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SPC lands record grant from
Department of Education
by Mandy Langford, news editor
A multi-million dollar grant from
the U.S. Department of Education is expected to aid South Plains
College in helping at-risk students and improve retention
efforts.
United States Senator
John Cornyn and Congressman Randy Neugebauer recently notified SPC that
it has been awarded a five-year, $2.48 million dollar federal grant.
The single largest competitive grant ever received by the college.
“South Plains College
plays a vital role in helping students prepare for a promising career,”
Neugebauer said. “ This grant will help them build on their past efforts
and reach out to an even greater number of West Texans.”
The first year, 2005,
$498,000 of the grant will be funded and begin to focus on the
improvements of student success rates in developmental math. Annually it
will change its focus to college-level math, science and biology, along
with English. By 2009, the focus will be on behavioral and social
sciences.
“Each year, we will
target a different academic discipline,” said Dr. Gail Platt, director of
the Teaching and Learning Center.
This is the first time
for SPC to receive a grant of this magnitude and many plans and goals have
been established and prepared for these funds.
The Title V planning team
has been working on the application since June 2003. The three primary
components to ensure success are branching out to understand populations
by developing an Outreach Center in Plainview, developing technology-based
student services, and maximizing teaching excellence, all to build on what
the college has accomplished with a previous $1.78 million Strengthening
Institutions Title III Grant. These funds allowed the college to focus on
instructional technology and faculty development to enhance student
learning and success at the college. This Title V grant will enable SPC
to establish an online supplemental instruction program.
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