NRCC History Book

72 Program. The goals of Transfer Virginia included removing entrance barriers, improving credit efficiency, reducing the time needed to transfer, and improving graduation rates. Faculty from Virginia’s community colleges, Richard Bland College, and participating universities revised and/ or developed the course content summaries for transfer-level courses, including the course description, common learning outcomes, course credits, prerequisite requirements, technology requirements, sample course plans, and pedagogical and course material recommendations. Their work ensured uniformity of content and outcomes for transfer courses to enable consistent transferability of these courses between institutions. After a new course was approved, NRCC faculty followed the procedures of the college’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee to update their programs. Since all program areas are being examined for transferability, the Transfer Virginia initiative will continue for many years to come. Dr. Sarah Tolbert-Hurysz, dean of arts and sciences, leads the Transfer Virginia efforts at NRCC. Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3) Program . In 2019 Governor Ralph Northam introduced his plans to fund the “Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead” or “G3” initiative. The G3 program made tuition-free community college available to low- and middle-income students who pursued jobs in high-demand fields. NRCC received a $119,918 grant to develop career pathways in the areas of information technology, public safety, healthcare, skilled trades, and early education. These career pathways included three cumulative levels: (1) core competencies, (2) operational skills, and (3) advanced technical proficiency.

Faculty, especially in the Division of Business and Technologies, developed at least 19 new career studies certificates (CSCs) in the designated pathways. An example career pathway in cybersecurity included Cybersecurity and Networking Foundations I CSC (Level 1), Cybersecurity and Networking Foundations II CSC (Level 2), and Information Technology – Cyber Security Specialization AAS (Level 3). Course Sessions . In 2019 to serve more students, short-term online classes for fall and spring semesters were offered, including a first seven-week session, a second seven-week session, and a ten-week session. By enrolling in both seven-week sessions, students completed a full-year or six credits of a subject in one semester, such as Principles of Accounting I and II or Principles of Economics I and II. In the ten week sessions, which began four weeks after the start of the semester, students finished several introductory courses, including Introduction to Personal and Community Health, Introduction to Microbiology, Introduction to Business, General Chemistry, and Introduction to Computing, to name a few. Online Learning . During this decade, online learning continued to grow both at the VCCS level and at NRCC because the courses were convenient, flexible, accessible anywhere, and cost efficient. In 2012 the VCCS had 50,000 active online learners; 10 years later the number of students had grown to over 100,000, making the VCCS one of the most active sectors for online education. At NRCC, an average of 60 percent or 3,928 students enrolled in at least one online learning course each academic year from 2013 to 2019. At the beginning of the decade, 160 online courses were offered.

Chapter 2