Roanoke College & Virginia Western Community College establish partnership

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Roanoke College and Virginia Western Community College have established a partnership they say will strengthen the pipeline of students between the two schools.

Roanoke College President Frank Shushok and Virginia Western President Robert Sandel signed the agreement Tuesday afternoon.

Almost 10% of the students who transfer from Virginia Western already enroll at Roanoke College. And the two presidents say they hope to grow that number.

“Our transfer numbers over to Roanoke College are good, but I want to see that at least double,” Sandel told reporters after the ceremony. “I want to see more students go to Roanoke College. There are so many opportunities there.”

“We’re doing this, because we want our region to flourish. We want our students to flourish,” Shushok said. “And we know that every step of the way there are obstacles. We want to remove those obstacles.”

The Rapid Maroons Program will allow students to make progress toward a Roanoke College major while at Virginia Western. And it will give them access to joint advising services and student activities on the Salem campus.

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