Dr. Anne Kress to Co-Chair VCCS COVID Response Task Force
On Monday, April 13, VCCS Chancellor Dr. Glenn DuBois announced a new COVID-19 task force to map out a plan for Virginia’s community colleges, now and into the future. He announced that Dr. Anne Kress will serve as co-chair, alongside Sharon Morrissey, sr. vice chancellor for academic and workforce programs.
“It is becoming increasingly clear to me that life will not return to normal any time soon,” DuBois said. “It is also clear to me that we can learn from this crisis as we move forward into an uncertain future.”
DuBois said the task force will work to meet two important goals: (1) By May 15, provide guidance to colleges for fall semester 2020 program and student support services delivery modalities, and (2) by August 15, provide longer-term strategies to inform how VCCS will best serve the citizens of the Commonwealth over the next five years.
Below are links to documents that provide some context to the issue at hand.
- The first is an April 2020 report from McKinsey titled, “Coronavirus: How should US higher education plan for an uncertain future?” https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/coronavirus-how-should-us-higher-education-plan-for-an-uncertain-future
- The second is an April 8 article from the Hechinger Report reprinted in the Washington Post titled, “Low-income students already faced barriers to graduating. The coronavirus multiplied them.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/04/08/low-income-college-students-already-faced-barriers-graduating-coronavirus-multipied-them/
- The third is a March 20 article from the Praxis Journal titled, “Leading Beyond the Blizzard: Why Every Organization is Now a Startup.” https://journal.praxislabs.org/leading-beyond-the-blizzard-why-every-organization-is-now-a-startup-b7f32fb278ff
“This is a pivotal moment for VCCS,” DuBois said. “Everything I read indicates that now is not the time to hunker down and wait for everything to return to normal. Instead, now is the time to be innovative in planning how VCCS will continue to be the engine for economic mobility and opportunity for all Virginians.”