VP Ina Dimkova to Retire

Today’s topic is a significant NOVA transition. Our Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services Ina Dimkova has shared that she is retiring at the end of December.

Ina has been with NOVA since 2006, beginning as the business manager at our Medical Education Campus and advancing through roles as director of financial services and vice president of finance before assuming her current role in 2015.

Her outstanding leadership of the Finance and Administration division–encompassing budget, facilities and public safety–has been key to our college’s success. She is regularly called upon to offer assistance and advice to VCCS and our sister Virginia community colleges, and Ina’s advocacy for NOVA at the state level has been exceptional and impactful.

During her career at NOVA, Ina has been instrumental in the success of a number of transformative construction projects, two SACSCOC accreditation reaffirmations, the strengthening of our college’s public safety and our continued and significant local funding. Ina has also been an active participant in NOVA’s shared governance, serving as a longtime liaison to the Personnel Services Committee and working with the Budget Advisory Committee. We have all benefitted from her clear-eyed approach to keeping NOVA financially sound, safe and student-centered.

Ina’s leadership throughout the pandemic deserves special commendation. Her division includes the Office of Emergency Management and Safety, which did exemplary work from day one on NOVA’s response. She was actively involved in our return to NOVA planning at every level, and she identified resources for supporting our students and employees during this unprecedented public health crisis. NOVA is one of a handful of colleges that dedicated the majority of their Higher Education Emergency Relief Institutional Funds to assisting our students, and much of the credit for our ability to do so goes to Ina.

I encourage you to find time in the fall semester to thank Ina for her many contributions to NOVA and to wish her well as she moves on to her next adventure. Upon her retirement, Ina and her husband will be moving to their home in Portugal, and she is looking forward to stepping into her new career … as a doting grandmother!

The search for NOVA’s next VP for finance and administration will begin this month. VP Steve Partridge will chair this search, which will be facilitated by Greenwood/Asher. My goal is to have Ina’s successor named before the year’s end. Look for more on this search later this month.