Military Advanced Education (MAE) has selected Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) for inclusion in their 5th Annual Guide to America’s Top Military-Friendly Colleges & Universities.

“The Guide has become an invaluable tool for both Education Service Officers/Specialists and Base Transition Officers when advising their servicemembers about degree and certification opportunities currently available from institutions of higher learning,” said MAE Associate Publisher Glenn R. Berlin.

From community colleges to state universities and nationally known centers of higher learning, MAE’s Annual Guide to America’s Top Military-Friendly Colleges & Universities provides servicemembers with information about schools that go out of their way to give back to our men and women in uniform.

Among the attributes considered in evaluating this year’s schools for inclusion in the Guide are: on-campus active duty/veteran assistance, the sophistication and effectiveness of its distance learning programs, Servicemember Opportunity Colleges (SOC) participation, and the number of ACE credits the school will accept, to name but a few.

“Blue Ridge has seen a rapid increase in enrollment by veterans in the last few years.  We have a dedicated veteran’s counselor, an outstanding financial aid department, and a growing number of scholarships to support of veterans,” said Dr. Bob Young, BRCC’s Vice President for Instruction and Student Services. He added, “BRCC has a large number of veterans who work at the College.  The vice-president of the Student Government Association is also a veteran.”

Military Advanced Education is the only magazine produced expressly for active duty/reserve servicemembers as well as members of the National Guard and our veterans who are seeking to take advantage of the Department of Defense’s education benefits. MAE covers issues and trends in distance learning and education as they specifically relate to military life, including innovative programs, military educational policy, financial aid, and coursework that offer special opportunities for military personnel.

Postmaster Brown as photographed by Arthur Rothstein in 1935.

Blue Ridge Community College will host a lecture about and showing of Richard Knox Robinson’s award-winning documentary “Rothstein’s First Assignment” on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Plecker Center auditorium.

“Rothstein’s First Assignment,” a story about documentary truth, centers on the photographic work of Arthur Rothstein, who was sent to Virginia in 1935 to photograph mountain residents before their removal to make way for Shenandoah National Park.  It was nominated for the special jury prize at Seattle’s International Film Festival in 2011.

“This subtle but powerful film establishes an important link between the inhumane practices of the American eugenics movement and Depression-era documentary photography. Robinson traces a chilling tale of deceit, cynicism, and stolen property that ruined lives in the process,” Carol Squiers, Curator of the International Center of Photography, writes about the film.

Robinson is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker based near Charlottesville, Virginia. His first film, “The Beekeepers,” premiered at Sundance in 2009 in the New Frontiers Shorts Program and went on to screen in Toronto and Telluride, winning Best Short Documentary at The Atlanta Film Festival. His still photography has been published and exhibited widely, appearing in numerous publications including Time, Smithsonian and National Geographic Traveler magazines.

The event, sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Committee and the Appalachian Environmental Learning Community, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact  (540) 453-2358.

Bottoms, a Verona resident, won an Honorable Mention award for her poem, The Reese’s Klondike Dance, published in 540 Magazine, BRCC’s literary magazine. Bottoms is a College Transfer major at BRCC and plans to study neuroscience at The College of William and Mary.

Ripley received an Honorable Mention award for his acrylic paintings, six of which also appeared in 540 Magazine. The Mount Sidney resident is pursuing an associate’s degree in art and is employed as a tattoo artist.

The Blue Ridge Community College Board recently appointed three new members. They are Rodney Alderfer, Joyce Colemon and Beverly McGowan.

Rodney Alderfer graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 1987 with a B.S. in Accounting. He worked in public accounting from 1987-1991 and earned his CPA certificate in 1992. He received his Master’s degree in Business Administration/Health Care Administration from EMU in 2010, and is also a licensed nursing home administrator. Alderfer  came to Bridgewater Retirement Community to serve as controller in 1998, leaving Wampler Foods.  He was promoted to Vice President of Health Services in August 2005, serving in this position until July 1, 2008, when he was promoted to President of Bridgewater HealthCare, Inc. He served for six years as a member of the board of directors for Eastern Mennonite High School. Active in the  Rotary Club of Harrisonburg for three years, Alderfer has managed the Rotary annual charity golf tournament for two years, and in 2009, was named Rotarian of the Year for the Harrisonburg club. He is active at Lindale Mennonite Church, serving as treasurer for several years and also as a member of the stewardship committee. Alderfer  lives in Harrisonburg with his wife Jenelle and their three children, eight-year-old twins Anna and Ryan, and Jacob, six.

