Office of the President

What an exciting time we enjoy at the beginning of a new academic year. At Blue Ridge Community College we are welcoming new students in a special way, hoping to ease their transition to higher education. The College is engaged now in “Welcome Week” and employees are wearing “Ask Me!” buttons to encourage new students to approach us with any transition related questions they may have. We are also very excited about the opening of our new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, a building that will help address the workforce development needs of local employers. We love the work we do at BRCC, so it’s no surprise that the college was once again named as one of the top three community colleges in the country to work for. Happy New Year everyone!

Tags: Advanced Manufacturing Center, Blue Ridge Community College, BRCC, Welcome week

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Blue Ridge Community College is exceptionally fortunate and honored to be hosting the heroes of the USS Indianapolis on campus this week.   In July of 1945, these brave men were on the US Navy ship that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine after delivering the world’s first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian in the South Pacific.  Almost 1200 people were on board the ship at the time, and only 317 survived the ordeal of being left in the water for five days before being rescued at last.   The complete compelling story of the USS Indianapolis can be found at: http://www.ussindianapolis.org/story.htm. 

The College will be hosting three survivors who will tell about their harrowing ordeal on Monday September 13 at 10:00am and again on Tuesday September 14, 2010 at 7:00pm at the Robert E. Plecker Workforce Center on the college campus in Weyers Cave.  In addition, the artwork of Naval Dentist Earl Henry will be on display in the BRCC Art Gallery.  Mr. Henry died when the ship was torpedoed, but his son, Earl Henry Jr, will be in attendance to talk about the heroic legacy of his father.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to witness living history of true heroes whose bravery helped ensure the freedoms we all enjoy!

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Dr. Mary Vermeulen, Dr. John Downey, Ms. YuLee R. Larner

One of the best parts about my job as President of Blue Ridge Community College is the opportunity I have to meet with members of the local community who support the work we do in a variety of ways.  Today I had the good fortune to meet with Dr. Mary Vermeulen and Ms. YuLee R. Larner from the Augusta Bird Club. 

The Augusta Bird Club has recently printed the third edition of their book entitled “The Birds of Augusta County.” The club members have graciously donated two copies of the book to school libraries throughout Augusta County, including our library at Blue Ridge Community College.  

The book contains a wealth of information about the 292 species of birds that have been sighted within the borders of Augusta County.  The book also documents the “extreme dates” that the various species have been spotted in the county: the earliest date in any year the birds were seen, and the latest day in a year that the species was seen.  For example, the book documents that the earliest sighting of a Purple Martin in the county was on March 10 (2007), and the latest sighting ever in a year was on September 25th (1972).   Bird club members are routinely encouraged to “break the book” by documenting earlier and later sightings of any of the 292 species that the book describes.  

I had such a wonderful time meeting the Augusta Bird club members!  Joining me in welcoming them to the College was Mr. Lloyd Meadows, the Interim Vice President of Instruction and Student Services, and Ms. Connie Medaris, our College Librarian. 

On behalf of the faculty and students of Blue Ridge Community College, I want to extend our deep appreciation to the Augusta Bird Club for your kindness in donating these books to our library!

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The President enjoys a cookie baked by "See it, say it, sing it and sign it" LCBF course!

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The BRCC Nu Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Beta Gamma International Business Honor Society has returned from their Pensacola Florida conference with several significant awards.   Our ABG leaders wowed the conference audience with a spectacular presentation on the topic of Leadership Resilience:  How to Recession-Proof Your Career.   As a result, the students won the “Best Conference Presentation” award for their hard work.  They also won an award for the “Best Poster” at the conference, an honor that will result in their poster being adopted as an international marketing document by ABG.  The Nu Alpha chapter was also recognized with the “Excellence in Campus Service” award for their participation in the Virginia Hunger Symposium, as well as for their coordination of the annual Career Expo, and their fundraising for the College’s Women’s Resource Center.  Finally, Nu Alpha’s Co-President, Todd Metzger, won the Eva Bobrow Memorial Excellence Award as the best ABG member within his/her Chapter.

 The Blue Ridge Community College Vision Statement documents that we aspire to be a model educational institution recognized for:  

• innovation and excellence in programs and services;
• leadership contributions at the local, state, and national levels;
• its supportive environment for learning and working;
• graduates who make a difference.

            These prestigious ABG awards come on the heels of the many awards and accomplishments of other campus student organizations.  Recently, the Alpha Xi Xi Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society continued their five star status and won several hallmark awards, including the Hallmark for Leadership.   Our Students in Free Enterprise nationally acclaimed team is preparing for their national conference in Minneapolis after winning several competition categories at their regional competition in Charlotte North Carolina.  Our Student Government Association and BRCC Student Ambassadors have performed countless acts of community service, as have the members of our Nursing Club, the Campus Christian Fellowship, the Veterinary Technology Club, the BRCC Buddies Club, our Collegiate Future Farmers of America (CFFA) chapter, the environmental awareness club and the SPECTRUM multicultural association. 

