Alums

Jacob Dunn – Reynolds Grad & VCU Transfer Student
Excerpt from VCU News – October 19, 2021

Where did you go to school before VCU?

I graduated high school in 2019 and then went to Reynolds Community College. I did two years there and got my associate degree, then transferred to VCU. My last semester at Reynolds was this past spring, so I've had a very consecutive journey.

Why did you decide not to go directly to a four-year school?

I am studying English at VCU, and studying for the LSAT as well because I want to go to law school. So going to community college for two years and then transferring to VCU was the best way to save money, considering I want to go to graduate school.

Do you live at home while going to school?

Yeah, we live in the West End of Henrico, so it's not a terrible commute. … I don't really have an environment that I feel I would need to immediately get out of, which I understand why college, for some people, is sort of their exit ticket.

What have you learned as a transfer student?

I guess when people hear that you're transferring to a school, they're always like, “Oh, be careful. The credits might not transfer. I know somebody who transferred in, and they were a year behind all of a sudden.”

That is why I would suggest making sure you know where your credits fit before you transfer and making sure you pick a major early. I couldn't imagine transferring to VCU still undecided, although I understand why that is the case. Coming in and still being undecided, that would be tricky.

What resources did you utilize to help make the transition easier?

I was part of the Pathways to VCU program. It totally set me up for a smooth transfer. … There was an entire day at Reynolds dedicated to discussing stuff, and I met with an adviser. So, for me, I think when it came to my transfer to VCU, it was the easiest thing in the world.

What advice would you give someone who has transferred to VCU?

Get involved. I feel like that's what everybody says. But that honestly is probably the best advice that I could give because VCU is a very easy school to just show up and go to class and go home because it's in an urban environment. So I think that finding extra-curriculars and getting to know people in your classes. Make conversation with people.

How has the school year been so far?

I think my whole college experience has been different with COVID-19. I think that we were only going in person for my first semester at Reynolds. But I think that one of the things that I learned is that there is such a different level of academics at VCU. The caliber of the professors, for sure. I mean, they're all very knowledgeable in their field. That's one thing that I've really appreciated, depending on the class, you can see that the professor is clearly into what they're talking about. Whereas at the community college, and also at the 100 and 200 level at VCU, it's a little bit more general.

 

Employee Profile

Employee Profile: William Alexander

Web Development Manager - Marketing

Where did you grow up? What was it like?

I grew up in the small foothills town of Stuart, Virginia. My family owned a small grocery store, Alexander's Food Market, and I spent my childhood riding my bicycle to grocery store, or to the town swimming pool, or playing Legend of Zelda and other great video games of the mid-1980s.

What brought you to Reynolds?

I live and work remotely from Roanoke, Virginia where I've lived for over 20 years. I love the Roanoke area and plan to live in this area for the rest of my life. My parents lived in Richmond for a period of time while my father was a student at the University of Richmond. 

I was a fulltime faculty member at Virginia Western Community College for 15 years, and the Web Development Manager position at Reynolds was a great opportunity for me to get back into the VCCS, in a different way. 

What were you doing before coming to Reynolds?

Before coming to Reynolds I was the website manager for Sweet Briar College in Amherst, Virginia. 

Tell us about what you will be doing at Reynolds?

I'm the new Web Development Manager. I'll be keeping the website in tip-top shape and working with many colleagues to keep it updated.

What got you interested in computers and information technology?

I began my career as a graphic designer, inspired initially by the journalism class I took in high school, where we designed and produced the school newspaper. I studied art in college, with a concentration in graphic design, and worked professionally as a print graphic designer for seven years before teaching design for 15 years at VWCC. Along the way, I taught myself web design and development to broaden my professional skillset. Web Development gradually overtook print design as my main professional focus. That pathway of design, development, and teaching prepared me perfectly for the job of Web Development Manager at Reynolds Community College. 

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

My life outside of work is filled with time with my wife Amber, my 14 year old daughter Aidyn, and my 12 year old son Noah. We hike, camp out, kayak, throw the frisbee with our Chocolate Lab Oscar, and enjoy the kids' participation in baseball, soccer, volleyball and softball. We are also Boston Red Sox fans and enjoy Salem Red Sox games in Roanoke.

What is your favorite book, movie, or tv series, and why?

There are too many answers to this question - but for the last few months I have been binge watching Ken Burns documentaries on PBS. I owe my love of baseball to his "Baseball" documentary, which I recently watched for the third time! I also have recently finished "The War," "Hemmingway," and "Muhammad Ali." Ken Burns is documenting and telling the story of America in an incredibly deep and powerful way, and all of his films weave together to reflect back to us what it means to be an American. They truly are some of the best storytelling ever made.  

