Funding roundup

New grants to Central Oregon Community College will help support a one-week, science-focused summer bridge program for incoming college freshmen. (Photo: COCC)

Three new grants will boost a Central Oregon Community College (COCC) initiative to encourage student diversity in science programs.

The college has received a $10,000 grant from the Bloomfield Family Foundation (the second such award from the Portland-based organization), a $10,000 grant from the Randall Charitable Trust and $20,000 in aid from the Central Oregon Health Council.

A portion of the funding will go toward an outreach program that COCC has developed with several central Oregon rural middle schools, in partnership with the Central Oregon STEM Hub, to bring underrepresented students to the college for hands-on science learning sessions. Another portion of the funding will support a one-week summer bridge program for incoming college freshmen. The goal of the program is to build confidence and connection around science-based programs.

The grant also covers small stipends for faculty and staff who participate in the activities.

“We’re trying to get students to see, early on, that they can be a scientist,” said program coordinator Teresa DeShow, an assistant professor of biology at COCC. “We looked at the available research to determine best practices for supporting underrepresented students in the sciences, then developed a program tailored for central Oregon based off of what we found.”

Arizona

A $50,000 donation from Cindy Schorr will establish the Joyce Amburgey Memorial Scholarship at Central Arizona College to support students who intend to enter the medical field.

Joyce Amburgey dropped out of high school at age 17, but, after a series of life events, eventually got her GED and started taking business and accounting courses at a local community college. Amburgey’s family hopes that the scholarship will help make higher education accessible to deserving students.

Arkansas

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Arkansas Division of Higher Education in December awarded 14 recipients nearly $26 million in Higher Industry Readiness through Educational Development (HIRED) training grants to support workforce development efforts.

Sanders and the state Department of Commerce had previously awarded $48 million in HIRED training grants in November. The grants are intended to provide funding for state and regional industry-driven partnerships and data-driven education and workforce training programs.

“These grants will help build the workforce of the future and make Arkansas more competitive in industries such as steel manufacturing, aerospace and defense, lithium and cybersecurity,” Sanders said.

Arkansas State University-Beebe is one of the grant recipients. The college received $2.3 million for the design and implementation of the Arkansas AgriSmartIQ Focus Center, which will serve as the education hub for precision agriculture and related disciplines in the state.

“This funding will enable ASU-Beebe to lead in precision agriculture education, preparing students for careers important to the state while supporting Arkansas’ agricultural innovation,” said Jason Goodner, vice chancellor for academics at ASU-Beebe.

Another HIRED grant recipient is the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College (UA-PTC), which will use $2.5 million to establish an Aerospace Center of Excellence (ACE). The college will partner with several industry leaders, such as Dassault Falcon Jet, Arcturus Aerospace and the Arkansas Aerospace Defense Alliance. Other partners in the project are the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, North Little Rock School District, University of Arkansas Fayetteville and Apprenticely.

UA-PTC ACE will focus on skills gaps in the aerospace industry, including avionics, aircraft maintenance, aircraft painting, machining, composites, programmable logic control (PLC) and industrial maintenance. Partnerships with industry leaders will provide subject matter expertise, internship opportunities and marketing support for the program.

In December, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (center) awarded a $2.5 million HIRED training grant to the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College. (Photo: UA-PTC)

California

The San Diego Community College District’s (SDCCD) tuition-free San Diego Promise program has received a $100,000 contribution from U.S. Bank. This is the second consecutive year the bank has contributed $100,000 to the program, pushing total contributions since the San Diego Promise began to more than $3 million.

The Promise program covers tuition and fees and provides wraparound services for qualified students attending San Diego City, Mesa or Miramar colleges.

The initiative began as a pilot program supported by private funds in 2016 with an initial cohort of 186 students whose first year came tuition-free. Aside from covering the cost of enrollment, the San Diego Promise now also provides book grants, counseling and hands-on support.

A record 2,601 students enrolled at San Diego City, Mesa or Miramar College this fall through the program, and 15,879 have benefitted from an SDCCD education through the Promise since its inception.

Michigan

At Mott Community College (MCC), Bobby Crim has endowed the Bobby and Donald Wayne Crim Scholarship Endowment. The scholarship will honor Crim’s son, Donald Crim.

Bobby Crim provided a gift of $50,000 in 2023 and an additional $25,000 gift this month. To date, the fund has awarded scholarships to 17 MCC students.

Bobby Crim founded the Crim Race in 1977 after he was inspired to establish a foot race to raise money for the Special Olympics. “The Crim” now has grown into a festival of races with thousands of participants, including runners from around the world. As the enterprise grew, Crim expanded it to create the Crim Fitness Foundation.

Crim’s impact is “unparalleled, from the Crim Road Race, which has grown into the Crim Festival of Races and the Crim Fitness Foundation, and now this lasting tribute to his son that will positively impact MCC student success for generations,” said MCC Interim President Shaunda Richardson-Snell.

NEH grants

A few community colleges were among the grantees in the latest round of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In total, NEH awarded $22.6 million in grants for 219 humanities projects across the country.

Minnesota’s Normandale Community College will receive nearly $150,000 for its “Food, Floods, and Rivers in the Modern World” project. The funds will help to develop experiential-learning courses and open-access digital materials comparing cultural practices and environment history in the United States and Vietnam. 

In New Jersey, Hudson County Community College will use its nearly $150,000 grant to collect oral histories from Jersey City residents and incorporate them into history and composition courses.

With its $150,000 grant, Onondaga Community College in New York is planning a two-year faculty and curriculum development project centered on Haudenosaunee and Onondaga history, culture and texts.

In Texas, Tarrant County College District will use its $134,750 grant for a two-year digital humanities project to record, make accessible and incorporate into courses the history of Fort Worth’s North Side neighborhood.

In addition, Vicki Besaw, a faculty member at College of Menominee Nation, received a $30,000 NEH grant to research and write a book that explores experiences of tribal identity and trauma focused on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation in Wisconsin.

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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