As president of Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC), I am delighted to provide our community with a year-end report highlighting another successful academic year (2023/2024) for our institution.
We are thrilled that our enrollment growth continued this year with a 1.5% increase in academic enrollment over the previous year, coupled with a 51% surge (as of June 3) in workforce/short-term credential enrollment. This marks the first time in fourteen years that P&HCC has experienced two years of back-to-back academic enrollment growth.
The college also had a strong year of bringing on new programs and initiatives. These include a new powerline program (in conjunction with Wytheville Community College), which has already celebrated the completion of two cohorts. Thanks to funding from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, P&HCC is honored to partner with the Franklin Center in Franklin County to launch healthcare certification programs as well.
Additionally, the college celebrated in December the grand opening of the second building of our Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology (the MET) Complex, a 103,000-square-foot facility that is dedicated to good-paying jobs in our service region. This new building triples our welding capacity and also includes precision machining, virtual welding, and robotic welding.
The success of the college has been noticed across the community, Commonwealth of Virginia and country. In November, P&HCC was named the Entrepreneurial College of the Year by the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), awarded to us because of our StartUp and Grow programs delivered in conjunction with the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce.
Just a few weeks later, P&HCC was awarded the prestigious title of Leader College of Distinction with Achieving the Dream, an honor bestowed on only six colleges this year and provided to us because of our ability to help students achieve economic mobility. In February, we were elated to learn that that P&HCC had for 2023 awarded the most Festo National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) Industry 4.0 certifications of any college in America.
We were equally overjoyed to learn that Patrick & Henry Community College was named one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to the Great Colleges to Work For® program. The college won honors in six categories this year: Job Satisfaction & Support, Professional Development, Compensation & Benefits, Mission & Pride, Faculty Experience, and Confidence in Senior Leadership. P&HCC was also named to the Great Colleges Honor Roll, a status granted to only 42 colleges each year who are highlighted most across the recognition categories.
We are also extremely proud of the accomplishments of our student athletes. P&HCC boasts the NJCAA Region 10 and Atlantic District soccer champions, earning the team their second appearance at nationals. Additionally, both outdoor track & field and wrestling sent students to nationals. Finally, the women’s softball team swept their region and district en route to becoming the national champions in their first appearance.
As always, the highlight of the year is celebrating the accomplishments of our students at our annual graduation ceremony. For many, they are not simply graduating; they are walking into a world of financial stability for themselves and their families. To that end, we are thrilled to announce that 460 students earned 650 academic credentials this year, with 220 of these students participating in our graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 11. These numbers mean that more students are getting the education, skills, and training they need to acquire good paying jobs in the communities served by our college.
The economic renaissance in our region is very real, and P&HCC is a critical part of this resurgence. An economic impact study by Lightcast reveals that the college contributes $75 million annually to our service region while athletics programs contribute an additional $2.5 million. With this kind of impact, it is no surprise that The Chronicle of Higher Education (the nation’s leading college publication) heavily featured P&HCC in its article entitled “Building the Rural Work Force: How Rural Colleges Meet the Needs of Nontraditional Students.”
For 62 years, P&HCC has been this community’s college. Now, more than ever, we are singularly dedicated to our mission of economic mobility for our students and their families. We accomplish this goal by providing our students with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful employees and employers.
It is indeed the honor of my lifetime to serve as the president of Patrick & Henry Community College.