If you won $100 million in the Virginia Lottery what would you do with the money?

1) Pay most of it in taxes to support great public services that we all benefit from, like community colleges! 2) Pay off every piece of debt I could find for anyone remotely close to me. 3) Buy a very specific piece of property in Patrick County, Virginia - 80 acres with a cabin and a pond. 4) Build a small neighborhood market and deli in my Roanoke neighborhood for my family to operate. 5) Buy a 1967 convertible Chevy Camaro! 6) Retire in comfort.

Student Profile

VJ Kumar: Learning Has No Age Limit

Spotlight on REV/G3 Scholars

by Ambria Ingram / Reynolds REV Coach

Reynolds Community College prides itself on being the college “where outstanding careers get started!”  After meeting VJ Kumar, we can also add “where outstanding learners make a difference!”

“Don’t let your age stop you from going to school.” VJ Kumar, Lifelong Learner.

VJ, a native of Dubai, India, is currently a student at Reynolds Community College and a vocal advocate of education at all levels. VJ is a student in the Pharmacy Technician Career Studies Certificate program for Fall 2021 and excelling in his classes. He told me that pursuing a college education was delayed due to family responsibilities, and assisting in building a start-up company in Dubai. Even so, at age 67, he did not think it was too late to pursue his college dreams.

As he told me during our conversation: 

“It doesn’t matter what age you are (when) going back to school, and it doesn’t matter what challenges you are facing (when) going back to school. You can still pursue your dreams.” 

VJ believes that no matter if you have a career or job, “it’s imperative to continue with your education to help you diversify in other high-demand career areas.”

He has been in the financial consulting business for 17 years with other business endeavors. He is an entrepreneur operating an independent financial consultancy practice. His job entails helping individuals with retirement plans, annuities, life and health insurance, long-term care coverage, and education savings plans to ensure his clients’ needs and goals are within their budget. 

VJ is always looking for ways to diversify his skills and knowledge. While working as a financial consultant, he researched high-demand jobs and realized Cyber Security jobs would continue to increase, meaning qualified professionals would be needed. This realization led him to pursue Cyber Security classes in hacking, networking, and troubleshooting. Having this knowledge will enable him to be prepared if his company faces a cyberattack and gives him options with a different career if he chooses. 

He took a break from his Cyber Security studies to work towards his Pharmacy Technician Career Studies Certificate. He wants to understand how medications could impact clients he works within his insurance business. “Acquiring the pharmacy technician training and certification also adds another career option,” VJ said. He also feels this specialized knowledge gives him an edge over other insurance professionals in his field to understand direct knowledge of many of the medications and conditions his present and potential clients face.

VJ describes a college education as not a way to secure a job but also as “an opportunity to acquire different skills to help the career you are currently in and the one you would like to pursue.”

When his wife lost her travel agent job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, VJ said it was confirmation for him to keep having the mindset of continuing his education. “That is why I always said diversification,” he added. 

VJ is confident that Reynolds Community College is the right college to help achieve his ambitions and goals. He had high praise for the Reynolds staff and faculty. “I love that Reynolds’ professors and faculty members are proactive for all students as well as supporting students in their college education by helping them understand the course materials and answering any questions that students may have.”

VJ received awarded grants to help support him in his academic endeavors through REV (Re-Employing Virginians) Program and the G3 Program (Get Skilled, Get A Job, Get Ahead). Both are grants offered through the State of Virginia to support Virginians in upskilling and pursuing new career paths through providing additional resources. Both grant programs helped him attend his classes and get needed tuition and book materials. Also, both grant programs helped him save remaining monies to aid in living expenses. He received one semester of tuition paid for the REV program, and he received G3 grant aid to cover tuition and book/supplies in the Reynolds Bookstore for the 2021-2022 Academic Year.

 

His advice to others who are going back to school is to “listen to your professors’ lectures” and utilize the academic resources available at the college. He encourages students to exercise time management with getting assignments completed. His consistent focus on academics has helped him obtain a 4.0-grade point average. “If students put in the required effort towards their academics, then they can achieve a high GPA, which will go a long way to carving their path.” 

 “The most important piece of advice I tell adult learners is to not look at school as just getting a job because you can get a job anywhere. Instead, look at attending school as pursuing the dreams and passions you want out of life to become successful”, was VJ’s advice.

