NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE:
AN ORAL HISTORY

1965 - 1985

Compiled and Edited by

Beverly Blois
Raymond Bailey
Elizabeth Clark Lewis
Charles Errico
Patrick Reed

Northern Virginia Community College, established in 1965 as Northern Virginia Technical College, recently marked its twentieth anniversary. One of the activities commissioned by the Twentieth Anniversary Task Force was the NVCC Oral History Project, for which we five historians have served as interviewers, compilers, and editors. It was our plan to gather and transcribe the testimony of many of those individuals who foresaw, designed, implemented and attended the college in its first years. Because NVCC quickly grew from one to five campuses, this meant we were speaking with people who helped establish the college itself and, in other cases, with those who had been responsible for the subsequent development of its campuses. Besides this, we were anxious to place the story of the college's establishment and growth within the larger picture of the creation of Virginia's system of community colleges. Thus, we undertook to interview many of the prime movers in this process which both preceded and framed our more immediate story.

We are proud to present now the results of our researches and interviews. What follows is a collection of twenty seven abridged transcripts from our interviews with former governors, former and current presidents of the college, former students, former students who have become faculty or staff members of the college, and twenty year veterans of the college who have "seen it all." We have the recollections of those who first conceived of Northern Virginia Community College, those who literally built it, those who taught and those who attended its first classes.

At the end of our labors as oral historians, some of us working within the methods of this subdiscipline for the first time, we have come to feel great pride in what we have been privileged to compile the history of our college as well as renewed pride in the college itself. We find, too, that this pride is still felt by those who envisioned and established Northern Virginia Community College, though we also perceived a sense of loss by those who, in the "good old days," performed several important jobs simultaneously but are now confined to only one. The pioneer spirit and enthusiasm of the college's early days also emerges in the telling and retelling of the anecdotal lore of converting a warehouse into a college, of an indoor groundbreaking, of student causes and hopes. We often felt ourselves in the presence of that admixture of pragmatism and idealism characteristic of so many of our once and current colleagues who have stamped these traits onto our college.

By no means are all of the important figures in the development of NVCC represented here, but, it is hoped, sufficient of them to tell the college's story. Over three hundred years of association with NVCC are distilled in our transcripts. Interviews, all of which were audiotaped (in addition, a few were also videotaped), lasted one to two hours. Each was fully transcribed and reviewed by the interview subject before being abridged by the interviewer and reviewed again by the subject. All tapes, full transcripts, and assorted documents collected during our work are housed in the library of NVCC's Annandale Campus as the NVCC Oral History Project Archive, and may be consulted by qualified researchers. We present the interviews here alphabetically by subject individual, and have supplied a brief biographical and topical introduction to each.

It is our sincere hope that this compilation will be augmented or otherwise continued in the future, at times and in manners appropriate, and that the first twenty years in the life of our college are merely prologue to its future successes and accomplishments.

Beverly Blois
Raymond Bailey
Elizabeth Clark Lewis
Charles Errico
Patrick Reed

Annandale, Virginia
June 1987

The NVCC Oral History Project was established and funded by the Twentieth Anniversary Task Force of Northern Virginia Community College, chaired by Amy Goss. Consultant for many aspects of the project, especially selection and location of interview subjects, was Mark Gillespie, a charter member of the NVCC Board. The interview tapes were transcribed by Teresa Cook of Reston, Virginia. Text composition was by Christine Coward of Burke, Virginia, who also undertook some of the text editing. James Bradley helped in locating period photographs. Most current photographs in the volume are the work of Cliff Arms. Videotape interviews were filmed by William Nafey, David Dillon, and Doug Wilson. Printing was by Joe Woods and Joanne Duron.

Northern Virginia Community College is indebted to the twenty seven interview subjects, both for their deeds and for their recollections of them. Theirs is the college's story.

Richard Ernst

Dr. Richard J. Ernst began his life in Wisconsin, his career in higher education administration in Florida. Since 1968 he has been president of the NVCC, serving simultaneously for one year as interim chancellor of the Virginia Community College System. His decision not to accept that position on a permanent basis demonstrates the depth of his commitment to the college, as does the following interview, conducted on the Annandale Campus in November 1985.

Patrick Reed: Dr. Ernst, let's begin by having you tell us what you were doing when you first heard about NOVA and how you came to be associated with the college.

