We’re approaching July 1, that time of year when our Finance office is humming and new VCCS initiatives officially begin, such as the G3 program and the Opportunity 2027 Strategic Plan.

Virginia Western is working hard to finish our own strategic “bridge” plan, aligning our energy and assorted initiatives like Indiana Jones:

This is also the time of year when many grant projects are just beginning or ending.

Unfortunately, the New Fiscal Year does NOT involve a giant ball drop … and in fact, any talk of ball-dropping would make the fiscally focused among us very nervous.

At least there are some fireworks popping around town?

I will celebrate this underappreciated milestone with some overdue thank-yous.

First, a huge thank-you to the entire Financial and Administrative Services team at Virginia Western, led by Lisa Ridpath. They have some pretty tedious work in the best of times, but they have really gone into overdrive with the millions of dollars in federal HEERF funds awarded to the college during the pandemic. You’ve heard all of the acronyms: CARES … CRRSAA … ARP. Our Finance office — in collaboration with Financial Aid — is managing them all. This process is unprecedented and fluid and overwhelming at times, and I appreciate their dedication as we continue to navigate the spending.

Shout-out to our Perkins award team, spearheaded by Yvonne Campbell and supported by Shana Roche. These funds must be spent by June 30 every year, and then our *new* annual Perkins award begins the very next day, on July 1. This is an ongoing cycle of needs assessments, spending decisions, and planning that impacts our CTE programs.

Road to Success in Virginia Program (RSVP): Over the past few years, a team from the School of Career and Corporate Training (CCT) has worked very hard to lead our RSVP grant project serving low-income families and TANF recipients. The pandemic made an already challenging job almost impossible; the project ends June 30. The RSVP team included Project Director Amanda Decker, RSVP Coordinator Melissa Marcus, Career Readiness Specialist David Williams, and online curriculum developer Sally McQuinn. They, along with Shonny Cooke and Milan Hayward, invested much time in building relationships with community organizations including the Roanoke Housing Authority, the Western Virginia Workforce Development Board, Region 5 Adult Education, and the Department of Social Services. Those relationships will outlast the grant dollars.

Finally, three grants awarded by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) are ending June 30, including:

• Wells Fargo Transformational Workforce Award Program: A $19,000 award helped fund efforts in CCT to expand our automotive technology pathway. As a result of this award, VWCC is now offering NC3 certification programs. This was one of the only times I’ve seen Dr. Sandel given one of those giant “Price is Right” checks at an awards dinner, so this grant will always be special to me.
• Anthem Foundation Hunger Relief Micro-Grant Program: With a $5,000 award, Natasha Lee led the development of “quick meal” recipe cards for the VWCC Student Food Co-Op, Fueled by Kroger. These recipe cards are designed to help students make nutritious meals with pantry staples available at the food pantry. I’ve been so impressed by Natasha’s creative ideas and proactive project management.
• Healthcare Pathways Grant Award: This $67,000 award — funded by the ECMC Foundation, Sentara Healthcare and Optima Health — was designed to help us better integrate our credit and noncredit healthcare pathways. The pandemic made this extra difficult, but among the outcomes: The creation of EKG Technician, a new FastForward program. Staff in both CCT and Health Professions, including Carrie Speck, collaborated on this project.

If it wasn’t obvious by now, I will emphasize again that grants are interconnected team projects, requiring support from across the college:

• Many thanks to the budgeting wizardry of Nicole Scott, Wanda Poff, and Fred Aaron in Finance.
• We couldn’t function without the ongoing support of our HR team, especially Sarah Miller and Lindsey Weston, who help us navigate the hiring of grant-funded positions.
• Over in the Educational Foundation, Carole Tarrant, Wanda DiMarco, and Amanda Mansfield have been very involved in managing the growing number of grants awarded to the Foundation.
• And, of course, a huge thank-you to Marilyn Herbert-Ashton, whose overlapping roles as Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Director of Grants and Special Projects, and Dean of Nursing, make so much possible.

Standing ovation to you all.

Thanks again, and have a Happy New Fiscal Year!

Catch up on more updates by Stephanie Ogilvie Seagle: The Green House Grants Blog