28 October ICC receives $40,000 grant October 28, 2019 By Thomas, Donna S. General 0 Itawamba Community College has received a $40,000 grant from the Woodward Hines Education Foundation for a minority male success program, which is being implemented on the Fulton Campus. Entitled Minority Achievement Network for Upward Progression, the program will play a major role in equipping minority male students with skills necessary to achieve academic success while fostering leadership skills and promoting professional and personal development, said Dr. Emily Tucker, recruitment coordinator and advisor. MAN UP will use a three-prong approach of academic support services, career development workshops and a mentoring program to improve academic performance, hone employment skills and promote positive values and healthy life decisions of minority males, Tucker said. “We envision that the structured academic support services, workshops and positive interactions with professional minority male role models to students will result in real life transformation, both in the classroom and outside of the academic environment,” Tucker noted. Tucker and ICC Director of Admissions and Registrar Dr. Bobby Solomon saw the need for such an initiative and submitted the grant application. “We expect the program to be a model to contribute to higher academic success, retention, graduation rates and provide life skills for students beyond the college environment,” Tucker said. During both the current fall semester and upcoming spring semester, MAN UP will include homework assistance and tutoring services (two hours each week) and planned life skills education training and workshops/mentoring sessions. Also included will be an overview of the latest financial aid opportunities available at ICC as well as sessions on financial management, drugs/alcohol awareness and decision-making and problem solving. Expected outcomes, Tucker said, are recruitment of minority males to the program as well as increasing the minority male enrollment at ICC and reaching 10 percent of the minority male population through attendance at program sessions and activities. Additional goals include increase in grade point average, graduation completion rate and credit hours completed. Participants who successfully complete the program, including workshops and tutoring sessions will receive book vouchers, Tucker said. “Through the generosity of the Woodward Hines Foundation, the Minority Male Success program will make a meaningful difference in the lives of many students in our service area as well as the economy of our state by helping to increase the number of graduates from Itawamba Community College,” said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen. The Woodward Hines Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to help Mississippi students plan and pay for college. It is committed to helping more Mississippians obtain postsecondary credentials, college certifications and degrees that lead to meaningful employment. Related Articles ICC receives AACC grant to support National Voter Registration Day event Itawamba Community College has received a grant from the American Association of Community Colleges to host an event to support National Voter Registration Day. The $2,700 grant will be used to engage students in voter registration, according to Nathan Ward, director of Instructional Support Services, who along with Lynn Millender, Social Science division chair, submitted the application. “For several years, our Social Science Division has coordinated our annual Constitution Day event at ICC, and many of those focused on voter registration,” Millender said. “With this award from AACC, this year we will have an opportunity to impact students on both the ICC Fulton and Tupelo campuses as well as the Belden Center by participating in National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, September 17. In addition, we plan to launch a social media campaign and provide printed material that will help students better navigate the entire voting process,” she continued. “Organizations such as ICC’s Humanities Club, elected Circuit Clerks in counties within the college’s service district (Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe and Pontotoc) and ICC’s faculty and staff will all work together ... ICC STEM project receives MentorLink grant Itawamba Community College has been selected as one of the winning colleges in the American Association of Community College’s MentorLinks: Advancing Technological Education program. Part of a national initiative supported by the National Science Foundation, the MentorLinks is an AACC member benefit. “Itawamba Community College is extremely grateful to the AACC for the opportunity and awarding of this significant grant that will make a difference in the lives of many of our students who soon will be able to explore STEM areas,” said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen. “We expect this interest to translate into more majors and ultimately more graduates in these fields.” The goals for ICC’s project, entitled Full STEM Ahead: Promoting Pathways in STEM, include increase enrollment and retention in STEM courses and career education programs, increase the number of graduates