Texas’ Lone Star College (LSC) will prepare more residents for work, thanks to a $359,996 Texas Workforce Commission grant. The college will use the funds to train 120 students for high-demand, well-paying careers in the building construction trades.
LSC is currently building the LSC-Construction and Skilled Trades Technology Center on its North Harris campus. It’ll feature six classrooms, training labs for electrical technology, field service technology, pipefitting and HVAC-R programs. The center is expected to open this fall.
Colorado
Two Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) programs will receive funding from the Colorado Community College System’s Innovation Challenge Awards: RRCC’s IDEA Institute and WeBWorK Math Instruction.
The IDEA Institute will use a $99,500 grant to expand interdisciplinary, project-based learning. IDEA Lab projects encourage faculty and students to engage in hands-on experiences that support collaboration and innovative learning. The funding will help create connections to career pathways by developing an Innovation Advisory Board and badges or other evidence-based learning that demonstrates skills.
RRCC, along with Community College of Denver and Colorado Community Colleges Online, were awarded $93,500 for the “WeBWorK Pilot.” It’s a free, open-source, online assessment platform for math and science that provides instant feedback for students and flexibility for instructors to create custom questions and instructional resources.
“Our team plans to integrate WeBWorK into the college algebra curriculum by creating new content on the platform, specifically tailored to the students of the Colorado Community College System, making courses more effective and less expensive in the process,” said project lead/math faculty Brenda Forland.
North Carolina
Guilford Technical Community College will use a $650,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation to expand its welding and machining programs. The programs will sit in the college’s new Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM), which should open in spring 2018. With the funding, GTCC can purchase additional welding booths, cutting stations and industrial robotic welders.
Durham Technical Community College received a $23,500 award from the Bank of America Foundation for scholarships and tuition assistance to students in the construction and highway management program, which begins courses this fall.
Pennsylvania
Fourteen educational institutions in Pennsylvania were awarded a total of $2 million in tech grants from the state’s Department of Labor and Industry.
Northampton Community College (NCC) received $200,000. The college will use the funds to purchase equipment and supplies for two regionally targeted manufacturing programs: computer-aided design and applied quality and standards. Delaware County Community College plans to use its $200,000 grant to buy equipment to strengthen the college’s process control technology certificate program.
