
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993                   TAG: 9310280328
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID C. HANSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CATCHING UP FOR COLLEGE COURSES

A recent news article in the Roanoke Times & World-News reported that one in four college freshmen at Virginia's state-supported schools came to campus lacking math, English or reading skills last year. It was also reported that most of these under-prepared freshmen attended community colleges. What was not reported was the fact that the vast majority of students entering most community colleges do not need remediation. Community colleges are not remedial institutions.

At Virginia Western Community College, less than one-third of the '92 entering freshmen needed remediation (mostly in mathematics), representing less that 15 percent of the total Virginia Western enrollment. (If all high-school graduates had three units of mathematics - including algebra I, geometry, and algebra II - the "remediation problem" would be greatly reduced.)

What is not widely known in this community is that more than 40 percent of area high-school graduates attend Virginia Western for their first years of college - almost more than the number who attend all other colleges combined. Granted, some do not have much choice because they lack prerequisites for admission to a four-year institution. But more often than not, students choose Virginia Western because of its location, low cost and reputation for excellent undergraduate instruction.

A typical example is a young woman I'll call Susan, who graduated near the top of her class at Salem High School in 1991 and completed her associate's degree last May. She chose Virginia Western to save money and prepare herself for transfer, at the junior level, to a liberal-arts college in West Virginia, where she now is enrolled. Data from four-year institutions indicate that students like Susan are well-prepared by Virginia Western: More than 90 percent of the VWCC graduates entering states' four-year colleges and universities last year were reported to be in good academic standing, and most experienced little, if any, drop in their grade-point average.

It would be unfair to hundreds of students like Susan to leave the impression that Virginia Western is primarily an option for those who are not "regular college material." And it would be equally unfair to the students enrolled in preparatory courses as college freshmen to imply that they are somehow inferior.

"Developmental" college courses (the correct term) need not be an embarrassment to the students who need them, to their parents, or to their high schools. Community colleges exist to provide an opportunity for all citizens who have the desire and potential to succeed in college.

That some students are more ready than others when they enter college is simply a reflection of human diversity. Just because some students need to work on their algebra skills before tackling college math doesn't make them any less worthy of a college education. Likewise, students who need to strengthen their reading or writing skills to be successful in college should be applauded for their determination to better themselves, and their community.

\ David C. Hanson of Roanoke is director of instructional support services at Virginia Western Community College.

by CNB