SUPPORT FROM MARY WASHINGTON HOSPITAL AND CULPEPER REGIONAL HOSPITAL KEY AS SURGE IN GERMANNA NURSING GRADUATES HELPS MEET CRITICAL NEED

With help from Mary Washington Hospital and Culpeper Regional Hospital, Germanna is graduating more nursing students like the ones pictured here volunteering at the Culpeper Free Clinic.

An 88 percent increase in nursing graduates at Germannna Community College has contributed to a 67 percent overall increase in nursing program graduates in the Virginia Community College System.

Dr. Jane Ingalls RN, head of nursing at Germanna, congratulated her staff, saying, "You've made a difference in these students' lives and in the overall quality of health care in the communities served by GCC."

Gov. Tim Kaine lauded the state increase, saying: “Studies have shown that Virginia’s growing and aging population will require more than 20,000 nurses by 2020. Our Community Colleges and the Hospital and Healthcare Association are working hard, and successfully, to fulfill this need.”

Germanna President David A. Sam said a public-private partnership is playing a key role in the surge of nursing graduates. "We celebrate the success of our program and we owe special thanks to Culpeper Regional Hospital, Medicorp and Mary Washington Hospital for their investment in helping us meet the region's critical need for nurses," Dr. Sam said.



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Germanna fall picnic draws a crowd

Germanna staffer Ashley Finelli shows off her pumpkin art

About 100 Germanna Community College staff and faculty members and their families attended the college's fall picnic at the Locust Grove Campus.

GET A FREE FLU SHOT; STAY FLU FREE

GET A FREE FLU SHOT; STAY FLU FREE


Daniel Technology Center

Tuesday, Oct. 28th, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Free for anyone covered by any of the state’s health insurance plans.

Cost without insurance: $30

Locust Grove Campus

Thursday, Nov. 6th and Friday, Nov. 7th. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Free for anyone covered by any of the state’s health insurance plans.

Cost without insurance: $30

Fredericksburg Area Campus

Thursday, Nov. 13th, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Free for anyone covered by any of the state’s health insurance plans.

Cost without insurance: $30

If you have other health insurance coverage, please contact your plan administrator to confirm that they will cover the cost of the flu shot if it is given by a CVS pharmacist. Also, please confirm what your co-pay will be and be prepared to pay that amount on the day of the clinic. Bring a photocopy of your insurance card for the pharmacist’s staff.

For more information, call Christina Dennis at 540/423-9058 or e-mail her at cdennis@germanna.edu

GERMANNA PARADOX: ECONOMIC DOWNTURN REVS ENGINE OF COLLEGE GROWTH WHILE DRAINING FUNDING FUEL

Germanna has a total enrollment of 13,000, ranging in age from these 13-year-olds at a summer Tech Prep Camp, to a 94-year-old computer student. The community college is the fastest-growing in Virginia, but funding is declining.

In a piece in Saturday's Free Lance-Star headlined 'Crisis Breeds Opportunities,' Business Editor Howard Owen writes:

When the economy tanks, some parts of society have growth. A receding tide does not leave all boats stuck in the mud...


The state's community college system seems like a natural for growth in an economic downturn. Tuition runs about a third of the average at four-year state university, and that's before room and board. People who have lost their jobs are going to be looking for the kind of training opportunities offered there. And the system, which began in 1966, is growing like a weed anyway.

According to Jeffrey Kraus, the system's assistant vice chancellor of public relations, enrollment over the past two years has been "pretty dramatic." There are about 250,000 students in the system, plus another 190,000 in work-force training. Germanna Community College, with campuses in Fredericksburg and Locust Grove and a tech center in Culpeper, has about 6,300 students this fall, [and a total enrollment of 13,000, including workforce] up about 10 percent from last year. It's the fastest-growing of the state's 23 community colleges, percentage-wise.

Still, there is a problem.

The same downturn that might drive students to the community colleges is the force behind cuts in the system.