I apologize if I left any organizations out , but the point is that our students, led by dedicated faculty and staff advisors, are living our college vision through their leadership contributions at the local, state and national levels.  We are clearly producing students who, when they graduate, have learned the value of making a difference in the community they live in.  Join me in congratulating the wonderful accomplishments of our ABG members, and all of the BRCC organizations that work so hard to make a difference in our college community and in the broader community we are privileged to serve!

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The two employees and two students from our Blue Ridge Community College SIFE team are home safely after a harrowing week in Haiti.  The team was there helping to promote sustainable economic enterprises through the building of a Rabbit Cooperative in Leogane near River Froide, some 15 miles or so outside Port-au-Prince. 

We deeply appreciate the outpouring of help and support we received during this ordeal.  Please remember there are many still suffering and lost in Haiti, including a team of students from Lynn University in Florida that we are keeping in our thoughts and prayers. 

The BRCC SIFE team is committed to rebuilding the school that collapsed in River Froide.  To support that effort you can make checks payable to the BRCC Educational Foundation and indicate “Haiti Relief Fund” in the memo line.  Mail to: BRCC Educational Foundation — Post Office Box 80 — Weyers Cave, VA 24486.

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The Board of Trustees for two institutions that have excellent partnerships with Blue Ridge Community College announced the hiring of new presidents yesterday. Bridgewater College announced that George Cornelius will be the eighth president of BC beginning July 1st. The University of Virginia Board of Visitors appointed Dr. Teresa A Sullivan as their eight president as well, and she will begin her new post effective August 1st. Blue Ridge Community College students benefit from outstanding transfer agreements with both institutions and I look forward to continuing to build upon our excellent relationships as their new presidents begin their work. I am looking forward to welcoming both new presidents to central Virginia!

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 I’ve really enjoyed having the opportunity to attend meetings of local civic organizations and making presentations about the mission of community colleges.   I’m meeting so many wonderful people from the community and taking the opportunity to tell them a little bit about my background, as well as many of the wonderful initiatives that are going on at Blue Ridge Community College.   I’ve mentioned our continuous enrollment growth, our citation in the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the best community colleges in the country to work for, our partnerships with local school divisions and the excellent work done by the Blue Ridge Tech Prep Consortium.  Blue Ridge Community College has such a wonderful story to tell about providing students with an opportunity to work hard to make a better life for themselves as well as for the local community.  If you are a member of a civic organization that would benefit from hearing about the good work of Blue Ridge Community College in our local area, don’t hesitate to contact me.

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 The Alpha Xi Xi Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society held an induction ceremony at Blue Ridge Community College on September 22nd.  Similarly, the Nu Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Beta Gamma Business Honor Society held their induction ceremony on the evening of September 29th.  Both events were well attended by the inductee’s families and friends, and by a supportive group of staff, faculty and administrators from the college.  Ruth Jones of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank provided the keynote address for the PTK induction, while Dr. Robert Baldygo, Vice President of Finance and Facilities at BRCC addressed the ABG group.

For more information about PTK see: (http://www.brcc.edu/services/clubs/ptk.htm)

For more information about ABG see: (http://community.brcc.edu/abg/)

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The Bowman Large Animal Teaching Facility used in our Veterinary Technology Program Instruction

There was an event on campus last week that reminded me once again how dedicated the people in our community are to the work we do at Blue Ridge Community College.   Last Wednesday evening we held our semi-annual meeting of the Agriculture and Life Sciences Curriculum Advisory Committee.  For those of you who may be unaware, we periodically hold curriculum advisory committee meetings so that our instructional faculty can gather input from local industry representatives about the course offerings and curriculum content of our associate degree programs.   Wednesday marked the last meeting for two individuals in our community who will retire from their service to the college.  Mr. John Miller, a retired local dairy farmer, served on our agriculture advisory board for close to four decades, with many of those years having served as the committee chairperson.   During the meeting it was reported that in all the years he served, John only missed one meeting of the committee!   Likewise, his long-serving vice chairperson, Carl Luben, who also  retired from serving on the committee after the meeting, had close to three decades of service on the committee.   The unselfish dedication of these two individuals has made a tremendous impact on the College.  Thanks to their service, the agricultural related curricula are stronger than ever at Blue Ridge Community College.  We now have a collegiate chapter of Future Farms of America, co-advised by faculty members Susie Shomo and Brett VanLear.  Our Veterinary Technology program has grown tremendously over the past four decades, and we now offer a number of agriculture-related dual enrollment courses for local high school students.  Join me in thanking Mr. Miller and Mr. Luben for their hard work and life-long dedication to both agri-business and Blue Ridge Community College!

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