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Stephanie Tipple
Staff Reporter

As adults getting an education, NOVA students come in a variety of ages and many have or are starting families. In order to serve these students, the new Office of Pregnant and Parenting Student Support (OPPSS), which is based in the Medical Campus in Springfield, will begin making visits to the other five NOVA campuses. When on the NOVA campuses, students can work with the staff to get referrals to medical professionals in their area, informational resources about pregnancy and related health questions, along with workshops on how to parent, the dangers of domestic violence and what to do in the instance of sexual assault.

And while they do offer many resources for expectant or new mothers, the OPPSS is also ready to help new or expectant fathers. They offer many programs and educational information about parenting, geared toward students with children younger than school age, with the hopes that this will help adult learners on campus perform well in school and complete their degrees.

In order to offer these programs and information, the OPPSS is funded by the Support for Pregnant and Parenting Teens and Women Grant. This grant allows them to work on and improve all of the services available to parenting students, services and information about how to handle domestic violence, stalking and assault, and to help these parenting and pregnant students overcome any challenges that can serve as a roadblock in their education.

While the bulk of their time will be spent on MEC in Springfield, the OPPSS team will have a mobile van that will visit each campus once or twice a month. A calendar of the dates that OPPSS will be on each campus is available at nvcc.edu/current-students/student-life/oppss/calendar.

To contact OPPSS, e-mail OPPSS@nvcc.edu or call 703-822-2010.

By: Stephanie Tipple

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