January 2008
Governor Warner visited our Luray-Page County Center last Thursday morning. Please click on the following link to read about his visit: http://www.nvdaily.com/stories/355746993705202.bsp
Special thanks to Judy Suddith for all her efforts in making the event a success and to Phil Borden, Mike Finks and Paul Wieber!
Senator Jim Webb visited our Middletown Campus last Friday. For photos and an article about his visit, please click on the following links: http://www.winchesterstar.com/article_details.php?ArticleID=3917 and http://picasaweb.google.com/ariddle.lfcc/….
Special thanks to Crystal Foltz, David Gray, Tammy Haire, Susan Martin, Janet Ping, Aaron Riddle, KW Wotring and Paul Wieber for providing him an informative morning about his new "favorite" Virginia Community College!
The Middletown Campus program will take place on Jan. 21, 2008, at 1 p.m. in the William H. McCoy Special Events Center, located inside the Alson H. Smith Jr. Technology Center. The program will feature guest speaker Patricia A. Lukens, a Bluemont resident and winner of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. “Walking King’s Talk” award. In addition to Lukens, two LFCC students and two local high school students will present essays that they wrote about Martin Luther King Jr., and a local choir will present a few musical numbers. An evening celebration will take place at 7 p.m. in the same space providing an hour of inspirational music, reflection and the showing of the film, “Legacy of a Dream.” Special thanks to Brandy Hawkins and Andrea Ludwick.
The Fauquier Campus program will take place on Jan. 21, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. in the Rose Loeb Student Center, located at 6480 College Street in Warrenton. The 60-member Martin Luther King Jr. choir from Mt. Zion Baptist Church will perform a variety of traditional and contemporary spirituals under the direction of Rev. Lemuel Montgomery. In addition, guest speaker retired Maj. Gen. Matthew A. Zimmerman Jr. will present an address titled “Standing for the Cause.” Special thanks to Sandi Pope.
I strongly encourage employees and students to attend these celebrations, if possible.
Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (R-District 31) has been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee replacing Russ Potts. Delegate Lingamfelter represents the eastern region of our service region and is no stranger to me and the College!
Over the past week, while in Richmond, Delegates Sherwood, May, Athey, Cole and Lingamfelter have agreed to sign a budget amendment supporting the VCCS portion of the UVA “Produced in Virginia” engineering initiative. If passed, LFCC’s engineering program would be one of the beneficiaries of this legislation. Special thanks to Bill Lewis and Bill Warren.
Yesterday, after long discussions with our legislative delegation, we learned they are interested in having LFCC submit items to be included in the General Obligation Bond. Some of the items we may suggest include: faculty positions, northern Virginia pay differential, buildings, etc. Regarding the pay differential, it will be discussed in subcommittee; however, since the Commonwealth has an almost $1 billion deficit (and rising), it is unlikely this issue will see the “light of day” this Session, I am VERY sorry to say. We will continue to make this a top priority. We will be taking students to Richmond on Thursday and Friday this week. Special thanks to Tammy Haire for organizing these events.
Final modifications for the building design are now working their way through the proper agencies in Richmond. If all proceeds according to our schedule, we should break ground in late March or early April. An official groundbreaking will occur on Thursday, June 5, 2008.
Shortly, the building will become "energized" and the mechanical and interior finishes will be completed. Windows are currently being installed. An official grand opening of the building will occur on Thursday, June 5, 2008.
Last week we opened the “Ski Lodge” on time. The 7,200 square foot facility holds six classrooms and two large office space areas. On Friday, Brenda Byard and her team will be moving into one of the spaces. The other space may be used by members of the Office of Financial and Administrative Services. Each classroom is equipped with a telephone and the facility will be locked every evening after the last class.
Special thanks to Kathleen Johnson, Bruce Armstrong, Henry Coffman, Alvin Finchum, Anastasia Triplett and many on the B&G and Technology Services team.
As you know, I was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Manufacturing Development Commission, whose purposes are to assess manufacturing needs and formulate legislative and regulatory remedies to ensure the future of the manufacturing sector in Virginia. The Commission met last week in Richmond to discuss a variety of issues including: Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality consolidation legislation, machinery and tools tax legislation and Virginia’s Energy Plan. We also began a discussion on how to address the skilled trades gap and the technical diploma legislation.
In summary, a recent survey of Virginia manufacturers estimates there will be almost 50,000 skilled trades openings between now and 2010. The skilled trades positions include: manufacturing technicians, chemical technicians, industrial electricians, machine maintenance specialists, machine tool operators, printing machine operators and welders. It is expected that retirements will have their greatest impact on machine maintenance specialists and electricians.
Regarding the technical diploma legislation, we are working with Virginia’s Department of Education to establish the requirements for an advanced technical diploma through legislation (House Bill No. 97) by amending and reenacting the Code of Virginia relating to graduation requirements and awarding of diplomas.
This diploma shall meet or exceed the requirements of an advanced studies diploma and will include a concentration in career and technical education. The Commission may develop or designate assessments in career and technical education for the purpose of awarding verified credit.
While in Richmond, I met with SCHEV representatives to discuss critical legislation being tracked/supported by the Council. We spoke at great length about immigration, safety, and the Community College Scholarship Match program.