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Bobby Sandel became just what the Virginia Western Community College board wanted, although it didn’t know that at the time he was hired.
Aaron Spicer
When Bobby Sandel took over the president’s chair at Virginia Western Community College at the turn of the millennium, the college’s place and mission were unclear … at best.
VWCC was often derisively called UCLA, the University of Colonial Avenue. Its identity was murky, neither high school nor college in the minds of most people in the Roanoke Valley. It had become Virginia’s first community college under Governor Mills Godwin in 1966, and is one of 23 today.
Former VWCC President Charles Downs, whom Sandel replaced (four presidents in 50-plus years), once said, “We were not the red-headed stepchild, but we were the new kid on the block” and there was no real precedent for what VWCC would accomplish or what it would cost. To that point, it had accomplished little, but it hadn’t cost much, either.
What Sandel found when he sat down at VWCC was “a dated, old campus with facilities that were very poor. We needed course offerings and to be more responsive. We needed to add the right faculty and there was no grants program, although there was a ton of money available.” Morale was in the outhouse.
All that was about to change on July 1, 2001, when Robert H. Sandel, a now 76-year-old native of Orangeburg, S.C., moved to Roanoke from Mountain Empire Community College. That was a world away in every sense, situated as it was, in far southwest Virginia’s remote Big Stone Gap. Sandel—nobody calls him “Robert”; he’s “Bobby”—outlined his vision to the board at the time, leaning in, rarely taking a breath as he talked, jumping from goal to goal to goal, always emphasizing what was possible, not what was expected or what had been done. He knew the reality and the reputation, and he wanted to change both. The board bought his pitch. He set to work.
Since the day he pulled his big leather chair up to his big desk in Fishburn Hall, Bobby Sandel has delivered. Consider a few highlights:
- A mechatronics program that has proved to be a major lure to manufacturers.
- Opening the Fralin Center for Health Professions.
- The Student Life Center built and opened.
- $30 million spent on a STEM building and program.
Development of a spectacular Culinary Arts Program (in conjunction with Higher Education Center in downtown Roanoke).
An Education Foundation base of $1 million that has soared to $28.8 million. “People like to support success,” Sandel says.
Aaron Spicer
The VWCC campus has been re-strucured and expanded, with more plans being made for the 70-acre central campus—including a parking garage.
During the Sandel years, enrollment has doubled (13,224 head count at its highest point pre-COVID, and 5,048 full-time equivalents). The most recent numbers are 7,827 headcount and 3,367 FTE. There has been $200 million in upgrades and new facilities. “Today it is the finest facility in the system and is the closest to a four-year environment,” Sandel says without hesitation.
“Somebody once called us ‘a high school with ashtrays,’” Sandel cracks. “We had to make the facility more conducive” to the students’ needs. The student and fitness centers helped a lot. So did teaching designer courses that pretty much guaranteed a job at a specific industry (or solidified one already held). “We designed courses for industry and business,” says Sandel, “even if that meant for the third shift and the class being held at 3 a.m. Community colleges need to be economic drivers.”
His success did not go unnoticed. He was elected president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, named Roanoke’s Citizen of the Year in 2013 and received the Roanoke/Blacksburg Technology Council’s prestigious Ruby Award.
He worked with chamber membership to fill the needs of its members and lobbied every group in the Valley that he thought could help reach VWCC’s goals. He got to know influential people and that proved to be one of his greatest gifts.
Ed Hall, a Realtor and strong supporter of VWCC, says Sandel has “always had a different attitude, understanding the needs of business and selling the community on the college. He has worked hard on making key contacts. Bobby is one of the most responsive people you will ever want to meet. He is goal-oriented and I suspect that among the board members we have now, few if any would have wanted to be on the board 20 years ago [before Sandel]. The board is attracting 45-to-55-year-olds now and even the chairman, William Farrell, is in his mid-50s.”
Chamber president and CEO Joyce Waugh, says, “The recent alignment of the School of Corporate and Career Training ensures that employers can invest in their employees to keep their workforce up to speed with new and adaptive skills and that those ever-changing jobs stay in the region.”
Sandel points out that the culinary school has been so successful that “restaurants are hiring students before they finish, then sending them back to finish.”
He stresses the health care programs at VWCC (nine of them) “all have a waiting list” of students and “these are high demand salaries.”
Courtesy of Virginia Western Community College
The popular Culinary Arts Program works in conjunction with Higher Education Center in downtown Roanoke.
That, of course, means VWCC is in demand, that high school students no longer consider it a second or last chance. “We needed to be the first choice and we no longer hear that we are a ‘diamond in the rough’ or take it as a compliment that we are ‘the best kept secret in the Roanoke Valley,’” says Jane Sandel, Bobby’s wife and partner. These days, a third of high school grads who attend VWCC intend to transfer with an associate degree to four-year schools after two years. Two-thirds want to go straight to work.
