CONGRESSMAN CUELLAR ANNOUNCES $4.3 MILLION FOR LAREDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Written by admin, Sep 29, 2011, 0 Comments
Courtesy Jose Borjon,
Grant to fund STEM initiatives
Laredo, Texas – Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) along with Dr. Juan Maldonado, President of Laredo Community College, announced a grant totaling $4,350,000 to fund science, technology, engineering and math initiatives at the community college.
“With the rising number of job opportunities in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, this grant allows students in our community to remain competitive individuals as they prepare for the job market,” Congressman Cuellar said. “I applaud the efforts of Laredo Community College, an educational institution where I earned my associates degree, and will continue to advocate for educational priorities in the 28th District of Texas.”
The grant will provide academic support through four components. First, it will provide support in the form stipends for 200 high school students taking classes in the STEM fields. Second, it will provide support to students in the form of academic and peer-to-peer advising, a first-year college experience, degree audits and transfer articulation tools to simplify the transfer of credits process.
Third, funding will allow for the creation of a transfer program with Texas A&M Kingsville’s College of Engineering including teleconference courses to speed up transfer, connection and completion of STEM degrees. Fourth, the grant will aid in collecting and analyzing data of the program participants to properly evaluate the outcomes.
“Laredo Community College is elated to be the recipient of the STEM Articulation grant. The key to the economic vitality of our great nation rests on our ability to prepare a well qualified workforce in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said LCC President Dr. Juan Maldonado. “The focus of this grant in collaboration with Texas A&M at Kingsville combines in the engineering degree the elements so vital for our nation’s economic future. This grant will assist in making our nation’s vision a reality.”
“In order to maximize the opportunities on the horizon for its students and the community, Laredo Community College recognizes the multitude of hurdles and has planned a combination of best practices to help students be successful in all fields, but especially in STEM,” said Dr. Nora Garza, Vice President for Resource Development at LCC. “The STEM Articulation grant will offer academic support and enhancement, student support in the form of academic advising, a Model Transfer program to provide students with a seamless transfer to Texas A&M-Kingsville’s College of Engineering and other universities, and the use of data to document student outcomes’ improvement.”
