Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 19, 1995 TAG: 9508210020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAURICE A. WILLIAMS III STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
As the oldest community college in the state, Virginia Western Community College knows its objectives: to provide a curriculum that prepares students to go on to a four-year college or university, and to provide a vocational education to prepare students for the work force.
"We really run a dual track," said Mark Emick, assistant to the president. However, Emick says the future of the college will be different.
"We are studying and investigating the ways you can use technology to attempt to expand our delivery of instruction to those who are place-bound," Emick said.
"Place-bound" students, Emick says, are those who, because of work, family or time restraints, cannot leave the area to attend a four-year university.
"They just can't go to college in the traditional sense," he said. "We have to stop looking at a college education in the sense of 25 years ago. It just doesn't work anymore."
While Roanoke is home to the state's oldest community college, it also is Virginia's largest metropolitan area without a public four-year university. As a result, Virginia Western is the only choice for place-bound students.
And those students are not just from Roanoke.
Salem, Roanoke and Roanoke County account for 70 percent of Virginia Western's students; 18 percent come from Botetourt, Craig and Franklin counties; and the remaining 12 percent come from outside the region.
In 1989, the college teamed with Old Dominion University to offer a distance-learning program in engineering and industrial technologies. The partnership developed into Teletechnet, a network providing the necessary courses for baccalaureate degree programs to students at Virginia Western.
"All of the courses that they need are offered right here," Emick said. "They don't have to leave."
The first degrees offered were in engineering technology. Students with associate degrees in architectural technology or civil, electrical and mechanical engineering at Virginia Western can obtain a bachelor of science in engineering technology from ODU.
Students at Virginia Western watch engineering classes taught at ODU which are transmitted via satellite from Norfolk. In the Virginia Western classrooms, students use microphones to speak directly to the instructors in Norfolk.
Essentially, students can receive a bachelor's degree from ODU without ever visiting the Norfolk campus.
James L. Chumley Jr. is one of those students. After serving in the Navy, he moved to Roanoke to work for ITT as an electronic technician. He says the program allowed him to advance in his field without leaving the area or his job.
"I knew that in order to be more than a technician, I had to get a bachelor's degree," Chumley said. He considered going to Virginia Tech, but decided not to because of the distance and because he would have had to attend night classes.
Chumley graduated this month with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from ODU.
"It's an excellent program," Chumley said. "I think it's the next best thing to being there."
Chumley said his employer's encouragement also was behind his decision to further his education. "They've been supportive," said Chumley, whose tuition was reimbursed by ITT. "They've pretty much put me through school."
Wayne R. Michie is chairman of the division of engineering at Virginia Western. He says Teletechnet students have the same opportunities as the students in Norfolk.
"It's more individualized attention," Michie said. "The big plus is, it allows a student to continue their education without leaving the area. The system was set up so that the student would get all the services right here in Roanoke."
Students who miss classes can view them on videotapes. They also can contact professors using a toll-free number, leaving voice mail messages or with the university's e-mail system.
"We try to be flexible with the students," said Rodney Owen, Virginia Western's Teletechnet site director. "We're always trying to get better."
Engineering classes are offered during the day and evening and on weekends. One student drives an hour to class.
So far, six students have graduated from the engineering Teletechnet program.
"The graduates seem to be in demand in the industry," Owen said. "It's opened doors for them."
Although such programs as Teletechnet are cost-effective, Emick, the assistant to the president, fears they could be threatened by further cuts in the state education budget.
"The state has been unable to provide resources to colleges and universities for new programs," he said. "It's becoming a critical issue in public and private education."
To help alleviate this problem, Emick says the college will continue to look to private businesses such as Bell Atlantic, which gave the school a grant to develop a two-way audio and video teleconference system. The system, scheduled to begin in 1996, will allow students to take classes from as far away as Montgomery County.
Such programs will help Virginia Western appeal to older, nontraditional students who can't always take a full course load, Emick says.
To bolster enrollment, the college is targeting businesses, high schools and the minority community.
"We are doubling our efforts with businesses and industry," Emick said. The college has representatives who visit companies and send direct mailings on the programs and training aimed at improving a company's work force. Employees can attend Virginia Western, or instructors will go to the workplace. Companies involved include Ingersoll-Rand, Amp Inc. and Mascotech.
As a result of the low unemployment rate in the Roanoke Valley, the college has had to actively recruit high school graduates.
"Education has to compete in the marketplace," Emick said. "It's no longer a choice of going to school because you can't get a job."
by CNB