Joyce Colemon was born and reared in Albermarle County and has lived in Waynesboro for the past 39 years.  She is a graduate of the Old Dominion Business School. Colemon received the 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King Outstanding Leadership Award. She is the widow of the late Rev. Paul E. Colemon, and has three sons. Colemon is employed at Waynesboro High School in Alternative Education, and is an Instructor for the ISAEP/GED Program. She is involved in mission work at her church and enjoys traveling, singing and family gatherings.

Beverly Burke McGowan was born and raised in Charleston, WV. She graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio with a B.A. degree. Later, she attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia and received a M.Ed. in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education. Her work experience with the State of Arkansas and Mellon Bank, N.A. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania immersed her in the public and private sectors. She is married to John A. McGowan,M.D., and they have three grown children. The McGowans have lived in Harrisonburg since 1987. Active in her community and church, she serves as Secretary on the Massanutten Regional Library Board of Trustees; President, First Step Board; President, Colonial Garden Club; and Member, Rockingham County Medical Alliance.

Technology Center

BRCC $8 Million Tech Center Opens | NBC29 | 14 September 2011

BRCC to host open house at new technology building | The News Leader (AP) | 14 September 2011

John Barret is the VP of Finance & Systems, CFO and Corporate Secretary at the Rockingham Group.  Prior to joining Rockingham Group, he worked in banking and was the CFO of Bank of America’s retail credit card business.  He holds a B.B.A. from James Madison University and a M.S. in Finance from Virginia Commonwealth University.  He has served on the boards of the United Way, Rotary and the Harrisonburg Education Foundation.  Barret serves on the board of the National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds, where he chairs the Corporate Governance Committee.  Additionally, he is a member of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Company’s Accounting and Investment Policy Committee.  He lives in Rockingham County with his wife.  His son is a recent Virginia Tech graduate and his daughter is a BRCC graduate and senior at VCU.

Al Boxley owns and operates eight McDonald’s restaurants in the central Shenandoah Valley.  In 1977, he left American Safety Razor to pursue a dream of owning a business by becoming a McDonald’s owner operator in Luray. From there he spent 18 years in the Western Maryland area owning and operating 12 restaurants and in 1997, he returned to the valley and lives on the family farm. Boxley holds a B.S. in Business Administration from VT and a M.B.A. from JMU.  He is a member of the Harrisonburg, Woodstock and New Market Chambers of Commerce.  He has actively served on the boards of Boy Scouts of America, Frostburg State University Foundation, Chancellor’s Advisory Council of the University of Maryland System, Allegany Community College, Sacred Heart Hospital, WVPT Public Television and the Industrial Development Authority, Augusta County.  Boxley and his wife Dale live in the Stuarts Draft area, and have three children and five grandchildren.

D.D. Dawson serves as the Director of Finance and Technology for Harrisonburg City Public Schools, a diverse school division with over 4,500 students.  She has been with the school division for 15 years, and prior to that, taught high school in Rockingham County Schools.  She has a B.S. degree in education from JMU and a M.S. degree in secondary education from JMU.  Dawson serves as a member of the BRCC College Board, in addition to her position on the BRCC Educational Foundation Board.  She lives in Harrisonburg with her husband Tom.

Tom Mendez is Vice President of BB&T Insurance Services, where he provides risk management and insurance consulting services to businesses throughout the state. Mendez is Past-Chairman of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce and served on the Harrisonburg City School Board for eight and a half years. He has also been a member of the Harrisonburg Education Foundation, as well as the Massanutten Technical Center Foundation.  Mendez is currently the chairman of the Vision 2020 Leadership Board, co-chair of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham United Way Campaign, and a member of the Harrisonburg Rotary Club.  He and his wife Lori reside in Harrisonburg and have six children.

• Collaborative Governance
• Professional/Career-Development Programs
• Teaching Environment
• Compensation and Benefits
• Facilities, Workspaces, and Security
• Job Satisfaction and Support
• Work/Life Balance
• Confidence in Senior Leadership
• Supervisor or Department-Chair Relationship
• Respect and Appreciation

As a result of achieving this designation in so many different areas, BRCC was also listed on the Chronicle’s “Honor Roll” as one of the top three 2-year colleges in its size category!  This is the 3rd consecutive year that BRCC has achieved this honor roll designation.  Honor Roll members in the four-year college & university category included institutions such as Duke, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Baylor, and University of Southern California.

