Sierra College will use a $350,000 CCC Maker Grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to strengthen three community makerspaces. The funds also will help to provide internships, embed making into curriculum and prepare students with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) skills to succeed in the innovation economy.
As part of the CCC Maker initiative, Sierra College will collaborate with other community colleges, sharing best practices for student success and for developing a model for creating college makerspace communities. The college has hired Dominic Felipe Gutierrez to be the liaison between the campuses and the makerspaces.
“Engaging community college students and faculty in makerspaces, and growing the maker and entrepreneurial mindset to develop creative, passionate, curious and persistent life-long learners and educators, is essential to complement existing college programs,” Gutierrez said in a release.
Illinois
McHenry County College (MCC) has received a five-year, $1.29-million Upward Bound grant from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare high school students for a college education. MCC’s Upward Bound project will serve 60 first-generation students at Harvard High School. The students will have access to weekly tutoring and attend workshops. They’ll also be able to enroll in dual-credit courses and participate in a six-week summer program, during which they’ll spend one week at Loyola University’s Retreat and Ecology Campus.
Maryland
Harford Community College (HCC) students will benefit from a $648,953 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. NSF’s Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) program aims to encourage academically talented students with financial need to continue their education and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education fields.
At HCC, scholarship recipients will be a part of the HI-StEM (High Intensity Student Engagement Model) program, a cohort learning community led by STEM faculty. The program focuses on partnerships between academic institutions and industry to improve STEM efforts at the college and high school levels.
Wisconsin
Blackhawk Technical College (BTC) has secured $283,161 in Workforce Advancement Training (WAT) grants from the state to provide customized employee training for area businesses. Nine companies will benefit from the training, including SSI Technologies, Inc.
“The Workforce Advancement Training Grant has created a synergy between Blackhawk Technical College and SSI Technologies, Inc. focusing on development of skills and competencies of our employees,” Jean Randles, SSI Technologies corporate training and development manager, said in a release.