"We're gratified that the governor only cut us 5 percent," said Dr. David A. Sam, Germanna's president, referring to recent action by Gov. Tim Kaine. "Nonetheless, community colleges lost 5 percent last year, 5 percent this year and x-percent next year to be determined by [the state]."

Tuition probably will rise some, but "we don't want to make up for the state funding cuts [through tuition hikes], because we would not be affordable," Sam said.

"It's hard to build new programs and new buildings and hire new faculty," he continued. "We had lots of needs before this, and now the need will be even greater."

Sam said the expected rise in prospective students is at best a mixed blessing, and not just because of the budget cuts:

"We're in the community. Our friends, our neighbors, our families are threatened or affected by the downturn. Bad news affects us directly or indirectly.

"We care about the community," he added. "Community is our middle name."

There is a fund-raising group at Germanna, but the kind of endowments that large four-year schools amass is in another world.

"Community colleges have a shorter history of donation," Sam said, adding, "and we don't have winning football teams."

Hundreds learn about Germanna and Dual Enrollment at College Tour event

Riverbend High School student Heather Aylesworth and her mother, Tina Harris, talk with Germanna's Canice Graziano about nursing and dual enrollment during College Tour night at Spotsylvania Towne Centre.


Sixteen-year-old Riverbend High School sophomore Heather Aylesworth may be too young to head off to college yet, but she's not too young to plan for the day she will.

Heather, who wants some day to be a pediatric nurse at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, plans to begin her nursing studies with the program at Germanna Community College.

Her mother, Tina Harris, says it'll be nice to have Heather at home early in her college career.

But even before she leaves Riverbend High, she'll be getting a head start toward that goal by earning college credit through Germanna's Dual Enrollment Program.

GCC Coordinator of Dual Enrollment Canice Graziano says Heather will be taking DE English Comp and DE Pre-Calculus to earn college credit at her high school.

"Because she's planning so early she'll be able to take advantage of earning up to 12 college credits at Riverbend," Graziano says.

Heather was one of 300 students who stopped by the Germanna table to pick up materials and ask questions and GCC was one of dozens of colleges to participate in the event.

GET AN EDGE: CHECK BLACKBOARD TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR ADVISOR. CUT IN LINE AND GRAB THE CLASSES YOU WANT FOR THE SPRING

Registration for Spring 2009 classes at Germanna Community College is approaching and new processes are in place.

Current students should be sure to visit Blackboard to identify their faculty advisors and schedule an appointment soon. Your advisor will help you navigate the requirements for your program and assist you with career planning.

Counseling will be meeting with new students only.

Schedule today and save yourself time with registration for Spring 2009.

'Together, we will get through this time. We will help reinvigorate our communities. And we will do our best to take care of each other.'

Germanna Community College President David A. Sam says that in this time of economic upheaval and looming budget cuts, he's confident that the need to tackle adversity head on and make a difference will bring out the best in us:

'These are unsettling times for all Americans.

In our lifetimes, we have not seen anything like the current economic turmoil. But we at Germanna Community College must be at our best during difficult times. Our Commonwealth and indeed our Nation count on community colleges to retrain workers and help the economy recover. Our citizens and communities count on Germanna to continue to be a place of hope even more so in a time of uncertainty and fear...'

For more, go to http://germannapresident.blogspot.com

GERMANNA EMPLOYEES CAN GO GREEN BY GOING TO PAYLINE DIRECT DEPOSIT

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu said.

Germanna Community College employees can take a small, simple, painless step toward protecting the environment by switching from paper paychecks to Payline, the Commonwealth of Virgnia's direct deposit system at https://secure.doa.virginia.gov/payline/

According to the PayItGreen Alliance, if just one in five American households were to switch to direct deposit and direct payment and receive their statements and bills electronically, we would collectively:

•Save 150,939,615 pounds of paper

• Save 1,811,275 trees

• Avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 2,180 Olympic-size swimming pools

• Avoid using 102,945,600 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements and payments

• Avoid producing 3,920,802,916 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of:

° Planting 45.6 million tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for 10 years

° Preserving 12,405 acres of forestland