There are new scholarship opportunities at Pearl River Community College (PRCC) for students in certain career and technical programs thanks to a $30,000 donation from PRCC alum Craig Griffing and his family.
Griffing attended the Mississippi college in the mid-1970s before continuing his education at the University of Southern Mississippi and Tulane University. His brother and one of his nieces have also attended PRCC.
“I consider PRCC the biggest asset that Pearl River County has,” Griffing said.
The Griffing family has previously contributed to the college, including funding two scholarships for students in nursing and teaching.
Alabama
A $30,000 grant from CSX funded an “Appy Hour” at Drake State Community & Technical College for students to learn about software application development.
The Alabama Collective – a community of tech professionals and entrepreneurs in Birmingham and Mobile – hosts the app development training sessions at historically black colleges and universities. At Drake State’s Appy Hour this month, Alabama Collective partner, Ed Farm, provided hands-on training to students.
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Gadsden State Community College has received a $19,810 grant from the Truth Initiative, which encourages students and employees to stop smoking and vaping.
Psychology instructor Julie White and speech instructor Yolanda Monroe-Robinson are leading the project at the college. They’ve created a campus task force to spearhead educational efforts and activities.
California
Santa Monica College (SMC) will use a $942,225 grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to better serve current and former foster youths. The college will establish a comprehensive NextUp Program to provide academic support, career counseling, mental wellness support and direct financial aid to foster youths.
Kentucky
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded Bluegrass Community and Technical College and sub-awardees UK HealthCare and University of Kentucky Area Health Education Center a $4.5 million grant to work on reducing equity gaps in educational and workforce pipelines and address the critical shortage of healthcare professionals.
The DOL Strengthening Community Colleges: Closing the Gap grant specifically focuses on improving diversity in the healthcare sector. The grant will offer opportunities for high school students, college students and educators.
New Jersey
Ocean County College (OCC) will establish a new scholarship fund thanks to a $500,000 donation from the Dover-Brick Beach First Aid Squad. The scholarship will support nursing and health sciences students. The donation also will support public health programming for OCC students.
North Carolina
Four grants to the Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) Foundation will support the college’s Academic and Cultural Enrichment Series (ACES) and student activities programming.
The Harnett County Government awarded two grants for programs in its county: a grassroots arts program grant of $5,650 to fund a series of arts events celebrating Black history and Black artists, and a $1,500 federally funded grant to fund a lecture and meet-and-greet with Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist José Galvez.
The Lee County Arts Council awarded two grants to CCCC: a grassroots grant of $2,500 for a performance by Flamenco Carolina, and a federally funded grant of $2,000 to fund student and community painting classes highlighting Asian and Pacific Islander heritage.
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Johnston Community College (JCC) is receiving $310,260 from the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges to support the culinary arts.
The grant is part of a $5 million allocation to assist in the creation of high-cost workforce programs at 14 North Carolina community colleges. At JCC, the funding will help to extend its popular culinary arts continuing education program into an associate in applied science degree program by supporting new faculty and equipment.
Tennessee
A $50,000 gift to Cleveland State Community College will provide scholarships for students and support college initiatives. The gift came from the estate of Dr. Mary T. Barker, a professor and administrator at Cleveland State for more than 20 years and namesake of the college’s Mary T. Barker Humanities building.
Barker began her career at Cleveland State as a professor of English in 1968. She served as head of the humanities division, associate dean of arts and sciences, director of institutional planning and research and dean of academic affairs. After retiring in 1992, Barker served as vice president of academic affairs at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. In 1998, she returned to the classroom as adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga until 2005.
Barker passed away in 2018. In 2011, a joint resolution by the Tennessee House of Representatives stated “Dr. Barker has demonstrated the utmost professionalism, ability, and integrity, winning the unbridled respect and admiration of her colleagues and students alike.”
Texas
Dallas College School of Education has started the spring semester with an additional $1 million in federal funding for its innovative teacher residency apprenticeship program. Two $500,000 grants were included in the Community Funding Project package that were part of the fiscal year 2023 appropriations recently passed by Congress.
The college’s teaching residency apprenticeship program aims to help solve teacher shortages. It’s open to students enrolled in Dallas College’s bachelor’s degree in education program.
“Every student in our city deserves access to a highly effective educator every year – this funding really gives us the ability to scale our work and produce even more high-quality educators to meet the workforce needs of our early childhood and school district partners across north Texas,” Rob DeHaas, vice provost of the Dallas College School of Education, said in a release.
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Lone Star College (LSC) and Lone Star Corporate College have received a $324,792 grant from the Texas Workforce Commission.
LSC will use the grant to develop partnerships with area corporations to offer enhanced job placement services for graduates of the associate degree and certificate workforce programs. The joint venture will focus on six industries: manufacturing, automotive, information technology, business, visual communication and healthcare.
Wyoming
A $3 million federal grant to Western Wyoming Community College will help boost southwest Wyoming’s healthcare workforce. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and is funded under the Assistance to Coal Communities initiative.
Western anticipates breaking ground on the new health science teaching facility this spring. It’s projected to add 10,450 square feet of new space and renovate 6,600 square feet of current space located on the main campus.
