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Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) is one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to a new survey by the Great Colleges to Work For® program.

The results, released in a special insert of The Chronicle of Higher Education, are based on a survey of 196 colleges and universities. In all, 70 of the 196 institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies. Results are reported for small, medium and large institutions, with Southside Virginia Community College included among the medium universities with 3,000 to 9,999 students.

SVCC won honors in 7 categories this year:

Job Satisfaction and Support; Professional Development; Mission and Pride; Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness; Confidence in Senior Leadership; Faculty and Staff Well-being; and Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.

SVCC was also named to the Great Colleges Honor Roll, a status granted to only 42 colleges each year who are highlighted most across the recognition categories.

“This is a very satisfying affirmation of Southside Virginia Community College, but our real goal is not recognition – it’s being a community that values the needs and contributions of every individual. In that sense everyone at Southside Virginia Community College helps to make this a great place to work,” SVCC’s President Dr. Quentin R. Johnson said.

Johnson added, “SVCC is a great place to work because our dedicated faculty and staff are deeply committed to offering high quality academic and workforce programs. This commitment to academic and workforce excellence serves as a platform for maintaining a highly collegial and collaborative, student-first, campus environment for our students. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to bring our college community closer and make us stronger in our resolve to serve students. Together, faculty, staff and students exude a strong sense of pride in all that we do as a community! Our motto at SVCC is “Panther Pride — Catch it!”

The survey results are based on a two-part assessment process: an institution questionnaire that captured employment data and workplace policies from each institution and a survey administered to faculty, administrators and professional support staff. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution received recognition was the employee feedback.

The employee survey underwent a number of changes this year, including the addition of 11 new survey statements, some of which are related to new survey themes around diversity, inclusion and belonging as well as faculty and staff well-being. New survey demographics related to gender identity and remote work were also included this year.

In accordance with the survey changes, the recognition categories for the program were also updated this year to better reflect current patterns and methodologies in employee engagement in higher education.

The Great Colleges to Work For® program is one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country. For more information and to view all current and previously recognized institutions, visit the Great Colleges program website at GreatCollegesProgram.com and GreatCollegesList.com. ModernThink, a strategic human capital consulting firm, administered the survey and analyzed the results.