievement of pregnant and parenting students at six
VCCS colleges: Patrick Henry, Paul D. Camp, Southside Virginia, Southwest Virginia,
Tidewater, and Virginia Western.
The unduplicated enrollment in the Offices of Pregnant and Parenting Student Services
was 436 as of 5/31/13, and, on first encounters alone, 612 referrals were given for social
services (220), academic support (214), health services (77), domestic violence/sexual
assault counseling or support (1), and other support (100). Individual success stories are
beginning to emerge related to retention and persistence to graduation. Additionally,
to learn more about the specific challenges faced by student-parents, Phase One of
campus-based needs assessments has been completed at the six colleges and Phase
Two is underway.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has applied for a new four-year cycle of federal
funding and, if awarded, VCCS plans to reapply for a new contract to continue the 3PL
Program beyond August 2013.
Veterans
The Educational Programs Committee conducted a survey with VCCS academic vice
presidents and provosts on credit for prior learning. The survey included questions on
military training. The results of the survey indicate that VCCS colleges are interested in
collaborating with other colleges to develop system-wide guidelines for accepting
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military training. Three VCCS colleges (Tidewater Community College, Thomas Nelson
Community College, and Northern Virginia Community College are working
collaboratively with Dominion Power and their “Troops to Energy Jobs” initiative to
evaluate and align military occupational specialties with degree programs.
Implement Workforce Training Services Automated Enterprise System
One of the strategies to strengthen workforce training programs was to acquire and
implement an automated enterprise system for registration, enrollment and tracking of
open enrollment, community service and employer contract training courses in order to
provide accurate and auditable data, reduce staffing costs, become more efficient, and
provide improved customer service. This initiative was funded in the TAACCT Grant and
is currently being implemented. A software system has been procured and the project
schedule is being developed.
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