Jane taught high school English for 37 years before retiring and now is an unofficial advisor for her husband. “She understands this from the classroom teacher perspective,” says Sandel. And she doesn’t hesitate to let him know what she thinks. (Together they have four children and 11 grandchildren.)
The campus has been re-structured and expanded. It has satellite facilities at Greenfield in Botetourt County and in Franklin County and plans are being made for more buildings—including a huge parking garage—on the 70-acre central campus. That construction, scheduled sooner rather than later, “will be okay for the next number of years,” Sandel says. COVID-19 required the college to intensify its online offerings, which have now become quite sophisticated and almost pervasive.
COVID, of course, did as much good as harm in the way students are taught. VWCC’s enrollment took a hit (10-12% by one estimate, while nationally the loss was 15-20%). “We converted to online learning,” says Sandel, “and didn’t skip a beat.” He estimates that 50% of VWCC’s students could be learning virtually by the fall. The college is also considering shortening its terms to eight weeks from the current 16, because “students want shorter terms and we’d better be flexible, or lose our base. The students’ needs come first.”
When Sandel thinks back he recalls “a great board that wanted something to happen. I told them if they hired me, we’d be going in the right direction. I was going to stir the bucket, and some would take offense. They needed to give me a long leash. Things don’t just happen. You have to make them happen. When I became president of the chamber, I felt accepted and that businesses saw me as a transformational leader at Virginia Western. The board support never wavered.”
And what you see today is what the board got.
They said it…
Virginia Western Community College President Bobby Sandel has worked for more than 20 years to oversee the evolution of a school lightly thought of into an economic and educational force in the Roanoke Valley … and beyond.
Here is what some influential community leaders think of Sandel and his work.
Warner Dalhouse
Retired bank executive and long-time VWCC board member (including chairman)
“Bobby Sandel has been a dramatically effective leader of VWCC. He has literally transformed the school into the leading workforce training center of this region, providing excellently trained workers for the manufacturing and service employers who otherwise would have to either be short-handed or consider going out of business.
“On top of all that, he has physically transformed the campus into a beautiful place with traffic roundabouts and green spaces surrounding new buildings and facilities that work efficiently as a college unit. No one ever envisioned Virginia Western being such an indispensable element in our economic well-being. Bobby did that.”
Joyce Waugh
President and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Chamber
“He and Jane are dear, wonderful people who’ve added so much more to our community through their presence here. [Sandel] is a formidable force in the business community and Virginia’s Blue Ridge Region. With the college’s continuous focus on training skilled workers in areas from manufacturing, environmental and culinary arts, whether through a single class, certification, or two-year degree, the business community has a friend in Dr. Sandel.
“His coordination with area public schools to implement the Community College Access Program guarantees that virtually every high school student who wants a college education can have one, increasing those students’ earning power and strengthening the region.”
Dr. Samantha Steidle
Former Innovation Officer and entrepreneurship faculty at VWCC with a new PhD in Community College Leadership
“I always viewed Dr. Sandel as an exceptional leader for Virginia Western Community College. Over time, it became abundantly clear how impactful he was to the broader Roanoke-Blacksburg community. At Roanoke/Blacksburg Technology Council 2016 Technite, he was recognized with the Ruby Award, [as being among] the region’s most brilliant and valuable assets. The speed and enthusiasm with which the entire audience rose to congratulate him through applause spoke volumes. At that moment, I realized how many lives he’s positively impacted across this region. He understands that community college leadership, at its best, requires balancing student success, ensuring access, community partnerships, and economic/workforce development. He encompasses the best of community college leadership.”
Nancy Agee
CEO/President, Carilion
“Bobby Sandel is one of a kind. Wicked smart, visionary and yet so very personable, humble and kind. I don’t think he has ever met a stranger. Truly, he transformed VWCC, making it a model for the remaining community colleges in Virginia. Top tier leader for sure.”
Heywood Fralin
Virginia Western Educational Foundation Board, Chairman of Medical Facilities Of America, Inc., and Retirement Unlimited Inc.
“The financial condition of the college is the best it’s ever been. There are more scholarships available for students than at any time in the history of VWCC and the curriculum is updated to provide the education students need to obtain meaningful employment.
“Bobby is constantly looking to improve the curriculum to meet current demands of employers. We are fortunate to have [him] as president.”
Ed Hall
Realtor, benefactor and board of the VWCC Educational Foundation
“When I was president of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, Bobby asked if he could talk to the board and it wasn’t to ask what business could do for the college, but what he could do for business. One of the results was the Hall Associates Career Center, which led to training students for specific businesses.
“Bobby is in the top two or three community college presidents in the state. He is a dynamo as president, and he has put together a great staff.”
The story above is from our July/August 2022. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!