Holyoke Community College (HCC) in Massachusetts will use a $50,000 donation from the Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation to help students at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute. The donation will go toward programs, equipment, maintenance, instruction and student services at the institute, which opened in January.
“With HCC’s expansion into this state-of-the-art facility, our region’s growing hospitality industry will directly benefit from well-trained chefs and hospitality staff. HCC has a rich history of providing quality education in western Mass. and we couldn’t be prouder to stand behind them,” said Bill Wagner, president of the foundation and an HCC alumnus from the class of 1971.
California
Foothill College will partner with San Francisco State University (SFSU) on a $1.1 million grant project to redesign middle and high school science lessons to include more diversity. The two-year effort is funded by a Science Education Partnership Award grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Students at both institutions will have the opportunity to create hundreds of “Scientist Spotlights” — short science assignments that highlight working scientists from diverse backgrounds. The spotlights will teach course concepts, and teachers can use them to supplement curriculum by using the assignments as homework or replacement readings.
The spotlights will allow students from underrepresented populations to connect to the stories of scientists, some of which did not set out to work in the field of science, according to Jeff Schinske, a biology professor at Foothill.
“I was just seeing all this evidence that students need to be able to see themselves in a discipline to succeed and even to be able to learn the material,” Schinske told SF State News.
The undergraduates working on the Scientist Spotlights will create an online database of the lessons that anyone can access.
Florida
Miami Dade College (MDC) will expand its American Dream Scholarship program, thanks to an anonymous $10 million donation. The scholarship program offers Miami-Dade County high school graduates a tuition-free college education. Since its inception in 2011, more than 17,000 students have qualified for the American Dream Scholarship, which awards more than $4 million annually. Nearly 10,000 American Dream Scholars have earned degrees to date.
Northwest Florida State College (NWF) received an in-kind gift of two patrol vehicles from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, estimated at $7,000. The vehicles will give students at NWF’s Criminal Justice Training Center more opportunities for hands-on learning.
Maryland
Hagerstown Community College will use a new grant to help students pay for child care. The college will receive a four-year grant totaling more than $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Education through the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program.
HCC plans to serve approximately 20 students each year, offering $25-$50 per week for child care assistance for Pell Grant-eligible students. The college also will hire a specialized part-time advisor to provide intrusive advising to students. Parent workshops, a newsletter and support workshops developed especially for parents involved in the project will be incorporated to boost student success.
New York
Nassau Community College (NCC) received a $234,000 grant as part of the State University of New York’s (SUNY) Clean Energy Workforce Development & Training Programs. The funds will help to expand NCC’s Utility Readiness for Gaining Employment for Non-Traditionals (URGENT) Program.
URGENT was developed to help women obtain field jobs in the male-dominated utilities industry. Launched in 2017, participants attended 142 hours of classroom instruction, on-site visits and workshops for field positions in the utility sector at no cost. Twenty-one graduates earned two industry certifications.
Onondaga Community College (OCC) will use a $250,000 gift from the Lillian Slutzker Foundation to endow scholarships. Benefiting from these scholarships are the 15 students in OCC’s new Lillian Slutzker Honors College, who will be able to attend the college tuition-free. Honors College students also receive a $300 stipend each semester for books and supplies, and participate in group activities outside the classroom with fellow scholars.
North Carolina
Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) was awarded an $18,000 grant by the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) Foundation and the North Carolia Community College System (NCCCS). The grant will help provide financial assistance to students seeking state-regulated or industry-recognized credentials through the college’s corporate and continuing education department. Most of the funding will go toward $500 scholarships to 30 students enrolled in a short-term, welding, phlebotomy or EMT training program.
CPCC is one of 20 colleges receiving funding through the SECU Bridge to Career Program — a pilot initiative aimed at removing financial barriers for students seeking training and credentials that lead to living wage/sustainable wage careers.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has awarded a total of $3.6 million in Wisconsin Fast Forward (WFF) Dual Enrollment Grants to 14 technical colleges in the state. The funds will support 209 school districts and more than 1,000 high school teachers.
The teachers will be trained to achieve the same level of certification as instructors teaching the same courses at their local technical college. New program standards require high school dual-enrollment courses to match the quality and integrity of those offered by the postsecondary institution, including the credentials of high school instructors who teach dual-enrollment courses.
Gateway Technical College, which received a $290,000 grant, will train at least 37 area high school teachers toward certification of Higher Learning Commission (HLC) dual-enrollment standards, focusing in the areas of higher education-related courses, general studies and business-level courses.
For Milwaukee Area Technical College, a $275,000 grant will help to train a minimum of 128 teachers. Healthcare, IT, accounting, business, machining and welding are among the areas of focus for this project.
Northcentral Technical College’s $200,000 grant will be put to good use, training at least 72 teachers toward certification of HLC dual-enrollment standards. The project will provide funding for graduate credits for a minimum of 30 instructors in math, science, communications, and social science and a minimum of 42 instructors in a variety of technical certification areas.
A full list of grant awardees is here.
