Funding roundup

Highland Community College agriculture program students and instructors were on hand to receive a donation from Vita Plus. (Photo: HCC)

In Illinois, students and instructors involved in Highland Community College’s agriculture program were on hand to receive $5,000 from Vita Plus Corporation. The donation will support the dairy judging program and the purchase of feed analyzing equipment.

“One of the cornerstones of Vita Plus is being able to provide the newest and most cutting-edge solutions to help livestock producers achieve their goals,” Vita Plus Dairy Specialist Augusta Witt said. “We seek to continue this tradition by growing and nurturing our relationships with universities and technical schools to help train the next generation.”

Alabama

Calhoun Community College will train more people for in-demand jobs using a $279,000 grant from the Alabama Community College System’s Special Population Training funds. The college will use $250,000 to purchase a chemical processing and mixing line trainer, which students in the advanced manufacturing program will use. The remaining $29,000 will support curriculum development for the computer information systems program, specifically to provide a pilot program for remote instruction of real-time and streamed video collaborations systems. The goal is to be more flexible in course offerings.

Students in the wind energy technology program. (Photo: Cloud County Community College)

Kansas

Cloud County Community College received $10,00 from wind operator Enel Green Power North America Inc. to launch a wind energy technology scholarship at the college. It will award four $2,500 scholarships to wind tech students with a preference given to students from Kansas and Missouri.

Massachusetts

Holyoke Community College will use a $431,227 grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to expand its Community Health Worker program in partnership with area employers. Because of the funding, about 120 people can take a series of three credit-bearing classes to enhance their education and training as community health workers.

The initial cohort of 27 students will take the first of three required classes during the spring 2018 semester. A second cohort of 30 students will begin in the fall when courses will be offered in the evenings and on Saturdays to make it more convenient for those currently working.

Students who complete the courses will receive a certificate that can serve as a stand-alone community health worker credential. Students can also apply the nine earned HCC credits toward a full Community Health Worker certificate or an associate degree in foundations of health or human services.

Pennsylvania

Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) can start expanding its process technology program thanks to a $1 million gift from the Allegheny Foundation of Pittsburgh. The gift will fund the first phase of the program expansion, which involves renovating an existing classroom in the college’s Community Education Center and purchasing a state-of-the-art pilot plant for use by students.

HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, received a $5,000 donation from the Robert C. Hoffman Charitable Endowment Trust. The donation will help HACC provide emergency assistance funds to students. Amelia Demopoulos, a student at HACC’s Gettysburg Campus, is a real-life example of the impact of this funding.

“In 2016, I was faced with two choices: having to pay out of pocket for two necessary courses for summer semester or a 10-day shut off notice for my electric, both in the same day,” Demopoulos said. “After exhausting all other outside resources possible to no avail, I reached out to the HACC Student Emergency Assistance Fund, and received an approval two days later. With this grant, I didn’t have to consider between a chance at nursing clinicals or my electricity.”

Tennessee

Southwest Tennessee Community College and Siemens are teaming up to introduce Southwest students to industry automation and digitization, as well as promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to high school and college students. This partnership comes with a $17,000 donation from Siemens.

This spring, five Southwest students will earn while they learn during paid internships at Siemens’ Memphis office.  The students will receive a $2,000 stipend during their 10-week internship.

“This collaboration with Siemens is a great opportunity for our students to explore the engineering field and get hands-on applied knowledge similar to what we give them here at Southwest,” Southwest Dean of Business and Technology Robin Cole said in a release.

The remaining funds will help to lay the groundwork for a green car program at Southwest by providing Siemens Solid Edge software training to college and high school instructors.

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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