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http://www.vccs.edu/Students/Transfer/tabid/106/Default.aspx

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http://www.jmu.edu/admissions/transfer/agreements.shtml

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Anyone who’s read my long-winded education spouts here should say I’m a consistent defender for the city schools. I constantly take up the charge for our undervalued/underpaid teachers and administrators. I’ve said it’s their effective and efficient work, top to bottom, which puts H’burg in a strong position to lure top Super. candidates. I agree with Dr. Ford, the schools are already doing “more with less.” (I believe our city gov’t gives a big bang for the buck, too).

Deb, I also appreciate your description of the CC’s. I’ve never questioned their value nor BRCC’s leadership in VCCS.

As far as school partnerships. as I said, I’m not speculating on where any obstacles originate. I don’t doubt that both sides of the ledger probably have concerns to address. HHS, Deb, you seem clear on your ideas on the obstacles. In any case, the schools still have a need for support and resources; the university has a mission to try to help. With public dollars and our kids in the mix, HCPS certainly has more at risk in taking on partnerships. There’s also relatively more for HCPS to gain. Fortunate or not, that probably makes the incentive and need to make things work higher on the HCPS side.

So, my initial suggestion was only that we recruit for Supers. with successful university/cc partnership experience. That type of leadership might help move things forward from where ever there are now.

…as far as diversifying the staff. It is certainly an issue of perspective. I have no doubt that the idea and value of diversity will find some resistance here. If it’s not your perspective, it’s often dismissed as not valid at all. That diversity equates to or results in lower quality, as suggested earlier, is an old, failed argument…and part of the problem. It’s interesting how quickly my suggestion for diversifying was turned into my abandonment of higher quality. Unfortunately, that’s the challenge many minority kids still run up against.

I do understand that school and city staff often take the brunt of unfounded criticism. I pretty regularly stand in their defense. In H’burg, we have a great bargain – low-taxes with good services and staff. The challenge, as an anxious parent, is how to give constructive criticism that leads to useful dialogue.

No doubt, a new school Super. needs thick skin and a big ear.

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Dany: my comment addressed the alignment of curriculum between BRCC and HHS and the ways it is designed to decrease the need for remedial/developmental college coursework for students who get the standard HS diploma (as opposed to the advanced). JMU coursework (at JMU prices) is not the place to teach fractions, basic algebra, percentages, spelling, grammar etc. The community college system is; it’s one part of our mission. We teach people Hamlet and calculus, Spanish and psychology, Keynes and physics and the rest of gen ed, as well as how to fix a plane, drive a truck, repair a computer, anesthetize a cat, and change a spark-plug. When you graduate from JMU with a degree, nobody asks where you got your gened credits.

And transferability? Really? Dany, CC credits cost a fraction of those at JMU and are transferable to virtually every four-year college in the state. BRCC serves more than 4,000 students – second in size only to JMU in the Valley. Nearly 50% of BRCC grads transfer to 4 year colleges, the rest go into the workforce or transfer to a 4-year without graduating with an associates degree of some sort.

The VCCS currently serves more than 262,000 students across the state. BRCC is getting many formerly-known-as-JMU students now, because they can afford us in this crappy economy and we have a guaranteed admissions agreement with JMU; we’ve seen an 18% increase in FTE’s over the lat 2 years. They finish gen-ed with us in smaller classes, and transfer to a 4 year college as a junior directly into their major. And we turn on a dime- want to start classes at BRCC this semester (which starts tomorrow)? It’s completely doable. I’ve never worked for an organization as flat and flexible as this one, as tuned into the specific educational needs of the community it serves. I love JMU, EMU and MB (and have taught at all three) but there’s absolutely no place around here like BRCC.

Despite the fact that about 60% of our students are part time, when they transfer to JMU, they complete at rate of about 85%, as compared to native JMU students who (if they get to their junior year) finish at a rate of about 90%. More than 20 VA 4-yr colleges have signed system-wide guaranteed transfer agreements with the VCCS, including UVA, Tech, VCU and W&M. JMU has not, only signing an agreement with BRCC. That’s why I have so many NOVA kids in some of my classes, coming down 81 twice a week- they want the BRCC associates degree to get into JMU.

We also have a thriving dual enrollment program, enrolling HS students in college-level courses that are transferable directly to the 4-year institutions. I have a couple of Ft. Defiance students in my Econ 202 micro class which starts tomorrow (after they finish their HS exams this week). My son took advantage of this; after finishing the math HHS had to offer, he picked up higher-level math courses at BRCC that directly transferred to UVA. He graduates this May with degrees in Math and Econ, after entering UVA with more than 30 credits from AP and BRCC courses. The connections are there and tons of people are taking advantage of them.

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Harrisonburg is a changing demographic. But I would wager that we do not have the income of Evanston; I would suspect that Clarke County is more affluent and more sophisticated in their educational approach (don’t they have an IB program?), and don’t forget the obligation to meet federal and state mandates (including meeting the needs of English learners, of which we have a great many).

When my child was at the high school, we worked very hard to try and make college classes work at JMU. The biggest obstacles were those presented by JMU as well as the astronomical costs relative to BRCC. The BRCC/HHS partnership has proven to be a viable, sustainable, cost-effective option.

“We need both teachers who can teach and administrators who can administrate at the highest levels of excellence. Wouldn’t all of you agree?” — I know I would.

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Educating students with the best teachers and adminstrative staff possible is a critical need of any school. Just because a staff is diverse, does not mean they are providing the best education possible…and you’re talking to the son of a Latin immigrant (maybe it is because of my own diverse background, I don’t understand this overt fascination with “diversity” over “quality” from some educators, but that is just me).

We need both teachers who can teach and administrators who can administrate at the highest levels of excellence. Wouldn’t all of you agree?

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There’s also more than ample room to grow. BRCC’s a solid CC, providing a good service. I imagine many parents/students would also like the chance to earn JMU credits and university-staff exposure. In the end, those credits are more transferable than comm. college credits. Clarke County (VA’s top school district) comes all the way down here to partner with JMU. Why align curriculum with a CC when you could do it with a tier 2 university?

…one other partnership opportunity, HHSparent. HCPS is in desperate and critical need of diversifying it’s staff (as is H’burg gov’t, for that matter). Though it might seem like an ironic position for JMU, they could offer invaluable support and creativity to meet that end…much like UVa has helped Charlottesville.

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