Feature Stories

At Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU), we are extremely proud of our initiatives and efforts to promote educational equity for learners of all ages and backgrounds. Our staff and faculty understand that life can be complicated and often does not enable students to participate in classes throughout the day – they may work multiple jobs to support their families; they may be caregivers to aging parents; they may have children to care for at home.

VWU’s Global Campus takes an innovative approach, allowing us to provide educational opportunities to students who need flexibility in their schedules so that they can continue their educations and build the advanced skills they need to progress in their careers. These courses are offered at night and on weekends to accommodate busy schedules.

The Coastal Virginia region is home to the third busiest port on the east coast, the world’s largest naval base, and the nation’s largest ship/boatbuilding and repair subsector. With more than 11,000 maritime affiliated positions open or coming soon, it is critical to assist the region in training a skilled workforce proactively and rapidly.

The Regional Maritime Training System, led by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council with support from VWU, has embarked on a collaboration to offer no-cost business workshops and courses focused on training designed to enable students to begin or advance in the thriving local maritime industry at no cost. VWU has received a grant through the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the Good Jobs Challenge that will allow students to train on vital business topics, such as:

• Business Management
• Information Systems
• Project Management
• Logistics Management
• Analytics Management

These courses will provide students with training certificates and, in some cases, VWU college credits.

The Good Jobs program centers around five pillars:

1. Aligning regional workforce solutions
2. Attracting new talent to priority industries
3. Training and developing diverse talent to fill open positions
4. Retaining existing talent to upskill our regional workforce
5. Creating new jobs through increasing the capacity of small businesses.