Spring 2024
Dear colleagues,
It has truly been invigorating to see the renewed life and energy on our campus this fall. It is great to have students in classes, in the hallways and common areas, and participating in on-campus events. I would be remiss to not recognize that this fall has been a transition and not without its bumps along the way as we work to serve a greater number of in-person students, however it is inspiring to see us make strides back to our pre-pandemic vitality.
As we discussed in August, the College has adopted a One Door approach where students enter the college, are advised, and are enrolled through a singular process whether the program that best meets their needs is credit or non-credit. In addition to revising our enrollment processes, our workforce services have moved under the academic structure of the college to better facilitate collaboration so that the programs that we offer create pathways that are clear and meet student needs, particularly those of our adult learners.
This reorganization is still in the initial phases. However, I am extremely excited about the positive conversations that are already happening. I firmly believe that as we approach this in the spirit of teamwork, that we are becoming a much stronger college and are moving in a better direction to fulfill our mission of empowering students for success and strengthening communities. We will share the progress that has been made in this reorganization during the General Session.
We are also tremendously excited by our successful SACSCOC visit in October. Many of you worked hard on various stages of our reaffirmation process and visit. Your efforts have led to successful results for which we are very appreciative. We will also talk more about this during the General Session.
We will kick In-service off with a campus breakfast at 8:00 on January 2nd in the Campus Commons, followed by the General Session at 9:00 in Whitman. We will then proceed with faculty meetings, school meetings, senate meetings and a SACSCOC celebration.
During the second week, you will notice a theme of safety that emerges in the agenda. During this week, we will conduct Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training. It has been a number of years since we have had a training like this and the philosophies for keeping us safe have changed over time. We do understand that there may be those among you that for one reason or another need to opt out of this type of experience. If you need to do this, please let me know, otherwise all should attend.
Following the CRASE training, we will have sessions reviewing our emergency plans, discussing what to do when a medical situation happens on campus, and providing AED, Opioid overdose, and suicide prevention trainings. There are two Opioid overdose trainings on the agenda. Each is limited to 24 participants. Please see the links in the agenda to pre-register for these trainings. Registration will be on a first come first served basis.
And one other thing—snow. With so many new faces and no snow last year, I wanted to make sure that you are all signed up for VW Alerts. If you are not, you can opt into receiving information related to inclement weather, emergency notifications, and time-sensitive campus information. The link to sign up for alerts is VW Mass Notification System – VWCC IET Services (virginiawestern.edu). This page also includes a link to our inclement weather policy and delayed class schedule.
I look forward to seeing all of you on January 2nd!
Sincerely
Dr. Robert H. Sandel
President
Virginia Western Community College
Documents
- In-Service Agenda (PDF)
Presentations and documents from in-service are stored in Canvas.
Reporting Departments
- Dual Enrollment
- Learning Resources
- School of Business, Technology & Trades
- School of Health Professions
- School of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
- School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
Contact Us
Fishburn Hall F115
540-857-7313
Address:
3093 Colonial Ave., SW
Roanoke, VA 24015
VWCC Alerts
We use the VW Mass Notification System to immediately contact you during a major crisis or emergency. Get more info and register!