Community college graduates work on U.Va. degrees at home

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Missy Cannon, a Tidewater Community College graduate and executive assistant to a financial adviser, always wanted a bachelor’s degree.

But instead of seeking that degree at one of the local public universities — Norfolk State or Old Dominion University – Cannon is attending the University of Virginia without leaving home.

“I wanted something better for me,” said Cannon, 33, “and I thought U.Va. could give that to me.”

She’s among two dozen former TCC students in a new program offering them a bachelor’s degree from the U.Va. without requiring them to move to Charlottesville.

Excluding U.Va.’s College at Wise, it’s the first time the university is providing an undergraduate degree away from its site.

U.Va. President John T. Casteen III hopes to start similar programs across the state.

“It’s a fundamental part of our mission,” he told the students at a reception last week.

The partnership with TCC began this fall with two classes, “Religions of the World” and “Systems Thinking and Creativity,” taught by faculty members from the university.

They meet on alternating weeks, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, at the Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. The schedule cuts down the commuting on Interstate 64 for the instructors.

“I can definitely tell the degree of learning has been bumped up,” said Audrey Catalfamo, 23, a student from Virginia Beach. “In other classes, you can skate through. In this class, you have to keep on everything in order to do good work.”

The program is open to students who have two years’ worth of college courses, including required general-education classes. At least half a year must have been at TCC. Tuition is about $900 for a 3-credit course.

The minimum grade-point average for admission is a 2.0, far below the expectations for undergraduates in Charlottesville. But Donna J. Plasket, who oversees the program at U.Va., said nearly all students have much higher averages and also bring valuable life experience.

Cannon’s average at TCC was a 3.8 and Catalfamo had a 3.2.

The Virginia Beach classes are the first outgrowth of U.Va.’s 5-year-old bachelor of interdisciplinary studies program, aimed at working adults in Charlottesville. It developed out of the strong relationship that Casteen struck with TCC’s president, Deborah M. DiCroce, when she was president of Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville.

Some of the students are pursuing the degree to advance their careers. Cannon is thinking about a future in marketing. Catalfamo doesn’t know what she’ll do with her degree, but she knows it will open doors.

The degree will take about four years, Plasket said, though students can expedite the schedule with summer classes at U.Va. The degree will be in interdisciplinary studies, with a focus on areas including history, politics and psychology.

Already, the program has jolted some of Cannon’s preconceptions.

“I thought it might have been stuffy, because U.Va. has that reputation,” said Cannon, who lives in Virginia Beach, “but it’s not that way at all. They’re very down to earth and willing to help you as much as they can.”