Released: Oct. 24, 2011
Great education funding news over in Texas – Amarillo College has received an additional grant, which adds up to three grants within the last year – this most recent one for $4.3 million, totaling $7.5 million overall.
According to Kathryn Wetzel, department chair of mathematics, sciences and engineering at Amarillo College, the grants are to specifically help the colleges mathematics, technology, science and engineering programs.
“It looks like it is all coming together at the perfect time to try to weave all these strands together,” Wetzel said.
The latest grant is a 5-year, $4.3 million fund, specifically designated to Hispanic-Serving Institutions, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education in September of this year – which is very exciting news for the community, too.
“We will put a focus on doing everything we can to (help) those who are, by definition, Hispanic students, but basically anything we put in place we try to serve all students at the same time,” McAnally said.
In order to qualify for the education grant, a college’s enrollment must be made up at least 25% of Hispanic students – Amarillo College’s Hispanic enrollment is more than 30%, helping them to safely meet the requirement.
As stated by the U.S. Department of Education, the grant is designed to make college more accessible for Hispanic students and allows institutions to enhance their program quality, academic offerings and institutional stability.
“While the grant is designed to help Hispanic students, the college will be able to use the programs and facility improvements to help many different types of students, said Danita McAnally, chief of planning and advancement for Amarillo College.”
McAnally said the institution will use just over $1 million of the funds to incorporate an engineering laboratory, expand its math outreach center and renovate parts of the Engineering Building and Durrett Hall.
“The current math outreach center is about 1,300 square-feet in the Engineering Building, and will be expanded to about 13,000 square-feet, McAnally said.”
“She said the renovations will also allow the college to provide laboratory space for engineering classes.”
I can certainly see this being a huge step up for the school – if the current math outreach center is going to grow by 10x, that’s going to accommodate so many more students and really provide the resources for everyone to shine.
McAnally also said that the college also plans to set up a money-management office in the College Union Building, to help teach students how to use your finances wisely.
“That is a problem for any student who maybe comes from a low-income or middle-income family, especially in the tough economic times,” she said.
“McAnally said she hopes the renovations will be complete within the next two years.”
Just like any other grant, specifications and guidelines will be in place along the way – spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, Sara Gist, stated that the department will be tracking the college’s progress, and the college is required to complete a interim performance report within six months, as well as other performance reports annually.
By: Bradley Barks
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Brad is our lead researcher and editor - he enjoys business, meditation, being active and always learning - his goal is to successfully help you research, find, secure, and enjoy grants and scholarships.
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