A few years ago, New River Community College President Patricia Huber finally relented. It was time to redecorate the president’s office, to remove decades-old dark wood paneling and brighten the room.
She didn’t have strong feelings about how the office should look, she recalled. But she had one requirement: “That desk remains,” she said.
The wood desk in a warm tone would catch the eye of fans of mid-century modern decor. It’s large, the centerpiece of the room, dwarfing the petite Huber when she sits at it surrounded by reminders of her achievements over 35 years at the community college.
“There’s just something special about sitting at that desk,” she said. It has been used by every president of New River Community College since the school was established more than 50 years ago. She’s the sixth president of the college. In December, she’ll retire after seven years in the leadership role.
The next president to sit at the desk will be Robert Brandon, currently vice president of academic and student services at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands.
Huber’s own college journey started at Wytheville Community College before she studied English at Emory & Henry College, now a university. She taught English in Smyth County and Wythe County schools in the late 1970s and ’80s and began teaching English night classes at New River Community College in 1987 while also teaching at Pulaski County High School.
Since then, she’s served in a variety of teaching and administrative roles at the college, including 10 years as vice president for instruction and student services. She’s also earned a master’s degree from West Virginia University and a doctorate from Old Dominion University.
She’s seen a lot of change at New River over the years. When the community college was established in 1969, the focus was on training students for careers in the trades, for jobs that often required manual labor. Today, in both career and transfer tracks at the college, technology is everywhere, from advanced machinery in labs to classes that are conducted entirely online.
Increasing access to the various opportunities available at the community college is an effort she’s eager to talk about, though she rarely takes credit for anything herself, opting instead to call attention to the collective work of faculty and staff in conjunction with the communities in New River’s service area of Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and Radford.
During an interview in early November, Huber recalled a student who worked part-time in her office while attending New River. The student continued working at the college while pursuing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and now teaches full-time there. “That’s what I love to see,” Huber said.
That student was Amber Clark, who today is an associate professor of business management.
“I never would have thought in a million years that I would be teaching at New River when I started school,” Clark said. “She sparked something in me and saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time. But she helped guide me along that path, and little by little, she made me start believing those things about myself, too.”
Her experience with Huber is not rare, Clark said. “She did that not just for me, but for so many others.”
Access to opportunities at core of mission
New River Community College recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Access to Community College Education program, which offers eligible high school graduates the chance to attend New River tuition-free for two years. The community college and Giles County first collaborated to pool funding for students from the county to attend NRCC for free in exchange for volunteer service hours. Since then, all five localities the college serves have signed on, and more than 1,700 students have received tuition assistance. Several ACCE students helped with cleanup efforts after the remnants of Hurricane Helene flooded communities in the region, Huber said.
“When you open the door with paying their tuition, it’s a game-changer for students, for families, for communities,” Huber said. ACCE has allowed some students who never thought they were “college material” to see the possibilities for their higher education and pursue them, she said.
Increasing access to college for local students is at the forefront of Robert Brandon’s mind, too. “The access part is where it starts,” he said. If a student doesn’t enroll in college, faculty and staff don’t have the opportunity to help them develop and achieve their education and career goals, he said.
Brandon said Southwest Virginia Community College has a similar free-tuition program to New River’s. There, he said, focusing on student engagement, career pathways and connecting with employers in the region has bolstered student success.
Brandon also started his career as an English teacher after completing college at Virginia Intermont College. “From that moment, I’ve really known that my personal mission was to ensure every student has the option for success,” he said.
He has taught in elementary and high schools and has served as an associate professor at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, North Carolina. Prior to his role at SWCC, he was dean of humanities, social sciences and education at Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Brandon earned a master’s degree from East Tennessee State University and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
“The Appalachian region has really been a cornerstone in my life,” he said. “It shaped the values that really built who I am as a person.”
Rethinking college post-COVID
Enrollment at New River dipped during the pandemic but has nearly reached pre-pandemic levels again.
Huber credits much of that enrollment rebound to the ACCE program and to New River’s career coaches, who work inside high schools in the service area. The school has about 6,000 students annually among its long- and short-term programs.
It has taken some time for things to start feeling normal again on campus. “I remember very clearly the first semester when we brought students back” in fall 2021, she said. “I’m out and about around campus a lot. What I noticed — students didn’t look at you.” She said students were on campus, but they weren’t engaged. She’s enjoyed watching students start to reengage. Some of that has happened naturally. Attention from faculty and staff helps, too.
Recently, a student who always attended class was suddenly absent. The instructor reached out to a student services advisor.
The advisor finally received a text from the student, who revealed they had just had an emergency appendectomy.
It’s not an accusation of, “Why weren’t you in class?” Huber said, but rather an approach of care and concern for students that makes a difference in fostering engagement.
Brandon also recognizes the need to rebuild community on campus. “Students got comfortable with online education during the pandemic,” he said, but they tend to be more successful when they attend class in person. “Bridging that gap between what they experienced during the pandemic with digital learning and then bringing them on campus for the really hands-on, experiential stuff they are going to need, that’s been the challenge.”
Brandon said his first priority upon taking the reins at New River is to listen and get to know the people who make student success possible. He wants the college’s about 200 employees to feel valued and the community to feel welcome and supported, too.
Huber said she won’t be looking over his shoulder as Brandon begins his presidency. “It’s not up for me to give advice,” she said. “I will be here to answer questions.”
She plans to continue being active in her church and in the community, where she frequently encounters people who have attended New River. Watching others excel, she said, has brought her the greatest joy.