Local enrollment increases at PVCC

by Susan Gibbs
Published: May 1, 2008

Greene’s enrollment at Piedmont Virginia Community College is up 18 percent over the previous year, PVCC President Frank Friedman told the County Board of Supervisors at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, April 22.
Friedman, who was delivering his annual update to the Board, said: “Your enrollment jumped … from 370 up to about 404.”
He said he believed part of the reason for the jump is the work PVCC is doing with William Monroe High School.
PVCC’s dual enrollment program offers high school students the opportunity to earn college credits while meeting high school graduation requirements without having to commute. Some classes can be taken on-site at WMHS. Others can be taken on-line in the WMHS computer lab.
WMHS Guidance Counselor Margery Farner agreed that the dual enrollment program might well be part of the reason PVCC is showing increased enrollment numbers from Greene.
“We (are showing) an increase in dual-enrollment students,” she says.
WMHS offers dual-enrollment classes in accounting, biology, English, history, government, psychology and sociology, and those classes are chosen carefully.
“We don’t offer a hodge-podge,” says Farner. “We’re trying to offer valuable classes that (will produce) quality transferable credits. Some students leave here with 25 to 30 hours of college credits.”
Friedman told the Board on April 22 that on average, the WMHS students “averaged almost two dual enrollment classes apiece.”
In addition, Friedman said, “There were 143 Greene County residents taking classes from Piedmont in the fall over the Internet. The year before there were only 62.”
But that wasn’t all Friedman had to report.
He noted that while the majority of PVCC students - currently, “about 60 percent” - go through the College to transfer on in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, school to “many other students are at Piedmont to qualify for jobs … or to qualify for a raise, or a promotion on their job.”
PVCC, Friedman explained, has started “what we call a construction academy.
“We’re running entry-level programs in (such things as) carpentry and masonry.” Those programs, Friedman explained, are basic courses that last 15 weeks. “They’re quick programs that get you into a job.”
In fact, PVCC, through its Construction program, is now offering classes in: Basic Contractor Licensing; Class A, B, and BLD Exam Prep for Contractors; AGC Project Management - Estimating and Job Costing; Construction Supervisory Overview; QuickBooks for Contractors; Introduction to Construction Estimating; Project Management for Construction; OSHA 10; and, OSHA 30 Training.
PVCC’s Continuing Education for Tradesmen offers updates in electrical, HVAC, plumbing and gas filters codes.
“We’ve run 130 students through (the basic courses) already in the past year and we hope to really expand that,” Friedman told the Board. “We’ve also added a construction management track for those who are doing skilled work but show management potential.”
Friedman said PVCC intends to “open up a facility just for that program.” He also spoke about the Healthcare curriculum at PVCC.
The College offers courses in: dental assisting: home care aid, for both companion and personal aides; pharmacy technology, phlebotomy, sleep technology, dementia aid, and medication aide.
“We’ve also started a medical coding program for those folks who do the insurance coding,” Friedman said. “There’s a shortage of those folks right now.”
Coding classes include: Introduction to Medical Coding and Comprehensive Coding, Medical Coding Examination Prep Class for the Certified Professional Coder Exam, Medical Coding Specialty, Cardiovascular, General Surgery and Evaluation and Management.
Friedman also updated the Board on new construction at the College.
“We’ve finished the renovation of our main academic building and the library. We should go to bid on a new science building in June, which means we’ll break ground sometime this summer. . which means we’ll break ground sometime this summer”
Friedman told the board he estimates the construction of the science building will take about “a year and a half.” Next, he said, he would like to have space for a Workforce Development Center.
“I’m working with Albemarle County (and) the City of Charlottesville. We’d like to take possession of the Monticello Visitor’s Center at the base of our hill and turn that into a Workforce Development Center. That building should be vacated right around the end of this calendar year and if all goes well, we’d like to have them donate the building and the land to the College.”
The College would use the building for business and contract training.
Last fall, 30 WMHS students, or 16 percent of the graduating class, enrolled directly into Piedmont. That figure, Friedman said, “is pretty consistent. We’re in the 15-20 percent range every year.”