RD359 - Virginia Community Colleges Annual Report 2013-2014


Executive Summary:
Virginia’s Community Colleges are entering into the final year of the Achieve 2015 six-year statewide strategic plan. The pursuit of that public promise drives our 23 colleges and 40 campuses. Together, we are serving more students, including more historically underserved students, producing more graduates and assisting more Virginia employers.

I invite you to look at the charts throughout this annual report. They represent a snapshot of our progress, highlighting our successes as well as pointing us to where more work must be done. Among those charts are the pictures and stories of some of the almost 400,000 people Virginia’s Community Colleges served last year.

Their stories of success inspire. As our system of community colleges nears its golden anniversary, it is important to remember and remain true to our founding mission of bringing higher education and workforce training to all of Virginia.

As Achieve 2015 nears its end, our work begins anew to ensure we meet the needs of the families, employers and communities we serve. While we vet the draft of our next strategic plan, one thing is certain: our focus remains external, fixed on the needs of those we serve. Our community colleges are at their best when they are the place where people can come together and collaborate on getting a community to where it wants to be.

Virginia faces significant educational needs, including: preparing more high school graduates for college-level work; guiding veterans transitioning to civilian careers; bridging the educational disparities between different regions of Virginia; and connecting today’s students with tomorrow’s most promising careers, especially in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health science fields.

These challenges did not occur overnight nor will they be solved overnight. But they are not beyond resolution. With a sense of urgency, with focus, with appropriate resources, Virginia’s Community Colleges exist to address these needs. When I see how far we have come, even just in the past six years, I know that we are up to the task!

Sincerely,

/s/ Glenn DuBois
Chancellor