LaGuardia Community College/CUNY has received $350,000 from the New York State Office of Strategic Workforce Development/Empire State Development to expand job training in renewable energy and construction.
The grant will enable LaGuardia to install an offshore wind training tower and new facilities to boost electrical, plumbing, HVAC and offshore wind training programs on campus. The new facilities will cut down on waitlists; expose students to more tools and equipment and have more opportunities to practice hands-on skills; introduce new day, evening and weekend classes. And being on-campus will give students convenient access to LaGuardia’s extensive student support services.
In addition, the labs “will facilitate our ability to offer custom projects for renewable energy, transportation and construction companies, governmental agencies, unions, or trade associations,” according to Hannah Weinstock, senior director of workforce development at LaGuardia.
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Hostos Community College can renovate its cafeteria thanks to a $1.5 million grant from longtime ally Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.
The upgrades are part of a series of capital improvements at the college. Hostos Cafe reopened in the spring semester after closing during Covid. Since its reopening, it has served as a vital community hub, where students, faculty and staff can gather.
“The renovations made possible by this grant will help to sustain a thriving and very engaged student life that help make the college feel like a second home to our students,” said Hostos President Daisy Cocco De Filippis.
Arkansas
Northwest Arkansas Community College’s Brightwater center recently received a $650,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop a new butchery program that will offer a pathway to earn an artisanal butchery certificate. Brightwater plans to offer the program in fall 2024.
“Our butchery program is truly groundbreaking for our region. We are committed to delivering an intensive and immersive curriculum, enriched by the involvement of community leaders who possess a deep passion and expertise in the field of butchery,” said Brightwater Executive Director Marshall Shafkowitz.
Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food is the culinary school of NWACC that approaches food as art, food as wellness and food as business to offer an entirely unique methodology to the culinary arts.
Lumina grants
Six community colleges have received $150,000 grants from Lumina Foundation to better connect with potential students.
Iowa Lakes Community College, Bismarck State College, Blackhawk Technical College, Central Wyoming College and Guam Community College are among the college that will use the funds to improve and expand their digital presence and mobile outreach capabilities. All grant activities support the engagement and enrollment and/or re-enrollment of students emphasizing adult learners, students of color, working students and parenting students.
“We intentionally focused on smaller colleges which make up most two-year institutions. These colleges are vital to education access and economic mobility and need additional investments to bring what they have to offer to the hands of today’s students,” Mary Laphen Pope, strategy officer for community college participation at Lumina, said in a release.
Maryland
Cecil College, Community College of Baltimore County and Prince George’s Community College all are receiving state grants to help address Maryland’s nursing shortage. The colleges are among nine institutions in Maryland to share in $5.8 million in grant funding.
“This funding will create positive and lasting change in how we educate our nursing students and faculty while also addressing the nursing shortage in Maryland,” said Gov. Moore. “The grants allow for new and innovative ideas that will continue to develop and expand health care opportunities in Maryland, which will positively impact our workforce and the state’s economy.”
The colleges will use their funding to expand their programs, or develop new nursing programs, and hire faculty.
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At Montgomery College (MC), a new scholarship will help students preparing for employment. The Robert I. Schattner Job Training and Certification Scholarship – established with a $500,000 gift from the Robert I. Schattner Foundation – will cover tuition, fees and books for students on certain career paths.
The gift from the foundation also supports a program coordinator and a workforce scholarship specialist who will provide specialized services to students, collect data and report outcomes. In addition, it will pay for nursing equipment for skills labs at some MC locations.
New Jersey
Mercer County Community College (MCCC) will use a $87,479 National Science Foundation grant to help develop future New Jersey engineers and technicians via a program called Transforming Engineering Access for Mercer Students (TEAMS).
TEAMS will foster collaboration between three target groups: high schools, colleges and universities and the engineering industry. This will be facilitated largely through four conferences, college engineering tours, engineering project field trips and a presentation of findings at a national engineering conference.
“TEAMS will broaden participation in engineering, especially among underrepresented individuals, by establishing mentoring opportunities, increasing student engagement and motivation and by creating a partnership with engineering stakeholders,” said James Maccariella, one of the principal investigators on the grant. “Our aim is to identify barriers to the engineering profession for those who are traditionally underserved and promote participation among an array of student and industry stakeholders.”
Tennessee
The First Horizon Foundation recently presented the Cleveland State Community College Foundation with a check for $10,000. The grant will provide funds to support community projects such as Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss, Community First Awards and alumni events.
Texas
A $45,000 donation to Lone Star College Foundation will benefit students enrolled in the machining, robotics or automotive programs at LSC-North Harris. The J&H Machining and Welding provided the gift to support current students and encourage more students to seek careers in the machining and welding industry.
Wisconsin
Madison College will use a $35,000 federal grant to grow new study-abroad programs in East Africa.
The grant — through the U.S. Department of State’s Increase and Diversity Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program — will help the college build on its African Initiative, which was announced in fall 2022. In partnership with Madison College’s Retention Initiatives & Student Engagement Programs (RISE), the grant also will involve engagement and transformative learning support designed for historically underrepresented students.
Geoff Bradshaw, associate vice president of global strategy, hopes the program draws interest from Madison College students who may not have seen themselves learning beyond the campus borders.
“For many community or technical college students, the idea that they could travel to Africa as part of their studies is not even within their realm of imagination,” he said. “This program will help make students aware of these possibilities and provide structured support before, during, and after the program to help students make the most of their experiences.”
