PHCC is among 27 community colleges in five states that have been chosen to participate in Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, a new initiative designed to enhance student success.

Each college will receive a $50,000 investment grant to develop plans for addressing this challenge and will be eligible for additional funding to implement their plans.  

"This will help us be a better institution," said Jeff Porter, Dean of Student Development Services.  "The grant allows us the luxury of better planning in order to take student success to the next level."

Achieving the Dream is a multi-year initiative funded by Lumina Foundation for Education and involves several national partner organizations. The first phase of the initiative will directly involve the selected colleges in Florida, North Carolina, New Mexico, Virginia and Texas. In future years, the initiative will expand to involve eligible community colleges in additional states.  The national initiative will be launched this fall.  

A team of national reviewers selected the 27 participating institutions from among 60 community colleges that submitted proposals. Eligible colleges were regionally accredited, public, associate degree-granting institutions. According to the reviewers, those colleges selected most effectively demonstrated their commitment to increasing student success and best communicated their vision for accomplishing this at their institutions.

During the planning phase, PHCC will work toward achieving three specific objectives:

building institutional commitment and community support for the Achieve the Dream movement; collecting extensive research about the college, its students and its programs so that future decisions will be data-driven; and conducting detailed policy and procedure analysis to determine effectiveness.

PHCC has been among the fastest growing colleges within the Virginia Community College System during the past few years.  Already a student-centered institution, the college staff strives to continually improve service, performance and outcomes.

"The need for this program is based on the growth of the college and the evolution of the community," Porter said.  "We are at a point of sustained growth, and we need to respond to all factors so that we don't lose sight of why we are here."

During the planning phase, college officials will also develop a grant proposal which may be funded up to $400,000 a year for four years.  Those funds will be used to implement the needed institutional changes discovered during the planning phase and contained in the grant proposal.  For example, the college may develop an advising center and a career/placement service.

Participating community colleges will be supported in their work by initiative partners with significant expertise in this field, including the American Association of Community Colleges; Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas-Austin; Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University; Futures Project, Brown University; Jobs for the Future; MDRC and Public Agenda. These organizations, along with the initiative's managing partner, MDC, Inc., will help colleges identify and adapt practices and policies appropriate for their institutions to enable them to achieve their goals.  

"We're very excited about working in partnership with all of these organizations, because we know that a combined effort is vital," said Martha D. Lamkin, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation.  "Community colleges are an important point of entry for postsecondary students, especially for students who have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education. Our hope is that the Achieving the Dream partnership can spark a national movement to help these students succeed." Other community colleges in Virginia chosen to participate are Danville Community College, Paul D. Camp Community College, Tidewater Community College and Mountain Empire Community College.