Editor’s note, Jan. 29: This story was updated to include comments from Gov. Youngkin’s office.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin made an unannounced visit to the New College Institute in Martinsville on Friday, amid discussion about the future of the state-run education center.
Youngkin toured the facility for an hour, which included time to speak with students from the Martinsville/Henry County junior chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and members of NCI’s youth robotics team.
He also sat down with staff to discuss the institute’s business plan, which the governor had requested to be presented by October 2024 as part of his state budget proposal. Without it, NCI risks receiving about $4.5 million in proposed funding from the commonwealth for fiscal year 2025, but nothing in fiscal 2026.
Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera also attended the visit, along with Deputy Secretary of Finance Jason Powell, according to a press release from NCI Monday. “They talked about how NCI’s plan is to supplement the Commonwealth’s workforce offerings without duplication of existing programs,” Executive Director Joe Sumner said in a statement Monday.
“As with any utilization of state resources, it’s critical to understand where NCI is spending its resources to ensure it is effectively and efficiently fulfilling its mission,” Youngkin spokesperson Christian Martinez said in a statement Monday afternoon. “The administration will continue to work with NCI to finalize a viable business strategy, bolster workforce training initiatives, and ensure the center is meeting key performance measures.”
Youngkin made the trip at the invitation of Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, who expressed dismay at parts of the governor’s proposed budget when it was released in December. Stanley, who serves as chair of the board for NCI, said he was told by Youngkin’s staff a few weeks prior to the budget’s unveiling that NCI would have budgetary support and would be expected to provide a business plan by the end of 2024.
Stanley, who has served on the NCI board for about 10 years and as chair since 2016, said in a December interview he was frustrated that Youngkin would consider nixing funding for the institute without ever visiting it.
“Words cannot adequately express how grateful I am that Gov. Youngkin would take time out of his busy schedule to visit,” Stanley said in NCI’s release Monday. “He was clearly impressed with what we are doing here at NCI, and he provided us with great insight and new ideas on how we can be better every day for the people that we serve.”
Stanley, along with Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, and Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County, have submitted budget amendments to ensure funding for NCI in both years of the biennium.
Stanley also introduced a bill — SB62 — in the Senate that would permit NCI to work more directly with commonwealth workforce development agencies to develop its programming. Doing so, Stanley has argued before the Senate education committee, would allow NCI to adapt to a changing education landscape that is beginning to embrace workforce credentials as a valuable counterpart to traditional college education. Phillips has proposed the same measure in the House of Delegates.
NCI was created by the state in 2006 to provide access to degree programs as well as boost the region’s workforce development and economic diversity. It’s a home base for bachelor’s and graduate degree programs run by schools including Longwood and Virginia Tech, though many of the classes that used to take place in person in Martinsville have gone mostly digital. In the past several years, the Institute has faced dwindling enrollment and a bitter fight with its foundation, which rebranded last year in an effort to move away from having NCI as its sole beneficiary.
But since the hiring of Sumner as executive director last February — the first working on site since well before the pandemic — NCI has inked a partnership with the Wendell Scott Foundation, which honors the pioneering African American NASCAR driver and owner with STEM-focused programming for children and teens. And Dominion Energy told the institute in November that it plans to send its employees there for wind turbine training programs. (Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy).
“Developing relationships with different organizations at the state level will enhance NCI’s efforts statewide,” said Sumner, “and continuing to build and improve on existing partnerships was encouraged” at the meeting.