According to The Chronicle, recognition was based on the results of responses from nearly 44,000 administrators, faculty members, and staff members at 310 institutions.  The number of institutions participating in this survey makes it the second-largest workplace-recognition program in the country, after Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.”  In addition to the employee survey, the assessment process also included an analysis of demographic data and workplace policies at each participating college or university.
Participating institutions were segmented into four-year and two-year schools, and then within those categories, institutions were classified based on undergraduate and graduate enrollment: small (fewer than 3,000 students), medium (3,000 to 9,999 students), and large (more than 10,000 students).  BRCC achieved its ten designations in the 2-year, medium-sized enrollment category.

More information about BRCC’s recognition can be found at http://chronicle.com/article/Great-Colleges-to-Work-For/128312/.  The BRCC group that volunteered in Haiti is also recognized in a feature article at http://chronicle.com/article/These-Community-Colleges/128303/.

Blue Ridge was the only two-year college in the top eight. This marks the eighth straight year that BRCC SIFE has advanced to national competition.

The team also won first place in the “Women’s Economic Empowerment” competition, sponsored by Wal-Mart Corporation, for its BRIDGE program which mentors low income women preparing to return to college.

Richard Davis, BRCC SIFE advisory board member, won the “Most Supportive Business Advisory Board Member of the Year” award. Davis was instrumental in helping students rebuild a school for orphaned and disabled children in Riviere Froide, Haiti, after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

In addition, the Campbell Soup Company honored BRCC SIFE for raising an equivalent to 10,000 pounds of food this academic year in the Let’s Can Hunger Challenge.

BRCC SIFE is one of nearly 1,600 programs in the United States. Participating students use business concepts to develop community outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. The culmination of the SIFE program is an annual competition that provides a forum for teams to present the results of their projects and to be evaluated by business leaders serving as judges. During this academic year, the BRCC SIFE team organized 16 projects targeting the needs within their community and globally in Haiti.

Members of the BRCC SIFE Competition Team are Megan Samples, Megan King, Kassy Zavala, Maria Murerwa, Chelsie Shaff, Joshua Hedrick, Ryan Collier, Chris Montes, and Kevin Smith.

For more information about BRCC SIFE, contact Rebecca Evans at Evansr@brcc.edu  or 540-453-2366.

WEYERS CAVE─ Blue Ridge Community College conferred more than 800 degrees, diplomas and certificates at its 43rd commencement today. Ms. Heather Bowser, a 2001 BRCC graduate, former award-winning news reporter for the Daily News Record and Senior Copywriter for OptimizedNow, a marketing firm based in Potomac, Md., delivered the commencement address. Megan LaPrevotte, recipient of an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Administration of Justice, was the student speaker.

Three hundred and thirty-three Associate of Arts & Sciences degrees were awarded in the College/University Transfer program.  The College/University Transfer program offers a core of college-level general education courses equivalent in content to those taken by freshmen and sophomores at four-year institutions.

Two hundred and forty Associate of Applied Science Degrees were conferred in eleven career/technical programs:  fourteen in Accounting, seventeen in Administration of Justice, seven in Aviation Maintenance Technology, fifty-two in Business Management, thirteen in Computer & Electronics Technology, twelve in Human Services, twelve in Information Systems Technology, eight in Mechanical Design Technology, one in Technical Studies, sixty-two in Nursing, and forty-two in Veterinary Technology.

One hundred and seventy-four certificates were awarded to students who completed a non-degree curriculum of less than two years: one hundred and fifty-five in General Education, six in Airframe Maintenance, six in Power Plant Maintenance, and seven in Health Science.

One hundred and thirty-eight Career Studies certificates were awarded to students who completed a non-degree curriculum of less than two years. Six in American Sign Language, eight in Basic Office Skills, forty-eight in Commercial Driving, five in Computer Aided Drafting, four in Computer Help Desk, thirteen in Computer Network Technology, five in Gerontology, two in Graphic Design, twelve in Leadership & Supervision, seventeen in Light Sport Aircraft Mechanic, two in Manufacturing Productivity Essentials, four in Medical Coding, three in Multimedia Development & Integration, one in Quality Improvement, three in Veterinary Assisting, and five in Web Development and Design.

Seven diplomas were awarded in Automotive Analysis & Repair.