Building confidence the second time around

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Facts about John Tyler Community College
http://www.jtcc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=34

Information about John Tyler’s Commonwealth Nursing Program
http://www.jtcc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=200&Itemid=268

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By Sean Collins-Smith
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Published: October 10, 2008

Community colleges have long been available to students of all kinds, from newly graduated high-school students to 40-year-old moms. John Tyler Community College, the fifth largest two-year institution in Virginia, is such a school that gives its students a second chance to restart their education.

“You get a very good education here,” said Melinda Miller, the college’s coordinator for manufacturing, technology, and skilled trades. “I attended classes here sometime ago, and now I’ve come back to work here. It’s great, anybody gets a chance. What you do with that is up to you.”

John Tyler, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary, is one of the fastest growing community colleges in Virginia, with more than 10,000 students on its two campuses in Midlothian and Chester.

“I had a student who graduated from a small high school and went to ODU,” said Miller, who assists students at job fairs in an effort to choose a career. “He was overwhelmed there, by the size and the scope of it all,” she said. “He transferred here, and now he’s doing great. I don’t think he’s the only one. We have smaller classes here, cheaper tuition. And if you graduate and want to move on, there are plenty of four-year schools that your credits will go toward, not to mention other programs.”

Stephanie Banks, a 35 year-old student who previously attended VCU but dropped out, is about to seek out some of those other programs to be certified as a registered nurse.

“I took nursing here, and hopefully I’ll graduate,” said Banks, who took prerequisite classes in physical therapy at Lord Fairfax Community College. “Since I’m an older student, I had to find out what I wanted to do. After I leave here, I’m becoming an RN at Retreat Hospital.”

Thanks to a $1.7 million donation from the CJW Medical Center, John Tyler Community College expanded and relocated its nursing program to the Johnston-Willis Campus of CJW in 2006. And many of the students at John Tyler are going for their associate degrees in this improved major.

“There are more adults here and the classes are smaller, so it’s easier to make friends,” said Jessica Fritz, a 29-ear-old student, also enrolled in the nursing program. “And this environment is a lot easier if you have a family. Tyler is quick, relatively inexpensive, and the professors are great,”

John Tyler has an average class size of 23 students, and its tuition is on average a third of Virginia’s four-year universities, coming in at about $2,300 per academic year.

“What it comes down to are services provided by the college,” said Holly Walker, the college’s spokesperson. “We have one-on-one time with faculty and students. We have online courses, in-class courses, hybrid classes.”

“There are a lot of options for people who have jobs, families, mortgages. Some students are concerned that they shouldn’t go to college, but here they can get inspired and build confidence,” Walker added.