I’ve long joked that we could connect current, past, and prospective students through bowling nights organized by college focus area. The idea was sparked as I was analogizing Guided Pathways with bumper bowling, which blocks the gutters and provides an almost effortless path to higher scores. I was reminded of my bowling night idea as I was reading a June 2021 report from the Community College Research Center (CCRC), entitled, “How Ohio Community Colleges Are Using Guided Pathways to Personalize Student Support.” In the realm of academic reports, this one is pretty short — only 20 pages total — so I encourage you to read the whole thing. Image from West Chester University’s Career Development Center For me, the top takeaway was the concept of creating “career communities.” This is the term Washington State Community College uses instead of “meta-majors.” Virginia Western calls them “focus areas.” What I love about this wording is that I can see relationship-driven support for students at almost every stage: From middle schoolers attending camps themed by “career community,” to my wacky bowling nights designed to connect alumni, employers, and prospective students. The report focuses on how these Ohio community colleges organize their orientations, onboarding,… Continue Reading Would cultivating ‘career communities’ change how we see ourselves?Read More
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 COVID 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… Continue Reading Happy New Fiscal Year! And thanks to these grant championsRead More
I doubt the new strategic plan from the VCCS is on your summer reading list, but here’s why it should be: We all need to see the big picture. I read reports and plans like this as part of my job in the grants office. When we are considering grant opportunities, we make sure our funding requests align with the bigger goals of the college, or in this case, with the aspirational goals of the entire Virginia Community College System. By understanding our common purpose, we work more effectively as teams — as a system of 23 community colleges, down to our small departmental teams right here at Virginia Western. This knowledge will empower each of us to contribute more ideas and make important decisions, no matter our role. General Stanley McChrystal calls this “shared consciousness,” which he explains in “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World.” I don’t have much interest in reading about military missions, but I did find this book helpful. In fact, leadership author and systems thinker Meg Wheatley has said the U.S. Army is one of the only true learning organizations she has ever known. (“It’s better to learn than be… Continue Reading 5 big takeaways from the new VCCS strategic plan (and why reading it is important)Read More
About Shelley
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.
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