Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Agency Head David Matlock welcomes Appalachian College of Pharmacy President Mickey McGlothlin, ACP Provost and Dean Susan Mayhew (seated) and ACP Director of Health Innovations Shamly Abdelfattah during Thursday’s signing of a memorandum of understanding between ACP and the Higher Ed Center. Courtesy of ACP.
Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Agency Head David Matlock welcomes Appalachian College of Pharmacy President Mickey McGlothlin, ACP Provost and Dean Susan Mayhew (seated) and ACP Director of Health Innovations Shamly Abdelfattah during Thursday’s signing of a memorandum of understanding between ACP and the Higher Ed Center. Courtesy of ACP.

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Appalachian College of Pharmacy to offer some classes in Abingdon

The Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Buchanan County will offer classes at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon starting in fall 2023 as well as the college’s Oakwood campus.

A formal agreement was signed Thursday. ACP offers the state’s only accelerated three-year program leading to a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

A cohort of approximately 20 students will be chosen to participate in the distance learning initiative. Current students completing their first year of pharmacy school will be given the opportunity in February to apply for the distance learning option and if selected, will begin classes at the Abingdon facility infall 2023.

The center was established as a state agency in 1991 and partners with public and private colleges and universities to provide degree programs, certificates and professional development courses.

“We’re excited to welcome the Appalachian College of Pharmacy to the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College,” said Adam Hutchison, Virginia Highlands Community College president in a statement. “Because of ACP’s accelerated format, students can start at Virginia Highlands and transfer seamlessly to a Doctor of Pharmacy program, completing most of their coursework in one location. This is an excellent example of institutions working together for students and the community and I look forward to seeing our graduates complete their Doctor of Pharmacy degree through this partnership.”

The new program will see all ACP students complete the first three terms of the curriculum in person on the Oakwood campus prior to matriculation to the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center for completion of the curriculum. 

The majority of the content will continue to be delivered in person from the Oakwood campus, with a small percentage being delivered from the Abingdon site. Faculty will provide skills training to students at both sites, while pharmaceutics laboratory training will occur at the Oakwood campus.

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UVA Wise to add child care center

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise (UVA Wise) and YWCA of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia (YWCA NETN and SWVA) have announced a partnership to open a childcare center on the campus of UVA Wise. The Little Cavaliers Early Learning Center will be managed and staffed by the YWCA and provide early childhood education licensed by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). The Center is slated to open in February.

The new Center will support the young families of faculty, staff and students.

After a competitive bidding process, the YWCA of NETN and SWVA was selected to operate the facility under a management agreement with the College. The YWCA NETN and SWVA also operates a 30,000-square-foot facility located near downtown Bristol, and in partnership with Ballad Health, a Child Development Center on the campus of Bristol Regional Medical Center.

The new childcare facility will be housed near the Center for Teaching Excellence and include a playground. 

YWCA NETN and SWVA has begun posting available staff positions for the Center. For more information, contact the YWCA at 423-968-9444 or careers@ywcatnva.org.

The Center is part of UVA Wise’s larger plan to educate a new pipeline of early childhood educators in the region with the establishment of an early childhood endorsement within its existing teacher education program.

That program will be housed within the College’s Department of Education, and the Center will serve as a hands-on practicum lab for undergraduate students training to become certified teachers in early childhood education.

UVA Wise is currently hiring a new faculty member to teach courses in the early childhood endorsement program.

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Lynchburg seeks input on next E.C. Glass principal

The principal at E.C. Glass High School is Lynchburg is retiring. The city school system has created an online portal where the public can submit feedback to the E. C. Glass High School Principal Profile Survey through January 20, 2023. There will also be two in-person public engagement sessions held in the Marie Waller Lecture Hall at E. C. Glass.

  • Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at noon
  • Wednesday, January 18, 2023 6 p.m.

The school system says that once the candidate profile is created, the system “will actively recruit for the principal position beginning at the end of January and plans to make a hiring decision in the spring.”

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Nikki Giovanni. Courtesy of Virginia Tech.

Giovanni awarded emerita status at Virginia Tech

Nikki Giovanni, who retired this fall as University Distinguished Professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, has been named University Distinguished Professor Emerita by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. 

Her scholarship includes 21 books of poetry, hundreds of additional poems, 12 children’s books, seven edited books, eight books of nonfiction, as well as dozens of uncollected pieces. Her work has been included in prestigious venues including the National Civil Rights Museum and the book “The 100 Best African American Poems.” Her work has frequently appeared on The New York Times bestseller list.