Each year, Convocation brings a special kind of energy. The official start of the academic year is an opportunity for faculty and staff to come together to focus on the new year ahead. NOVA’s 2024 Convocation, Stop at Nothing, was held at Annandale’s Ernst Center on Friday, Aug. 16.
President Kress served as emcee and introduced Board Chair, Ambassador Joseph Huggins, who thanked the foundation and College board members for their service to the College and our students. He offered congratulations to President Kress for being named the Association of Community College Trustees’ (ACCT’s) 2024 Southern Region CEO. He thanked her for her unwavering dedication and compassion to NOVA’s students and employees.
VP of Academic Affairs and CAO, Dr. Eun-Woo Chang, welcomed faculty and staff and expressed his gratitude and optimism for another great year. He noted AI has been the topic of much discussion inside and outside the College. “AI presents us with unprecedented tools and responsibilities. We must adapt and stay ahead of the curve, using the tools effectively and responsibly. NOVA‘s academic vision outlines ways to do this and provides confidence in our collective ability to rise to the occasion.”
VP of Student Services and the newest member of Administrative Council, Dr. Joel Frater, said Student Affairs will strive to achieve success beyond the classroom. “Student Affairs is committed to fostering an inclusive environment. We are boldly NOVA, and when you are bold, you stop at nothing to ensure student success.”
College Senate Chair Jack Lechelt encouraged participation in College Senate. “We need all of you to be involved to the best of your ability, including the College Staff Forum Council,” he said. “Even if you’re not on the Senate, you can still attend meetings, which are all on Zoom. I also send out the Senate Chair Chat.” Email him to be added to the distribution list.
President Kress wrapped up the initial sessions by noting we’re here to motivate students every day. “There has never been a time when our leadership is needed more. We need to shine even more brightly. Recognize how brilliant we are and work to be even more brilliant.”
VCCS Chancellor Dr. David Doré has just passed the 16-month mark in his role. He joined NOVA’s convocation to express his gratitude and introduce Accelerate Opportunity, the new statewide strategic plan for 2024-2030.
“NOVA is held up as a model for community colleges,” Doré said. He continued by saying that last year, he challenged us to embark on change to increase capacity in areas of greatest demand and move decisively toward a time where every Virginian can come to a VCCS school to get a degree that leads to a good paying job. “Stop at nothing is about grit,” he said.
Doré noted VCCS’ and NOVA’s highlights from the last year:
- VCCS shows consistent growth with 23-school system headcount at 230,000 and NOVA’s at 73,000, for the 23-24 academic year. These numbers represent thousands of Virginians coming to us for a better life.
- He also noted that no one in the nation has a better four-year-transfer model than ADVANCE, the most robust transfer program in the Commonwealth.
- He displayed a map of Virginia broken down by GoVirginia regions and showing that NOVA is the only school in GoVirginia Region 7.
- The 2024 Healthcare Summit resulted in NOVA collaborating with Inova to expand clinical opportunities and to expand the number of nursing grads. On Oct. 21, we will host the Roanoke Summit on Skilled Trades. Watch for similar industry summits to come in the most in-demand sectors in the region.
- NOVA had an annual economic impact of $4.4B for 2021-2022.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) described NOVA as a national model of industry-college partnerships.
- Ed Sys named Virginia the #1 state for business.
Doré then presented the VCCS state-wide strategic plan for 2024-2030, Accelerate Opportunity. He said that it is a metrics-focused strategic plan discussing industry and AI and calling for the VCCS to confer 300,000 meaningful credentials by 2030.
“We want learners to have a consistent experience across all VCCS colleges,” Doré said. “We want to seek opportunities for greater effectiveness and efficiency as a system without sacrificing student experience.
The program featured three important and timely panels:
- Access: Accelerating Onramps to College Credentials
Moderator: Eun-Woo Chang, Vice President, Academic Affairs, Chief Academic Officer
Panelists: Margaret Chung, Meredith Kintzing, Malcolm Pace, Katherine Westhafer - Retention: Advancing the Opportunities Created by AI
Moderator: Chad Knights, Vice President IET and College Computing
Panelists: Ryan Ammons, Meredith Aquila, Chvonne Parker, Jarice Risper - Completion: Supporting Students’ Journeys through Transformative Advising
Moderator: Joel Frater, Vice President, Student Affairs
Panelists: Jamin Bartolomeo, James Gillispie, Regina Sanders, Kimberly Wright
President Kress concluded by encouraging NOVA’s faculty and staff to go from bold to bolder by helping more students graduate and achieve their goals by:
- Offering a short, clear pathway to their goal.
- Encouraging participation in dual enrollment, so when students graduate from high school, they have only one more year to receive their associates degree.
- Focusing on students achieving college-level math and English in their first year at NOVA.
- Offering increased early intervention and requiring College Success Skills 100/1, also known as SDV, within the first 15 credits at NOVA.
- Communicating the benefits of waiting to transfer and impressing on students that they will pay more for every class they take at a four-year school.
- Offering increased micro-pathways and increased learn and earn pathways.