Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 26, 1995 TAG: 9509260053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Frank Longaker, president of the Salem-based school, said the two community colleges apparently are trying to prevent their students from learning about educational opportunities at less-crowded private schools.
At the college days, colleges and universities have exhibits and provide information about their programs. Similar events also are held at many high schools or at a central location for several high schools.
State Secretary of Education Beverly Sgro said Monday that the Allen administration will look into Longaker's complaint.
Sgro said she has contacted Arnold Oliver, chancellor of the state's community college system, about the situation.
She said she doesn't understand why the school would not be allowed to participate in the events, especially since it is a member of the Virginia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, which arranges them.
National Business College has participated in college day events at more than half a dozen other community colleges in central and Southwest Virginia.
But Virginia Western and Dabney Lancaster have "steadfastly refused to permit us to participate" in the college days scheduled on their campuses this week, Longaker said in a letter to Allen.
Dabney Lancaster's is scheduled for Wednesday, and Virginia Western's will be held Friday.
Gordon Hancock, coordinator of admissions and records at Virginia Western, said National Business College was excluded mainly for space reasons.
About 30 colleges and universities are scheduled to participate in the college day, and there is not room to accommodate all requests, Hancock said.
Virginia Western turns down many colleges' requests to have booths and exhibits at the event, he said. "We don't have unlimited space, and we have to commandeer half of the cafeteria for it."
Hancock said the college day is designed for students who are completing their two years at Virginia Western. The state's major four-year, tax-supported colleges and universities as well as private schools participate in the event.
Hancock said Virginia Western is not interested in bringing in schools that would try to recruit students who have not completed their two years there. Few Virginia Western students have shown an interest in NBC in the past, he said.
National Business College offers one-year, two-year associate degree and four-year baccalaureate programs. It has eight campuses, from Bluefield to Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, with approximately 1,500 students.
Philip Breeze, NBC's director of marketing, said officials at Dabney Lancaster, in Clifton Forge, told him the community college does not invite proprietary schools or colleges that are not accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
National Business College is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools and has met all requirements of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia as a degree-granting institution.
"For college personnel to attempt to confuse the people they are supposed to be serving by asserting significant distinctions [in accreditation] when there are none is misleading if not self-serving," Longaker wrote Allen.
Diversity in higher education in Virginia is a desirable goal, he said. The state-supported system of higher education should be looking to established private schools as a means of reducing the burden on the taxpayers, Longaker said.
The college days have been held for several years, but Breeze said he does not recall that NBC has ever been allowed to participate at Virginia Western and Dabney Lancaster. Last year, NBC was invited to participate at Virginia Western, but the invitation was withdrawn after it was accepted, he said.
by CNB