94-04-29 Partnership Between U.Va. and PVCC Now Includes Information Technology and Space Sharing

     CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 29 -- The partnership between the
University of Virginia and Piedmont Virginia Community College,
long recognized as a model in Virginia and nationally, now includes
information technology and space sharing.
     The university provided the technical support and advice
needed to link PVCC to Internet, a super-network of computer
networks.  Internet has tens of millions of users around the world
and is the primary gateway into the rapidly expanding universe of
computer-based information.  Through Internet, faculty, students
and staff at PVCC are now able to send and receive electronic mail
messages, search the card catalogs of the world's libraries, read
electronic bulletin boards and download countless files of
information.
     Space sharing begins with fall semester when PVCC will offer
evening classes in seven rooms of McLeod Hall, the university's
nursing school.  The university has made the rooms available free
of charge to the community college, providing critically needed
space for evening classes while improving the efficiency of the use
of university facilities.
     Deborah M. DiCroce, president of PVCC, says the latest
developments in the PVCC/U.Va. relationship are a natural extension
of past partnerships.  PVCC leads Virginia community colleges in
the number of students who transfer to U.Va. -- where studies show
they perform academically as well as native students -- and many of
the college's nursing graduates find employment at the university's
Health Sciences Center.
     In addition, PVCC's Division of Continuing Education provides
training for secretarial and support employees at the university,
the area's largest employer.
     In 1992, PVCC conferred its first ever honorary degree on
U.Va. President John T. Casteen III.  The associate in humane
letters degree was given in recognition of his and the university's
support for community colleges in general and for PVCC in
particular.
     Even with the history of cooperation, DiCroce acknowledges
that the newest developments have unusual significance.  "PVCC
could now be a player in the new information age without the
support and assistance of the university," she said.  "Our faculty,
staff and students will benefit immensely from the generosity of
our neighbor."
     Commenting on the space sharing, DiCroce noted that benefits
to PVCC extend beyond availability of space without the usual
rental costs.  "Given our strong transfer relationship with the
university, we believe many of our students will benefit from
exposure to the university environment early in their postsecondary
study.  For some of our students, particularly those who are the
first in their families to attend college, experience on a
university campus could make their dream of a baccalaureate degree
seem more attainable."
     Speaking for the university, Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer Leonard W. Sandridge said:  "PVCC is an
important part of the system of higher education in Central
Virginia.  It is good for all of us and the taxpayers of Virginia
when we can share our facilities.  Through the computer network,
many of the exciting technologies that are available to U.Va.
faculty and students are also available to PVCC faculty and
students.
     "We are pleased that the university and Piedmont can work
together in this way."
                               ###
                                                   April 29, 1994

Karen A. Castle
University News Office
kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu
(804) 924-7116


[Submitted by: Karen A. Castle  (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu)
               Fri, 29 Apr 94 14:16:48 EDT]