Established by the 2006 General Assembly, NCI has accomplished in three years what most people hoped the institution would be able to achieve in six. Today, NCI offers 17 degree programs and four endorsement or certificate programs (the list of programs is attached), has a student enrollment that is projected to exceed 400 during the 2009 – 10 academic year, and has renovated and put back into use 30,000 square feet of uptown space in its three academic/administrative buildings.

NCI is an academic institution and concurrently an economic engine for Martinsville. It is a key to the revitalization of the city and county, as well as to the entire region. Originally envisioned as a state-supported degree-granting institution, NCI is currently referred to by the state Department of Planning and Budget as a higher education center, bringing academic programs to Martinsville from nine public and private institutions.

NCI is a bachelor-completion and masters institution. Students enrolling in its degree programs must already have an associate degree or successfully completed two years of college. As a result, the region’s community colleges are feeder institutions to NCI, and place-bound adults who for years have not been able to “go away” to college to complete bachelor’s degrees may now finish them through NCI. Regional teachers are also finding it convenient to upgrade their status by completing masters degrees at the Institute.

The institution has four unique characteristics. First, its enabling legislation already recognizes it as an educational institution, unlike other higher education centers in Virginia. Second, approximately 50 - 60 percent of its courses are taught in person by faculty-in-residence and other faculty who travel from the home campuses and by adjuncts hired locally. Third, instruction initiated at NCI is increasingly being videoconferences to other sites in Southern Virginia and elsewhere. NCI has the latest in technology and is using it to establish the institution as an education-provider throughout the Commonwealth. Fourth, NCI considers improving the region’s college-going rate to be a primary goal. Located in a region in which education has not always been embraced, NCI’s two Outreach Educators continually talk with students and parents in schools, churches, etc., about the value of education and the need to take the right courses in high school to prepare to go to college, if an individual student decides to do so.

The proximity of NCI to the ClockTower at Commonwealth ClockTower means that employees at ClockTower have easy access to NCI to enroll in degree programs, most of which are taught at night and on weekends.

But it also means much more.

Companies located at the ClockTower may work with NCI to customize training and education for their employees. The work offered might meet specific skill needs or be for credit or non-credit courses applicable toward degree programs or specialized certificates. For example, in the current Fall Semester, several area ministers and care-givers are enrolled in a certificate program in Patient Counseling videoconferences to NCI from Virginia Commonwealth University. In the Spring Semester, Ferrum College will offer face-to-face instruction toward a certificate in Environmental Planning and Management. (The course may also be taken for three credit hours applicable toward a degree.) NCI is negotiating with Duke University to bring its intensive training certificate program for employees in non-profit organizations and agencies here, also in the spring.

Area businesses are invited to work with NCI to provide professional recertification for employees. In 2010 – 11, for instance, NCI will offer an undergraduate accounting degree. Local accountants may take the courses they need for recertification. The region’s teachers have had access to recertification courses since NCI opened. NCI can arrange for almost any needed courses to be offered either face-to-face or electronically through its extensive state-of-the-art technology.

NCI exists to help meet the high-demand program needs of the region it serves. But its academic influence is being felt far beyond the region. NCI’s growth and development will continue to impact students, business and industry, and the entire Commonwealth.

New College Institute
Barry Dorsey Ed. D, Executive Director