18 October MCCB awards $774,000 challenge grant to ICC October 18, 2018 By Thomas, Donna S. General 0 Itawamba Community College has been awarded a 2019 Career and Technical Education Challenge grant for $774,000 from the Mississippi Community College Board for the implementation of a Heavy Equipment Technology program. According to Dean of Career and Technical Instruction Barry Emison, the grant will be utilized to purchase equipment and training aids for its Diesel Equipment Technology program. “The grant will enhance that program and add capabilities in the heavy equipment area,” Emison said. “We are addressing a significant skills gap in that industry.” Emison said that the grant proposal was the result of a request from heavy equipment industries in Northeast Mississippi to provide skilled graduates for future employment in exchange for collaboration with ICC to develop a heavy equipment maintenance option to the existing Diesel Equipment Technology program. “Itawamba Community College takes pride in having excellent industry partnerships,” he noted. The grant will enhance that collaboration, increase heavy equipment industry’s participation and encourage student development through structured internships and specialized dealer training. The curriculum will follow the Mississippi Community College Board’s framework and align with the industry-approved Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation national standard, Emison noted. The Heavy Equipment Maintenance curriculum includes advanced skills unique to the industry, including but not limited to, hydrostatics, CAN BUS systems and Electrical over Hydraulics systems. “Students in the program will be trained using the most up-to-date training aids and materials, coupled with real live work experience through internships, which will ensure that Itawamba Community College graduates from this program are the best trained, most employable and therefore, the best compensated in the field,” Emison emphasized. He said that the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Mississippi Department of Employment Services Occupational Employment data indicate a five percent and more than a six-and-a-half percent increase respectively in job openings. In an effort to begin the necessary training promptly, the project will offer an immediate training pathway for students as well as other options in student enrollment. Current sophomores will be offered internship opportunities with heavy equipment partners during the 2019 spring semester, Emison said. The first credit students would be currently-enrolled freshmen returning for their sophomore year next fall with an expected graduation date of May 2021. Students will be provided soft skills training, job coaching and WIN Job Center services at scheduled intervals throughout the Diesel Equipment Technology option pathway, Emison said. Collaboration with Workforce, WIN Job Centers and Families First of Mississippi, Incentives to Success and Job Coach will help to provide resources and services needed for student success. Included are Necessary Skills online training, resume’ assistance, interview skills and WIN Job Center and Get on the Grid experiences prior to graduation. “This significant grant from the Mississippi Community College Board will enable Itawamba Community College to equip students in Diesel Equipment Technology to expand their skills and take advantage of options not currently available,” said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen. “It is the ultimate intent of the program to earn AED accreditation and become the model for Heavy Equipment Technology programs in Mississippi and surrounding states.” Jason Gholston is director for the Diesel Equipment Technology program, which is located at the ICC Tupelo Campus, 2176 South Eason Boulevard. Related Articles ICC's ADN, PN programs to benefit from $40,000 Women's Foundation of Mississippi Grant Students in Itawamba Community College’s Associate Degree Nursing and Practical Nursing programs again will have an opportunity to benefit from a significant grant from the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi. For the second consecutive year, the $40,000 Access to Opportunity – Training and Graduating a Healthcare Workforce for Mississippi grant will be divided between the ADN and PN programs based on relative program enrollments, said Tonya Vaughn, dean of Health Science Instruction. Last year, 31 ADN and 19 PN students received funds. During 2021-22, recipients of the grant money expressed their appreciation for their selection. Among the uses for the funds included purchase of a new computer that was compatible with technology used in the nursing program, payment for the NCLEX review and application, vehicle tires for less hazardous travel to and from school and clinicals and childcare to enable continued enrollment. Students in their final year/semester of their nursing program will be informed of this grant during the beginning of the fall semester, Vaughn said. Those who would like to be considered for the grant will complete an ... ICC's Nursing students have opportunity to benefit from Women's Foundation of Mississippi grant Students in Itawamba Community College’s Associate Degree Nursing and Practical Nursing programs will have an opportunity to benefit from a significant grant from the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi. The $40,000 Access to Opportunity – Training and Graduating a Healthcare Workforce for Mississippi grant will be divided between the ADN and PN programs based on relative program enrollments, said Rilla Jones, dean of Health Science Instruction. This year, 31 ADN and 19 PN students will receive funds. Students in their final year/semester of their nursing program will be informed of this grant during the beginning of the fall semester, Jones said. Those who would like to be considered for the grant will complete an application and sign a consent form for FAFSA data to be accessed. Selection will be based on lowest estimated financial contribution and income level and the most number of dependents. Students who are selected will be awarded $800. “This targeted, need-based funding will allow students near graduation to be able to pay for expenses, such as NCLEX review courses, licensing exams ... 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. ... Kellogg Foundation grant provides opportunity for returning to college Students who left college at least two years ago without a degree can apply for a grant to help overcome financial barriers that may keep them from returning to college to complete the requirements for their degrees. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently awarded the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning $1.3 million to fund Mississippi’s Complete 2 Compete Tuition Assistance Grant through 2023. Funds can be used at any of the public universities or community colleges in Mississippi. The Complete 2 Compete program provides one-on-one support for adult learners who have earned college credits, but not a degree, and enables them to turn their deferred dreams of earning a degree into reality. Qualifying returning students will receive a $1,000 grant that can be renewed every semester. The award helps pay for any coursework needed to graduate and can help repay prior debt to allow students the opportunity to return and graduate. There are more than 200,000 prior students who qualify for the Complete 2 Compete program. Since May, the C2C program has reached out ... Metallica's All Within My Hands grant significantly impacts lives, futures of ICC students A $50,000 grant from Metallica’s All Within My Hands foundation is significantly impacting the lives and futures of more than 50 Itawamba Community College career education and health sciences students. They were selected based on an application process, which included information about the difference that receiving the scholarship will make in continuing their educational journey, according to Dylan Baldwin, dean of Career Education, who wrote the grant proposal. “This significant opportunity is making the difference in enabling many of the recipients to continue enrollment in their programs,” Baldwin noted. “Sometimes we don’t realize the struggles that students have to overcome to earn their ICC degrees to ensure a better future not only for themselves, but also in many instances, their families.” Among the student stories are, “My husband and I are struggling with money because of doctor bills…I am a 40-year-old veteran, 80 percent disabled trying to do something different with my life, something that’s not as physically hard labor as I’m used to…I am a 4.0 honor roll student, have maintained a 4.0 GPA since being in college ... 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 ... Comments are closed.