Richard Ernst: I was Dean of Academic Affairs at St. Petersburg Junior College in Florida. General Grow, who was Chairman of the Board at that time, along with Dr. Hamel, who was Chancellor of the system, contacted me and asked if I would be interested in the Presidency here. I came up and interviewed with both the Chancellor and the Board at that time. They offered me the Presidency of the Annandale Campus only. They weren't sure whether they wanted to have a President of Northern Virginia Community College. I said I really wasn't interested in that, and so Dr. Hamel and General Grow decided, well, maybe we better have a President for the total college, and when they agreed to do that, then I agreed to come.

Reed: The college was three years old on your arrival. As the father of a three old, I wonder whether the challenges you faced then are similar to some of those I face now at home. I mean if the college was on its feet and out of diapers, wasn't it still getting its balance and finding its identity?

Ernst: It really was a three old when I came. As a matter of fact, it was without a President for a period of about six months. There were a lot of things that needed to be done in terms of developing a structure for the college. So the first year was spent trying to make a three old into something more mature. We spent the first year writing a faculty handbook. Basically, I stole what I had at St. Petersburg and brought it with me, and then we spent the major portion of the year developing a new administrative organizational structure. The college was basically a campus and a half at that time. There was only one building open on the Annandale Campus and, of course, the temporary facilities at Baileys Crossroads, the "Eastern Campus," and my office was on the Eastern Campus. We developed a structure for a multi-campus system, which was quite different from the way they were operating at the time. For example, they had one Division Chairman for Social Sciences at all the locations. We knew that we were going to be growing to five campuses, so we had to develop a structure that could expand. We developed the provost concept and the divisional structure for each of the campuses and the concept of a small college staff that would coordinate the institution across all of the campuses. That was the beginning of making a three old into a four old and then a five old to where we are now.

Reed: At twenty, if the college were a person, it would be in college now. Has growth been the most consistent challenge to deal with?

Ernst: Yes, and I think I can say that it's a lot easier to plan for growth than to plan for decline. As a twenty old, we are beginning to reach some maturity, and I think we are going to see that maturity in enrollment, and we will take a more careful look at program thrust, program designations. We are now to the point where we have to start honing our adult skills. From age three until twenty we dealt basically with keeping up with growth, just as a three old would until he is twenty.

Reed: I hope my three old turns out as well as your former three old! You seem very even tempered, unruffled. You appear to be in control of every situation. It's difficult to imagine, but weren't there ever any problems that had you tearing out your hair in those early years?

Ernst: Well, there were obviously many problems. But I didn't have any hair to tear out, so I didn't do much of that. There were problems. First of all we had to convince the bureaucracy at the state level that we were really going to be a pretty good sized institution. When the originators of the college talked about it eventually, in perhaps twenty years, growing to 10,000 students, the state did not believe that one bit, and I was still dealing with that when I came here, by which time we had about 3,000 students. So trying to convince them that we needed the resources not only to develop campuses and facilities of those campuses, but also to provide operating dollars, that was a continuing problem and one I think will continue into the foreseeable future. I think the challenges have been built around attaining resources to do the kind of things we need to do. That was and is one of my major jobs.

Reed: Among dozens of articles you've published, I noted one on the current crisis in South Africa. How has the college participated in the movement for equality of opportunity we have witnessed in this country during its twenty year life?

Ernst: Access is one of my primary concerns. I continue to be very concerned about the South African situation, where equality of opportunity doesn't exist. That's something that we have to keep in front of us at all times at an institution such as ours. Right now one of my concerns is that we do have a slight decline in black enrollment, although minority enrollment is up, principally because of the influx of Southeast Asian students. We have to continue efforts to assure that we provide access for all those who can benefit from what we can provide. We are the first point of access to higher education, nationally, for most minority students.

Reed: Among your many extracurriculars, you've participated in a program for advancement of women in higher education, and you've written several articles on women's issues, including one on the necessity of child care. In the early years, I've heard, the college sponsored an organization called the faculty wives' club. What role do you think the college and you, as President, have had in making such an organization an anachronism?

