FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STATE COUNCIL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

DIRECTOR TO ADDRESS DCC CONVOCATION

Dr. Daniel LaVista

            DANVILLE, VA, September 16, 2005 – Dr. Daniel LaVista, Executive Director of the State Council for Higher Education for Virginia, will deliver the address at Danville Community College’s first convocation on Thursday, September 22, at 11:00 a.m. The convocation will be held in Oliver Hall (Temple Building). LaVista, who assumed the top administrative position at SCHEV in August 2004, will address the topic: “Academic Integrity and Student Learning.”

            As director, he provides leadership and coordination of Virginia's 16 public and two and four-year institutions, 23 community colleges of the Virginia Community College System, and 100-plus private and out-of-state institutions.   His duties include system wide strategic planning, higher education budget recommendations, and policy development and implementation related to finance, academic affairs, and institutional research. He is also responsible for providing data, analysis, reports, and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly.

            LaVista chairs regular meetings of the presidents of Virginia's higher education institutions, and he serves as a member of the following boards: Virginia College Savings Plan; the Virginia College Building Authority; the Commission to Review, Study, and Reform Educational Leadership; the Center for Innovative Technology Board of Directors; the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center; and the Virginia Environmental Education Commission.

            Prior to being appointed Executive Director of SCHEV, LaVista was the Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education where he assisted the Board in policy development addressing affordability of postsecondary education, faculty diversity and college and university productivity.

            LaVista served as President of McHenry County College (IL), President of the College of Lake County (IL) and as Chancellor for the Community Colleges of Baltimore County (MD). He also served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Cuyahoga Community College (OH) and as Associate Professor of Theater at Illinois State University. He has served as Chair of the Illinois Community College Presidents Council and in various professional affiliations and projects throughout the United States and England.

            LaVista holds a Ph.D. in Speech and Dramatic Arts from Syracuse University, a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Dayton, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Siena College in New York.

            For more information about the convocation, contact the Office of the President at 434.797.8400.