Updates As We Prepare for Another Year
Today’s topic contains some important updates: one on tuition and another on our fall convocation.
Tuition
As I write this message, the General Assembly budget talks in Richmond have yet to resume. In the absence of any new funding that might result from an agreement, Virginia’s community colleges are facing $13.6M in mandated expenditures not covered by current state funding (e.g., a 5% salary increase, 2% health insurance premium increase, etc.) and an $8.7M increase in everyday costs due to on-going inflationary pressures. The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) has not raised tuition in five years, though over this same time the rate of inflation was over 19%.
Recognizing that this situation is not financially sustainable for Virginia’s community colleges, the VCCS Board has voted to raise tuition by $4.61 per credit hour (about 3%). For a full-time NOVA student taking 12 credit hours, the increase will amount to $110.64 over the entire 2023-2024 academic year.
The decision to increase tuition is always a difficult one, and the VCCS Board considered not just the escalating costs facing our colleges, but also affordability for students and their families. Virginia’s community colleges remain—by far—the most affordable higher education option in the Commonwealth. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the tuition and fees at NOVA will be 60% less than those at GMU, 63% less than at Virginia Tech and 70% less than at UVA. These cost differentials make completing the first two years at NOVA an increasingly smart choice for our region’s students!
I appreciate the thoughtful deliberation that went into the decision to enact a small tuition increase and thank the VCCS Board for continuing to make access to affordable, high-quality higher education and workforce programs the hallmark of our system.
Convocation
When I began at NOVA in January 2020, you made a very reasonable request: please close the college so that all employees can participate in our annual convocation. I did. Ever since, NOVA has been closed for a half day during convocation so that all employees could attend our annual academic year kick-off, either in person or via live stream.
This year, responding to your requests for more opportunities to come together and build community, the Provosts of the Annandale, Loudoun, Manassas, Medical Education and Woodbridge campuses will hold convocation “viewing parties” for all who are not able to attend the event onsite at the Alexandria Campus Schlesinger Center. Because the college is closed so that you can attend convocation, please understand that the expectation is you will take advantage of this opportunity, either at Schlesinger or on your campus. You can register on the convocation webpage.
Our focus for NOVA’s Fall 2023 Convocation is how—together—we can create a sense of belonging for our students and colleagues. Keynote speaker Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, author of College Students’ Sense of Belonging, will speak about the significant impact a sense of belonging has on outcomes and success. The morning will also include two panels in which students and employees will speak about the personal and professional importance and impact of belonging—a quality that is foundational to our college values of care, excellence, inclusion, integrity and respect. My remarks will provide an overview of our new strategic plan that links our access, retention, completion, transfer and career goals to the power of belonging in driving student achievement and strengthening our college. I look forward to seeing you on August 16th!