VJ is adamant that each person gets to decide how they want to get through life and puts it this way: “Gaining knowledge and going back to school will help with your ego. If you keep the same drive throughout your life, you can keep going.”

Fun facts about VJ: He is the oldest of his brother and two sisters. He has a wife, a son, and daughter. His father was a first-generation student who inspired him to pursue a college education. His hobbies are playing soccer, table tennis, and chess. He enjoys listening to all genres of music, dancing with his daughter, traveling to the mountains, and looks forward to one day becoming a grandfather.

Faculty Profile

Sara Skeens Named Academic Innovator of the Year

Adjunct Instructor in Reynolds School of Business and Industrial Trades, Sara Skeens, was named Academic Innovator of the Year by Relativity, an industry preferred software for eDiscovery. Sara earned this distinction for her creative approach to using technology in the classroom. Sara shared the following details about her work. 

Every year at their annual conference Relativity holds an award ceremony for several categories. The Academic Innovator of the Year award recognizes an educator that uses the Relativity Academic program in their classroom and teaches the subject of legal technology in new and innovative ways. 

One of the innovative aspects I add to my class that I think is incredibly important especially in a virtual environment is finding ways to make technical concepts hands on. Technical concepts can be broken down into physical activities, similar to what happens within the tech itself. Essentially removing the black box. For instance, to demonstrate data variety I use shapes to represent different data types. They are placed in piles (different data sources) and then we have our processing software which is a cube with only a few shapes cut into it. After the shapes go into that box they all come out as the same shape to show how we normalize the data to load into our review software which is another box with a single shape cut out. This shows that we have to either 1. Normalize our data to work in processing and review OR 2. Adapt our software to be able to accept new shape (I do this by cutting new shaped into the box). 

 

This is something that students can easily understand by watching or can create their own shapes out of clay or paper and walk them selves through the process. This provides not only a reading and and verbal explanation, but also a visual and hands on. I make sure all technical concepts are broken down this way to the bare minimum to help students really relate to and understand the inner workings. Rather than just saying we collect or process the data, I break down the internal gears and steps that happen inside the black box. 

Additionally, having a consistent real world example gives students the ability to follow along the entire process. I provide sample case stories based on real life that we can follow throughout the class so students can relate each step back to that case and follow along throughout the semester in real time. I have created sample documents, pleadings, conference calls etc. around that story and I am currently expanding the data set so we can load it to Relativity and have a full case experience.

It is important to provide career guidance and opportunities. As well as skills around mindset and critical thinking that can be used in the classroom and outside as they pursue a career in what they are learning. I run a module just on careers based in eDiscovery. I bring in folks with lots of different backgrounds to talk about how they got into the field and navigated their career. First giving them a networking opportunity and a chance to see how different experiences can be and to have multiple perspectives. Throughout the semester I look at their resumes and send job opportunities and take the time to work through how to write their resume to their careers goals and help them through interviewing and networking. I have been able to place multiple students in eDiscovery positions each semester through this career module and by providing support through out the semester. I have found that focusing on some of those skills such as mindset and critical thinking has help students to have more confidence and a positive attitude towards the challenge of career searching. I work with recruiters to have a channel of opportunities for entry level jobs. 

Additionally, I have founded the Legal Technology Educators Community, a group of legal educators coming together to share ideas, collaborate on working projects to create sample data, resources and educative materials to share. Moreover, I am creating educational videos on YouTube and I have an educational podcasts where I speak with experts in the field. 

Employee Profile

Martha Harper
Student Support & Great Expectations Success Coach

Where did you grow up and what was it like?

I grew up in Fredericksburg, Virginia. We moved there from Tampa, Florida when I was eight years old, it was 1972. My father joined the FBI just before I was born and after he finished a sociology Masters at USF, the bureau transferred him to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was a founding member of the Behavioral Science unit that has been explored in Mind Hunter and other shows. 

When we moved, my younger brother entered Kindergarten and my mother went to work with gusto as a 2nd Wave Feminist, first as a secretary for the City Manager, and then as the first female employee at the water filtration plant. She was also the first female Class A water plant operator in the state of Virginia and eventually Superintendent of Waterworks. 

I was the fifth out of six kids, three boys and three girls. We lived right in the city next to James Monroe High School and the hospital. I say all this to show that we, my little brother and I, were just neglected enough to experience a world of our making. We wandered all over that town on our bikes from the campus of Mary Washington College to the Rappahannock River and from Motts Run to Alum Springs Park. We just had to be home by the time the streetlights came on. It was the kind of childhood depicted in southern movies full of racism and color lines and negotiating that world. We were great observers of all that went on, and developed very early into crusaders for justice. Much of what we saw as little kids was obviously wrong yet we had to process how so many adults in our lives seemed just fine with it. Despite that, I loved growing up in Fredericksburg, but when I was eighteen, I was ready to go to college for sure. I went to Richmond for VCU. 

