State community college systems and their two-year colleges have spent the 2010s reexamining and redesigning decades-old developmental education tracks to ensure students get what they need--and only what they need--with an eye toward moving them more quickly into college-level courses and, eventually, the degree or certificate they want.…

The Virginia Plan for Higher Education, now in its sixth year, charts a course to make Virginia the best-educated state by 2030. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia developed The Virginia Plan as part of its statutory role to "advocate for and promote the development and operation of an educationally and economically sound,…

Staff provides this baseline report as a summary of its preliminary considerations and initial research in fulfillment of the requirements of HB2320 from the 2015 session of the General Assembly. Codified as § 23-7.4:7, this legislation compels the Education Secretary and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) Director, in…

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a "College Completion Tool Kit" intended to support the higher education attainment goals set by the Obama administration. These goals are consistent with the state's Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education. The tool kit lays out strategies for achieving higher levels of attainment…

Explains the function of information resources, predicts the increased importance of computers, and emphasizes that computer information systems are a resource to support institutional operation and management. Enumerates the components in planning for the use of information technology. Presents the Virginia Community College System's information…

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a statistical technique, developed by the U.S. Navy, for analyzing and quantifying uncertainties in sequential or parallel activities essential for completing a project within certain parameters. It focuses management attention on points that require remedial action or tradeoff in time (or other…

Offers insights on the use of the charrette for long-range planning, drawing from the experience of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). Defines charrettes, explains their benefits and limitations, lists requirements for successful charrettes, and explains the process used by the VCCS to incorporate the charrette into long-range planning.…

This project report consists of several parts. The first section describes the project conducted to develop articulation agreements in vocational education between secondary and postsecondary institutions in Virginia. Outlines of the project's phases are provided; these include development of mini-project funding requests, awarding of funding,…

Based on the work of the Committee on the Future of the Virginia Community College System and group discussions by 100 representatives of colleges, business/industry, and state bodies, this long-range plan offers guidance for the development of the community college system for the remainder of the century. Following introductory information on the…

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) master plan presented in this report is designed to manage the system and its 23 comprehensive community colleges during the years 1982 through 1990. First, chapter I presents an executive summary of the plan, the process of its implementation, and recommendations for policy changes in key areas.…

A futuristic study of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District (TJPD) in the year 2000 was conducted by Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to gain insights into those trends and pressures likely to affect the TJPD in the future. Interviews were conducted with 85 area leaders to determine their views and projections regarding lifestyles;…

In January 2001, the chancellor of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) appointed a Distance Learning Task Force to develop a distance learning strategic plan. This final report details the Task Force's strategic plan in which they developed a distance learning vision, designed a prospective governance model, defined funding assumptions,…

This manual may be useful to communities planning the establishment of a junior college system. It covers the types of programs to be offered by the colleges; coordination of all programs of higher education by the State Council of Higher Education; eligibility of students; length of term and attendance day; establishment of colleges, including…

As more states increase the number of credits required for high school graduation, progressively less time is being left for vocational education. To address this problem, many school districts and states are beginning to formulate policies for granting academic credit for basic skills training provided in vocational classrooms. As of 1985, 11…