Ernst: That's another issue of great concern to me. One article that I wrote is entitled "Upward Mobility of Women in Higher Education Administration - It Doesn't Happen by Accident." I have received more requests for copies of that article than all the other articles I've written. It addresses the need for opportunity for women to advance into top management positions, and the thrust of that particular article is that it will take men in leadership positions to make that happen. You have to provide those opportunities. We do have a number of women in leadership positions that we provided that opportunity for. One of the programs that I regret that we have not been able to continue is the administrative internship program that I started two or three years after I came here. You can follow the women who have gone through that program; they have moved up in leadership positions not only here, but throughout the country. That program was for women and minorities. In fact, Or. Freddie Nicholas, the only black community college president in Virginia, came through that program. But the women's issue has always been a concern of mine. You notice that we no longer have a faculty wives' club. The reason is that women are professionals in their own right. A good example is my wife, who was active in organizing the faculty wives' club, but society outgrew that and now all these people are teachers or administrators or computer experts or mathematicians. I'm glad we outgrew the faculty wives' club!

Reed: What about female student enrollment? Hasn't that shifted over the years to the point where women are a majority of our enrollment?

Ernst: The shift has been dramatic. When the college first opened in 1965, I would say 75 percent of the students were men. Over the years that has gradually changed, following society's changes. Today women make up 56 percent of our student enrollment. Women are equal partners now in society, and as a result they are coming back to our college to gain new skills, to go out into the work world or do other things that are of interest to them. Volunteerism is another area where women are in the forefront.

Reed: Besides your ability to turn the double play on the softball field, and your rebounding ability on the basketball court, the thing about you that I have most admired and appreciated in my thirteen years at the college, was your decision not to accept the standing invitation you had a few years ago to become chancellor of the state system. Would you mind telling me why you chose to return to Northern Virginia after a year as interim chancellor?

Ernst: Well, I made it clear that I would not stay in Richmond when they asked me to serve as interim chancellor. In fact, that made headlines the first day I was in Richmond. Even though I was interim chancellor of the state system, I continued as President of Northern Virginia Community College, with Dean Shuler serving as acting president. I attended every meeting of the Northern Virginia Community College Board, participated in the orientation sessions for faculty and staff. I continued to maintain my role and, as much as I could, my visibility as president of the college. The reason I didn't want to accept that job permanently and you are right, it was offered to me on a number of occasions is that it is too easy to become isolated in a bureaucratic setting and, like it or not, the chancellorship and the central office are a bureaucracy. You are away from the basketball court, with a few students and fellow faculty members such as yourself. You are away from the campus setting, and I like the exchange at the institutional level. I don't think I would ever be totally comfortable in a state level position dealing with numbers and policies and with little opportunity for dealing with people. I'm more of a people person than I am a bureaucrat.

Reed: You are a more challenging interview than some of the long time college employees I have talked to because of what I suspect is a natural modesty. Could you put that aside for a moment and tell me what you are most proud of in your seventeen years of leadership at the college?

Ernst: Oh, goodness, there are many things that I am proud of. I am proud of being a part of making education available to thousands of people in the Northern Virginia area. I am proud of the quality of the faculty and staff that we have been able to assemble at this institution. When you consider some of the salaries we pay, that's rather remarkable. People tend to stay and I am proud of that, though on occasion that is a mixed blessing. I am proud to have had some involvement in leadership throughout the state. I am presently serving as the vice chairman of the state council for college and university presidents. Folks do come to me for advice, and that's a nice compliment. But the thing that I am proudest of is being associated with a dynamic, moving institution. A new book coming out, In Search of Academic Excellence, is a picture of twenty colleges and universities on the move, including ours. I can't take all the credit for that because if it wasn't for the people that we have here, we wouldn't be on the move. I am proud of that: good people.

Reed: Where do you think the college will be moving in the next twenty years?

Ernst: I think the college will be relatively stable in terms of enrollment, which in many respects will De a blessing. I think the college will take full advantage of available technology. I see us maintaining the comprehensive mission of the college. I think we are seeing now a resurgence of the liberal arts. So, I think we will maintain a balance between career programs, technical programs, and transfer programs in the liberal arts. We are going to have to target our technical programs to the needs of business and industry in the community. I see us moving into the use of technology for instructional purposes beyond the institution, outside of the campuses, but also within the campuses. I see us having, very shortly, 400,000 classrooms in Northern Virginia, and by that I mean I see us moving into every house with a variety of programs and services, into every place of employment, into every business and industry, extending the talents of people like you and making them available to everybody who can benefit from that.

Reed: I will look forward to interviewing you again on the occasion of the college's 40th anniversary!

Ernst: Well, I'll look forward to that, too!