So, college brought you to Richmond? 

I have lived in Richmond now since 1982. The punk scene was in full swing and I discovered rock and roll nights and big city lights to be very dazzling. As I said, my mother was deep in her career, and don’t get me started on how J. Edgar Hoover abused the lives of agents with the craziest work hours ever. By 1975, my parents were divorced and my Dad was shortly thereafter remarried and transferred to Omaha, Nebraska. There were lots of issues with staying in college, including my own ennui about the meaning of it all and I dropped out. Fast forward twenty years with a whole lot of Richmond engagement in there, and my own marriage and divorce, with my wonderful daughter born in 1990. I returned to school in 2004 to earn a BA in history, and religious studies and then a Masters of Education in Counselor Education: College Student Development, all from VCU. 

Before coming to Reynolds you were with VCU. What was your job there? 

My last job at VCU was Senior Academic Advisor for Interdisciplinary Studies. That’s a really great program for students who want a taste of several disciplines and extremely marketable to employers. I got to help them put together a declaration and ask the university for permission to study that plan. We were always able to do it in the credits they had left of college too, so always the shortest time to degree completion when switching majors or transferring and finding out you may have to exceed 120 credits to graduate. Before that, I was at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee from 2013 to 2017 coordinating a center for nontraditional students, though I hate that term, and helping adults, especially students with children stay in school. Like Reynolds, Austin Peay was an all access school, and it was also located outside Fort Campbell, so we were full up with adult and military affiliated students. Before that, I was at VCU earning those degrees I talked about, and managing Off Campus Student Services from 2004 to 2012.

Tell us about the Great Expectations Program and your work as a Coach? 

Well to be honest, I can’t yet. I can tell you what the mission is and how I plan to fulfill that, but as of now I am just getting started so expect to hear lots of stuff from me. Great Expectations is a VCCS program on many Community College campuses, though not all of them, that serves students who are currently, or formerly were in foster care. The statistics on young adults failure to launch after foster care are appalling and a Great Expectations Coach is there to help those interested in higher education, but have no parent or person telling them just how to do it. I am also responsible for Single Stop, like everyone else in my department, serving not just students who have experienced foster care but all students at Reynolds. 

What is your favorite book, movie, or TV series, and why? 

Like most people, that changes all the time. So today Thursday, September 30th, I am reading and enjoying The Virginia State Penitentiary, A Notorious History by Dale Brumflield, and a work of historical fiction, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. You can see my bent toward history topics. Favorite movie will probably always be It’s a Wonderful Life despite how dated it is, the message still applies and still makes me cry every time George finds Suzu’s petals in his watch pocket. 

What do you like to do outside of work? 

Walk and read and meet friends for a cold beer. Travel when I can find the time or the money, but I like short local touring also. My daughter lives in New Orleans so I go at least once a year and try for twice, I love that broken city too. Probably for none of the reasons tourists go there. But I could talk to anyone who stops me about the cool places to hit off the beaten track.  

Do you have a favorite local restaurant or event? What is it, and why is it special? 

I will always love the Richmond Folk Festival. I started going and volunteering when it first started as the National Folk Festival. My daughter and I did that every year together till she left for college, so it brings back lots of fond memories. I look forward to seeing how it will be this year.  

If you won $100 million in the Virginia Lottery, what would you do with the money? 

First secure my family’s financial needs. Then, and this is a fantasy I have had a long time. I would set up a scholarship by buying a house on Monument Avenue, one of those big fourteen room jobs and provide that for low income first generation students who want to study history. Complete with a chef and tutor on premises. I imagine teaching them to democratically run the house, steward the endowment, hold events etc. all while going to college, and funny I have had this idea long before George Floyd died and Monument Avenue became a focal point for demonstrating structural racism in this country. 

When I was finishing my history degree, I pictured a house full of diverse students coming and going among the residents and knowing far more about the problem with those statues and the history of them than the people who already lived there. That was my former approach to the monuments, mostly because I lacked the creative thinking to see them just come down! With $100 Million, I would expand that scholarship to a second house maybe in Jackson Ward and house students with children in a big communal house providing that essential daycare and security while they could study full time any major!