TCC to freeze tuition and fees for Fall Semester 2020

Tidewater Community College will freeze tuition and fees for the 2020 Fall Semester thanks to a unanimous decision announced Thursday by the State Board for Community Colleges.

This marks the second year in a row that the board has voted to hold tuition and fees steady for the coming fall for all 23 of Virginia’s Community Colleges.

The State Board’s decision means TCC’s in-state tuition and mandatory fees will remain at $185.35 per credit hour. Community college tuition and mandatory fees are approximately one-third of the comparable costs of attending Virginia’s public four-year universities.

“The decision by the State Board to freeze tuition and fees for the Fall Semester reaffirms our commitment to ensuring access and affordability for our students and their families,” said TCC President Marcia Conston. “While that is always a priority, it is especially significant during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges, said, “We are doing everything we can to be an affordable, accessible resource for Virginians. Some people find themselves unexpectedly out of work. Others are looking for safer, convenient options to pursue their college aspirations. We want to be there for them.”

He added, “We’d like to maintain that rate beyond the fall, if the state funding exists to help us do that responsibly.”

Further, the State Board maintained the existing tuition rate for out-of-state students, which for TCC is $385.45 per credit hour.

Tidewater Community College Board seeks input in search for new president

The search process to select the next president of Tidewater Community College is now underway. In the coming months, a nationwide search will be conducted by the TCC College Board and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).

The TCC Board invites the community to participate in a survey to help identify the most pivotal challenges and opportunities facing TCC over the next three to five years. The brief survey can be accessed here or found on the TCC homepage.

All responses will be strictly anonymous. The survey will be available for input through Saturday, April 27, at 5 p.m.

The results of the survey will become part of the criteria used by the TCC Board and the VCCS in their nationwide search to identify and select the next TCC president.

Landmark Foundation, Elizabeth River Crossings receive Chancellor’s Awards for Leadership in Philanthropy

Pictured, from left: Carol Curtis, TCC Educational Foundation Board; Marian Anderfuren, vice president for Institutional Advancement; TCC President Edna Baehre-Kolovani; Carley Dobson, Elizabeth River Crossings; VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois; Tiffany Whitfield, Elizabeth River Crossings; Frank Batten, Landmark Foundation; LaVerne Ellerbe, executive director, TCC Educational Foundation; Christine Damrose-Mahlmann, associate vice president for Student Affairs; Lynn Clements, TCC College Board; and Donna Henderson, TCC Educational Foundation campaign manager

Two Hampton Roads organizations were honored Tuesday for their support of Tidewater Community College students.

The Landmark Foundation and Elizabeth River Crossings, LLC received Chancellor’s Awards for Leadership in Philanthropy during the 13th annual awards ceremony in Richmond. In attendance were Frank Batten, president and director of the Landmark Foundation, and Tiffany Whitfield and Carley Dobson, representing Elizabeth River Crossings.

More than two dozen individuals, families, businesses and foundations from around Virginia have been honored with the 2018 Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy.

Hosted by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE), the annual event recognizes leading philanthropists from each of Virginia’s 23 community colleges as well as the statewide foundation. This year’s class of distinguished philanthropy leaders has contributed a combined total of $6 million to Virginia’s Community Colleges.

“In 2017, the TCC Educational Foundation launched its innovative TCC Women’s Center STEM Promise Program, and we are pleased to honor two early investors, Elizabeth River Crossings, LLC, and the Landmark Foundation,” said President Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani.

“The goal of the program is to increase the number of women and minority students receiving STEM degrees at TCC. Both ERC and the Landmark Foundation saw the future value of a more diverse technology workforce – ERC in the area of engineering and construction and Landmark in meeting the IT needs of Dominion Enterprises, a Norfolk-based multifaceted media company.”

President Kolovani noted that the Landmark Foundation also supports dual enrollment scholarships for high school students in foster care who are earning college credits at TCC.

“I am grateful for the support of both of these organizations,” she said. “They truly put the ‘community’ in ‘community college.’”

Keynote speaker Paul Koonce, executive vice president and president and chief executive officer of the Power Generation Group, Dominion Energy, called the community college system “one of Virginia’s greatest inventions.”

He borrowed a passage from a 1903 Teddy Roosevelt speech to underscore the invaluable connection between higher education and opportunity: “Far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

The purpose of supporting community colleges, he said. “is to make sure that prize – meaningful work – the best prize that life offers, remains within reach of every Virginian.”

The TCC Educational Foundation works to lower financial barriers for students seeking college educations. For information on supporting TCC scholars, contact foundation@tcc.edu or 757-822-1080.