New chancellor for Virginia Community Colleges visits BRCC, talks about moving higher education forward

WEYERS CAVE, Va. (WHSV) - School is almost over for college students across the Commonwealth.

However, Virginia has a new chancellor for its community colleges and he is working to make changes as the education system evolves.

On Tuesday, the chancellor heard from students at Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) about what challenges and opportunities they have.

“Curtailing our programs around the knowledge base you bring already and then how do we get you to that end game of those skills,” Dr. David Doré, chancellor for Virginia Community College systems said.

Dr. Doré is putting students at the forefront of his new position.

He spoke with students at BRCC about how higher education has transformed in recent years.

“The model now is ... what should be kind of constant is the outcomes,” he said. “That you are learning relevant skills but what’s variable is how you get there.”

Dr. Doré spoke about how community colleges, more so than four-year universities, have a diverse group of students like parents and military veterans.

He said he wants to make education more accommodating for them so they are still able to successfully join the workforce.

“There’s shortages across the board in many of these sectors,” he said. “So what does that mean for you? It means you’re gonna have a very well-paying job and a good job.”

Something Dr. Doré said he wants to work on in his new role navigating inflation.

“Those who rent are particularly vulnerable to inflation so I think that’s something we really need to be looking at is the cost of housing for our learners.”

He said Virginia community college systems have held tuition constant for the last five years.

“I’m very hopeful that you know we will get you know some funding from the Commonwealth to keep tuition low,” he said. “Our tuition is the lowest in the public system of higher education in Virginia.”