In Wisconsin, Madison Area Technical College’s Innovation Grant program provided $26,999 to buy Hero, a simulation model dog used by veterinary technician students. Students can draw blood, insert a breathing tube or catheter and stop blood flow from canine wounds without causing pain.
“Using Hero builds students’ confidence before they perform these skills on a live dog,” said Andrea Foley, veterinary technician program director. It also reduces student anxiety when working with live animals, and decreases the costs of animal procurement and housing.
Through the college’s grant program, faculty and staff can submit promising new ideas, methods, product developments or opportunities that support the college’s mission, vision and values. Madison College includes $500,000 in its budget each year for these grants. In the past year, 16 projects were approved for funding, including a virtual reality learning pilot, mindset for success course, a first-year course for incoming international students and a game-based learning tool for brainstorming research topics.
Alabama
Bevill State Community College can expand its mine-training facility with $950,000 in state funding. The money was included in the state legislature’s recently passed education budget. The expansion will give the center a state-of-the-art mock longwall with the necessary equipment and a modern classroom inside the mine. The additions to the facility will make the center a prime training venue for mine rescue team scenarios.
“Bevill State’s mine training center is a perfect example of how much can be accomplished when the private sector and colleges are working together. The coal industry is a driving force of our state’s economy – it’s an industry that employs thousands of Alabamians – and Bevill State’s program gives young people the skills they need to earn a good living and support their families,” said state Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed.
Bevill State is the only college in the state that offers a mine technology curriculum.
California
Rio Hondo College will use a $100,757 grant to bolster its efforts to support food-insecure students. The funds are part of a California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office grant of $10 million, which is divided among college campuses based on attendance.
In 2017, the college launched the RioSource Room, a combination food pantry and resource hub. With the latest funding, officials anticipate expanding counseling services for students in need, adding services to connect students to resources – including CalFresh, the state’s food assistance program for needy individuals – and obtaining more food.
Florida
Eastern Florida State College received a $3,000 grant through the Community Foundation for Brevard for a new mechatronics lab at its Cocoa campus. The grant came from the John K. and Julia R. Roach Fund. The lab, which is scheduled to open in January, will play an important role in the college’s aerospace technology and engineering technology programs that are training students for careers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and other high-tech fields.
Mississippi
East Mississippi Community College will use a $50,000 donation from 2nd Chance MS to support its adult education program Skills through Opportunities, Access, and Resources (SOAR), which helps high school equivalent (HSE) students overcome barriers, such as transportation and food insecurity. It also encourages completion.
“We want students to focus on their goal to attain their HSE without distractions, and the SOAR program is put in place to help them do just that,” said Workforce Community Outreach Program Director Sha’Carla Petty.
SOAR students also gain tangible work skills and the National Career-Readiness Certificate through ACT WorkKeys.
North Carolina
Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) raised more than $291,000 at its 14th annual Gift of Education event in May.
More than 430 guests attended the breakfast and lunch events. They heard the stories of three students who have benefited from the donor-sponsored scholarship — dental hygiene student Kristen Wilkerson, college transfer student James Jones and recent CFCC graduate and Women’s Sea Devil Basketball National Semifinalist Tracey Kemp. Wilkerson and Jones were surprised at the event with scholarships to help them in their final year at the college.
CFCC dental hygiene student Kristen Wilkerson (right) receives a scholarship check from President Jim Morton and Betty Lanier, Gift of Education event chairperson. (Photo: CFCC)
Ohio
Edison State Community College will be able to provide postsecondary options to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities thanks to a $50,000 grant from Ohio State University. Through Edison State’s EAGLE program, students receive interactive career assessments, academically inclusive courses with Edison State students, supplemental and life skills courses, peer tutors and mentors, internships and financial assistance to those who qualify.
“This is a great program because it allows students with disabilities the opportunity to attend college. They take general education classes, as well as a few classes based on their interests, to complete a certificate. Once they complete the program, they will have the opportunity to walk at graduation just like every other Edison State student,” said Ashley Homan, program director.
The grant is supplemented by funds from the Miami, Darke and Shelby County Boards of Developmental Disabilities and Edison State.