in STEM fields and career education programs and to facilitate student transfer in STEM fields. The two-year $20,000 grant for the period of October 1, 2021-November 30, 2023 will include salaries, benefits, travel, materials or resources and equipment. ... ICC, one of two in Mississippi, receives Metallica's All Within My Hands grant All Within My Hands, the nonprofit, philanthropic organization created by the members and management of Metallica, has announced the largest expansion of its Metallica Scholars Initiative and its largest grant to date. With the launch of year six, 18 new colleges join the roster of existing MSI community colleges. The Metallica Scholars Initiative now has a presence in 60 colleges across all 50 United States and the territory of Guam. Itawamba Community College, which is in year two, and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College represent Mississippi. ICC’s $50,000 grant will focus on recruiting underserved populations to enable individuals to attain job skills and opportunities to equip them for employment to better position them for success and a better future. “It is a tremendous honor for Itawamba Community College to be selected as one of the continuing recipients of the prestigious All Within My Hands grant, which will significantly impact our career education programs and the lives of those who will receive scholarships to pursue a pathway and their best start,” said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen. “It is another indication of ... ICC's Beta Tau Sigma chapter of Phi Theta Kappa receives Honors in Action grant Itawamba Community College’s Beta Tau Sigma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa has received a $1,000 Honors in Action grant to enhance its 2024 Honors in Action project, according to a recent announcement by the honor society. Adviser Jenny Bowers said that the chapter is researching Native American stories, specifically the Chickasaw story of Itawamba, and a tentative title is ‘Native American Folklore.’ The multilevel endeavor includes a presentation at ICC on Nov. 6, which the chapter hopes to repeat at the Natchez Trace Visitor’s Center, and construction of a story tree for the events that they plan to donate to the Lee County Library at the project’s conclusion. Other components include a children’s book about Itawamba for ICC’s Early Learning Center students. The grant will cover materials for the tree, honoraria for speakers and additional supplies needed for the presentation or book. “We are excited to be among the select few Mississippi/Louisiana PTK chapters that received the grant,” Bowers said. “We so appreciate your willingness to go above and beyond with your Phi Theta Kappa engagement to apply ... ICC receives $30,000 Women's Foundation of Mississippi grant Itawamba Community College has received a $30,000 grant from the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi for implementation of its Women Advancing Generational Employment and Success program. The grant, which will continue through Sept. 30, 2019, will provide supplementary resources to help disadvantaged women with children to advance their education and attain sustainable wage jobs through barrier mitigation, according to Lee Oswalt, director of the SNAP/E&T pilot grant, who will administer W.A.G.E.S. ICC will leverage resources through braiding funding streams, enabling the College to provide maximum assistance through the provision of customized and individualized training services. Many of the target population may not have completed high school. “The program will cover such barriers as tuition, drivers’ licenses, transportation and childcare,” Oswalt said. “We want to be part of the solution by providing another option to leverage resources for students.” Among the additional funds that will be used are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Incentive2Success, Mississippi Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program and adult education private funds. ICC’s program will target Lee County low-income women, ages ... ICC's Fleming-Parker receives bicycle helmet grant to benefit child care centers Children in Itawamba Community College’s Child Care centers will benefit from the care and concern of Associate Degree Nursing instructor Dr. Mary Ann Fleming-Parker of Tupelo. This summer, Fleming-Parker applied for and received a Prevention and Education grant through the Traumatic Brain Injury/Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund, through which 75 bicycle helmets were provided for the child care participants at the college. ICC Associate Degree Nursing program director Dr. Dana Walker said that as part of their coursework, sophomore students in the Family Centered Nursing Care course develop and present health promotion teaching projects to children at the Child Development Centers at both the Fulton and Tupelo campuses. The students have been at the CDCs on both campuses most Tuesdays and Thursdays since Sept. 1 to assist with temperature checks and hand washing as students arrive and then present a variety of health promotion projects, Fleming-Parker said. They will continue through Nov. 3. Fleming-Parker’s students presented the helmets Tuesday to ... Comments are closed.