DataYouCanUse@NOVA: Spring 2025 Accelerate Opportunity Targets

January 28, 2025 / @NOVA

At NOVA, our mission is to provide equitable access to affordable and exceptional higher education, transforming lives and advancing opportunities in our community. As part of this mission, we are excited to share our role in the Virginia Community College System’s (VCCS) Accelerate Opportunity 2024-2030 Strategic Plan, which focuses on student success, workforce readiness and equitable access to education.

This initiative isn’t just about meeting numbers—it’s about the stories behind the numbers and how we are doing our part to ensure we are providing all students with the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed for success.

The overarching goal of the plan is to award 300,000 cumulative meaningful credentials by 2030, across all regions, through accelerated access and success for every student. At NOVA, we need your help to do our part toward reaching this ambitious goal.

NOVA’s Accelerate Opportunity Goals for Spring 2025
To achieve the ambitious goals set by the VCCS, NOVA is focusing on the following milestone goals this semester:

  1. Graduates in High-Demand Fields (Metric 1.4)
    By the end of the Spring 2025 semester NOVA aims to produce 1,990 graduates in high-demand areas such as IT (79%) and healthcare (21%). These fields are critical to the economic growth of our region.                                                                                                                                                             
  2. High-Growth Credentials (Metric 1.5)
    NOVA’s assigned goal this semester is to ensure 497 graduates find employment in IT and healthcare fields, supported by programs designed to meet the needs of regional employers.                                                                                                                                 
  3. Enrollment in High-Demand Fields (Metric 2.1)
    With a goal of ensuring 3,606 students are in high-demand programs, NOVA is committed to increasing enrollment in programs that align with workforce demand, equipping students with the skills needed to succeed in today’s economy.                                                                                                                       
  4. FastForward Credentialing (Metric 2.2)
    This semester, NOVA’s FastForward programs aim to award 499 credentials, providing students with accelerated pathways to meaningful careers.
  5. Working-Age Adult Enrollment (Metric 2.4)
    Finally, this semester, we aim to enroll 8,886 working-age adults, ensuring access to education for those balancing work and life responsibilities. The measure for enrolling or retaining adult learners includes specific goals for each campus:

    • Alexandria Campus: 1,795 students
    • Annandale Campus: 2,159 students
    • Loudoun Campus: 1,742 students
    • Manassas Campus: 1,466 students
    • Medical Education Campus: 302 students
    • Woodbridge Campus: 1,422 students                                                                       

Why it Matters
The goals the VCCS has set for us are not just mere milestones or “targets”—they are opportunities to make a lasting difference in the lives of students. Behind these numbers are the powerful stories of individuals who will go on to transform their lives, their families and their communities.

Every effort we make as one NOVA to reach these goals contributes to fulfilling NOVA’s mission.

How You Can Help
As faculty and staff, you are essential to making these goals a reality. Here’s how you can participate:

  • Inspire students: Share how your work connects to these goals and supports their journey toward success. Talk and listen to our students and let them know about the college’s goals, how they are a part of them and what you can do to help them.
  • Innovate in your roles: Identify new ways to engage students and meet them where they are. Let’s double down on listening to student voices more and using the knowledge gained to propel us to success.
  • Collaborate and share ideas: Work together to create action items that help us meet these targets. To meet these ambitious goals, we must work together with our colleagues and connect the different parts of the college toward these shared goals. Your voice matters, please connect with your colleagues and supervisor and share the ideas that you know will move the needle forward!

This is a call to action for our entire NOVA community. Please rally behind these goals!

Learn More and Get Involved
Stay connected with the @Data You Can Use series to learn more about how data can tell the stories of our students and align with our mission. To explore NOVA’s VCCS data in more detail, visit the Accelerate Opportunity Dashboard. 

If you have ideas and thoughts about this data please also connect with the Chief Institutional Effectiveness & Inclusion Officer, Dr. Nathan Carter, NACarter@nvcc.edu and Sam Shi, Associate Vice President, Office of Strategic Insights, XShi@nvcc.edu.

Let’s make 2025 a year of progress and purpose at NOVA.  Every data point represents a step toward transforming lives—together, we can achieve incredible things.  In these @DataYouCanUse series, we will be bringing more insight to you to further both the college and the VCCS Strategic Plans.

Submitted by:
Dr. Nathan Carter, CIEIO, NACarter@nvcc.edu