Funding roundup

North Carolina Community College System President Peter Hans and Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina President Patrick Conway watch students perform a simulation in the EMS training bay at Rockingham Community College. (Photo: RCC)

Five North Carolina community colleges are better equipped to address health care needs across the state — including the opioid epidemic — thanks to an investment from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. The company awarded a total of $1 million in grants to fund emergency medical science (EMS) associate degree programs.

A grant announcement event was held at Rockingham Community College. Sen. Phil Berger, in attendance, said that EMS workers and nurses play a vital role in fighting the opioid crisis.

“But too many of our communities face a shortage of qualified individuals to serve those important roles,” Berger said. “By putting this money at Rockingham Community College toward nursing and emergency services, our college is putting a down payment on the future of our county – to ensure our community has the tools we need to combat this vicious epidemic.”

Lenoir and Wilkes Community Colleges were also among institutions receiving funding.

Alabama

Southern Union State Community College’s (SU) additive manufacturing program will benefit from a donation of 3D printers. SU is the first U.S. college to receive a donation from Swiss company Sintratec.

Colorado

Arapahoe Community College will use a $25,000 grant to help student veterans. The grant comes from the Daniels Fund and will provide scholarships for veterans entering or returning to college during the next two academic years.

Florida

Valencia College received a $91,517 National Endowment for the Humanities grant for its Expanding the Conversation: Catharsis Across Campuses project. The funds help expand the college’s 2017 project that focused on discussions about the experience of war, and to prepare faculty members to incorporate content and lead discussions about war and military experience in their existing humanities courses.

Valencia also received $20,000 from Valley Bank in support of its First One campaign, aimed at helping first-generation, low-income students pursue a college education. Together with Florida’s First Generation Matching Grant Program (FGMG), which provides a two-to-one match of private dollars, the donation will help create $60,000 in scholarships for Valencia students who are the first in their families to go to college.

Kentucky

Madisonville Community College is launching a new scholarship program thanks to a $50,000 gift from the J. Rogers Badgett, Sr., Foundation. The scholarship will benefit students entering the college’s new honors program, which will provide opportunities to participate in research projects and to gain critical-thinking and critical-inquiry skills.

Maryland

Hagerstown Community College (HCC) received a $15,000 commitment from First United Bank & Trust for its Center for Business and Entrepreneurial Studies. The center is expected to open this year and will bring together HCC’s credit and non-credit business programs, its business incubator and area business and industry leaders.

“We are excited to support the project. We believe education at all levels is a key element to the communities we serve,” said R.L. Fisher, II, senior vice president and chief revenue officer at First United Bank & Trust. “Hagerstown Community College provides so much opportunity for the region and is a catalyst in so many ways.”

Virginia

Thomas Nelson Community College received $100,000 from Dominion Energy to better serve the Grove community in James City County. The funding will go toward an annual dental clinic, community health fairs, robotics summer camps and scholarships for nearly 30 students.

“Through this grant, Dominion is providing Thomas Nelson with opportunities to enhance educational and health services in the historic Grove community,” Provost Patrick Tompkins said in a statement.

About the Author

Tabitha Whissemore
Tabitha Whissemore is a contributor to Community College Daily and managing editor of AACC's Community College Journal.
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