Building skills and futures in the Roanoke region.
Dr. Kay Dunkley is the Executive Director of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority. She has held a variety of senior leadership roles at Virginia Tech, the Virginia Community College System and in two public school divisions. Dr. Dunkley is passionate about leveraging academic resources to address the workforce training needs of the region.
Learn more about the Roanoke Higher Ed Center and its incredible impact on our region on their website.
What do culinary arts, educational leadership and counselor education students have in common? They may all be studying under the same roof at the Roanoke Higher Education Center, preparing for an in-demand job in the Roanoke region. Every program that is offered in the building prepares individuals for immediate employment in the area, such as those run by Virginia Western Community College (VWCC), James Madison University and Virginia Tech.
2025 marked a major milestone for our organization: 25 years of expanding access to education and workforce development in the Roanoke Valley. Our mission is to develop partnerships and maintain a state-of-the-art facility that provides the citizens of the Roanoke region with access to training, certifications and degrees. Today, we are home to 11 member organizations that offer a range of educational programming, from GED to PhD and other training options that award industry certifications.
Since 2000, the Center has awarded over 17,000 educational outcomes, including 825 in the most recent fiscal year, advancing lifelong learning opportunities across the region. RHEC complements the work of local community colleges by offering higher education and workforce programs not otherwise available in the region.
Filling our Local Workforce Needs
The Roanoke Valley is a healthcare-heavy demographic. No matter how many healthcare training programs that we have, I feel there will always be a need for more. The Sovah School of Health Professions, one of our members, offers their Diagnostic Medical Sonography satellite program on site at the RHEC, creating a pipeline of skilled sonographers for local employers. The most recent cohort received job offers upon or shortly after completion of the program.
The nursing program offered by Radford University, as another example, has the greatest number of undergraduate students enrolled at the Center, which speaks to the demand for nurses and interest in the profession. To meet the region’s nursing shortage and accommodate the number of students they could enroll in nursing, Radford University recently expanded their space at the Center by 65% with a major, multi-floor renovation to house their nursing programs.
Further, Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP) joined the Center as a full member this past spring. In the fall, ACP launched their pharmacy education classes, establishing the region’s only pharmacy education program. By offering their accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy degree, Doctor of Public Health and pharmacy technician programs, ACP is addressing the shortage of pharmacists in the Roanoke Valley.
Experiential or hands-on learning opportunities, such as simulated patient care or lab work, help bridge the gap between classroom instruction and career readiness. In a lab setting, students have the chance to learn real-world scenarios, and they also have an opportunity to make a mistake in a safe space and be critiqued by a faculty member. Sovah School of Health Professions, Radford University and Appalachian College of Pharmacy all maintain these labs.
Entry level positions in the workforce require a high school diploma or GED at a minimum. Our partners at Roanoke Valley — Alleghany Region 5 Adult Education — work with local school divisions and community partners to offer GED preparation at the Roanoke Higher Education Center. After completing the class, students take the GED test at our Educational Testing Center (ETC) in the same building. Every year, the ETC administers more than 4,000 academic, professional licensure and industry certifications and exams to learners throughout the Roanoke Valley.
Higher Education Must Adapt to Meet a Changing Workforce
This past spring, RHEC published a workforce review examining employment, education and skill development in GO Virginia’s Region 2. GO VA is a statewide initiative designed to stimulate Virginia’s economic growth through the creation of more higher-paying jobs. Region 2 includes the cities of Covington, Lynchburg, Radford, Roanoke and Salem; and the counties of Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt, Campbell, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and Roanoke.
The results demonstrate a strong labor market performance in Region 2: above-average labor participation rates (greater than 70%); lower-than-average unemployment rates (less than 4%); steady wage growth in recent quarters (4%); and expanding industry clusters in nursing and health care, cybersecurity, manufacturing, technology and biotech.
To ensure that our programs align with emerging industry and workforce needs, we are utilizing this report to identify areas of opportunity within the vast labor market the region serves, alongside our members and community partners. The report shows that technology, AI and cybersecurity are reshaping the workforce, reducing the need for roles like customer service representatives and cashiers. How can we support individuals in these roles by helping them to retrain in another field that requires a similar skill set?
The report also reveals an increased demand in health care roles such as personal care aids and certified nurse assistants. These trends align with broader demographic changes and reinforce Roanoke’s position as a health care hub for Western Virginia. Building on this need, TAP This Valley Works, one of our charter members, offers certification training programs for the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA). These are entry level positions that provide a sustainable wage and can act as a springboard into more specialized positions, such as registered nurse or nurse practitioner.
Importantly, we know that the biomedical field is expanding quickly in the Roanoke region. The Roanoke Higher Education Center is exploring partnership opportunities in this space. Might there be a need for a biomedical lab at the Center in collaboration with VWCC, Radford University and Virginia Tech Carilion?
Collaborations with our members and other community partners are the key to fostering educational growth for all our citizens. We’re proud to have launched a new partnership with the Roanoke County Jail to offer GED testing to inmates. Region 5 Adult Education will provide the instruction, and we have developed a mobile testing unit to provide proctored testing twice a month. Our goal is to extend the mobile testing into other correctional facilities in Roanoke City, Salem City and Botetourt. Our Senior Director of Academic & Student Services, Dr. Carla James, recently tested three inmates, and all three passed. Just think about how they are equipped to improve their lives once they leave the jail!
We are also collaborating with the Build Smart Institute, which educates and trains individuals to become career-ready and to advance within the construction industry. We will be offering professional development programming for individuals and businesses, as well as continuing education to help learners gain the necessary skills to enter leadership positions within the field.
Looking Ahead
As workforce needs continue to change, RHEC continues to forecast and adapt. What does our region’s workforce look like now, and what is the prediction for the next three to five years? How can we support programs that are going to fill those needs? Roanoke College, one of our original members who recently rejoined the Center, and Virginia State University will both offer professional development courses for working adults to meet local needs.
At the Roanoke Higher Education Center, we are committed to lifelong learning. Over time, job descriptions will shift due to the evolving needs of the industry, and as a result, individuals must be prepared to retool, reskill and upskill, now, more than ever before.
Ultimately, our passions are to improve the lives of individuals working in our area. We want to ensure that there are productive, skilled and educated employees within our workplace. With more education and training comes more confidence, and that creates a ripple effect. When you are more confident in the workplace, you can become a better leader within your community or a better critical thinker within your home.
About Roanoke Higher Education Center. For 25 years, the Roanoke Higher Education Center has been building opportunities for lifelong learning in the Roanoke Valley to meet the demands of the current workforce. As the workforce continues to evolve, the Center’s role as a hub for education, training and transformation will remain as vital as ever. For more information, please visit www.education.edu.
The story above is from our January/February 2026 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
