Ohio’s Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), with a donation from Citizens Bank, will bring training to the doorsteps of companies. Tri-C received $60,000 in the first year of a multi-year commitment to support the new Citizens Bank Mobile Training Unit. The 53-foot-long trailer houses a versatile lab area for hands-on training and a classroom space with 10 desk stations, a whiteboard and video system. It allows Tri-C to offer customized programs at client sites, increasing access to training that addresses the region’s manufacturing skills gap.
Arizona
Arizona Western College (AWC) was presented with a $5,000 donation from General Motors Desert Proving Grounds. The funding will provide scholarships for students in the automotive technology program through the Edgar Mendoza GM Foundation Scholarship. The donation is through the GM Foundation Plant City Grant.
Michigan
Southwestern Michigan College’s (SMC) expansion of its nursing and health education building is being helped along by a $10,000 donation by Lake Michigan Mailers. The expansion will more than double the size of the current facility, provide updated learning space, new teaching technology and allow the college to increase enrollment in its nursing program.
The expansion and renovation project is expected to cost $9.6 million. Funding will come from a $4-million appropriation from the state, as well as $3 million from the college’s building and site fund. The remaining $2.6 million will be raised through a major gift initiative. SMC Foundation board members have donated $50,000, which will fund an entire classroom.
New Jersey
Ocean County College’s (OCC) much-anticipated Beyond the Classroom Stories of Service program recently received some support in the form of several grants and donations. A $10,000 grant came from by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and a $10,000 donation came from The Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation. OCC also received a $2,000 donation from the New Jersey Historical Commission; a $1,250 grant from the Ocean County Tourism Advisory Council; and a $1,000 grant from the Ocean County Cultural & Heritage Commission.
The purpose of the Beyond the Classroom series is to engage both OCC students and the community on important topics in a safe environment that explores the human spirit. OCC’s program will give voice to the stories of active military and veterans’ in the community. OCC is working with StoryCorps to record stories, and The Telling Project to create a play.
“By combining an oral history of StoryCorps with the play-writing of The Telling Project, we will be able to accomplish our goal of letting members of the community understand the history of our veterans,” Mark Wilson, OCC director of cultural affairs, said in a release.
Pennsylvania
Delaware County Community College, in partnership with the Delaware County Workforce Development Board, will use a $198,067 state grant to train workers for high-tech jobs. The funding will help DCCC further infuse virtual reality and augmented reality into its educational curricula for fields such as healthcare, skilled trades, advanced manufacturing and advanced technology.
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, received several grants and donations in May. A $9,000 grant came from the Gettysburg Hospital Foundation for scholarships for students in the physician office assistant program. The Boyd Foundation provided $25,000 for scholarships for residents of Harrisburg, Lower Paxton Township, Susquehanna Township or Swatara Township. Pennsylvania Keys awarded the college $14,798 to work on aligning early childhood education degree coursework with the Pennsylvania Core Knowledge Competencies for Early Childhood Education Professionals Working with Infants and Toddlers.
HACC also received a $118,819 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry grant to offer training for high-priority occupations. The college will work with the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board to offer an industrial manufacturing technician apprenticeship program to 25 individuals. Participants will complete the 264-hour apprenticeship program while working for regional manufacturers.
