U.S. Sen. Mark Warner Announces Major Broadband Expansion at NOVA’s Medical Campus

On Tuesday, June 7, NOVA hosted U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator and Senior Advisor to the President Gene Sperling and Virginia’s Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development Bill Curtis at the Medical Education Campus. During the visit, they announced that Virginia would receive $220 million in federal grants to build the Commonwealth’s broadband telecommunications networks and help provide affordable high-speed internet service across the state. In addition, Virginia is one of the first states in the country — along with West Virginia, New Hampshire and Louisiana — to receive grants from the $10 billion Capital Projects Fund (CPF), negotiated by Sen. Warner and authorized by Congress through the American Rescue Plan.

As part of the announcement, Warner and Sperling toured the hybrid Radiation Oncology lab, demonstrating broadband’s invaluable role in expanding access to opportunity through quality higher education. The course is part of a program that serves students in both Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. It is taught by faculty from Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) and NOVA, with specialized instructional equipment only available at the MEC. The programming efforts are a core example of how access to broadband capabilities leads to equity for all.

“In Virginia, broadband is absolutely critical to the economic prosperity, education and health of every family. Today, we saw a partnership between two institutions on either side of the Commonwealth who are able to reach more students and expand access to high-quality higher education thanks to the power of high-speed internet,” said Sen. Warner.

“The clinical oncology class could not be taught without the broadband program,” said Dr. Shelly Powers, provost of NOVA’s Medical Education Campus. “It helps our ability to teach students and meet them where they are.”

“Expanding access to healthcare education programs will help our region address critical nursing and staffing shortages, especially in rural communities,” said NOVA President Anne M. Kress, PhD. “As the only Virginia community college with a dedicated medical education campus, NOVA is proud to share its knowledge and state-of-the-art equipment with peer institutions and their students across the Commonwealth. In addition, with expanded access to affordable and reliable broadband, more students will have the opportunity to choose and succeed in rewarding career pathways like healthcare, earning degrees and certificates that advance their families and our communities.”

Click here for more information about the broadband effort.

Submitted by:
Dawn Selak, Director of Communications, DSelak@nvcc.edu