“Phyllis Roberts, along with Barbara Fuller, Jerry Stinson, Idana Hamilton, and Ken Fairbanks should be commended for their successful work in acquiring these grants,” said Dr. J. Mark Estepp, president of SWCC. “The CEED grants will enable Southwest to expand its e-learning opportunities and to improve the success rate of students engaged in workforce readiness programs. These grants will also help us to provide ready access to several courses and programs that students will be able to take anywhere, anytime.”
The purpose of the CEED Grant program is to increase the array and depth of educational programs delivered at VCCS colleges via E-learning. Programs may be credit (degree, diploma, certificate) or non-credit. The grant will also expand access and opportunities across the Commonwealth to programs in critical need employment areas that may not be available currently from the local community college.
The grants were awarded in all three tracks outlined in the CEED program. The three tracks represent the categories of E-learning Programs, E-Learning Tools, and Student Success.
An Administrative of Justice E-Learning Initiative” grant comprises Track I. The $40,000 award will transition three (3) core administration of justice courses and four (4) Wildlife Management courses to an e-learning format utilizing several different types of technology. This will allow the college to offer the core curriculum of the ADJ degree program and all four courses needed for the Wildlife Management concentration in an e-learning format. As a result, both traditional and nontraditional students will have ready access to the courses.
Track 2, “Instructional Design for Online Learning” (IDOL), allows Southwest personnel to work with staff at J. Sargeant Reynolds, Lord Fairfax, Thomas Nelson, and Central Virginia community colleges to develop a statewide course to train online teaching faculty the key principles of instructional design. The IDOL proposal received an award of $28,025. Upon completion, participating faculty will have retooled an existing course or initiated the development of a new course for online delivery within the VCCS course management system.
“Track one and two will allow Southwest to repurpose existing credit or non-credit programs to provide e-learning delivery, create new e-learning educational program initiatives, and to meet the challenge of developing system-wide shared e-learning tools,” said Dr. Robert Tomlinson, vice president of instruction.
Track 3, “Earning the GED While Learning IT,” received $52,000 in funding. This project will combine General Education Diploma (GED) instruction with technology skills preparation for adults ages 18-40 and will incorporate GED–related skills into a project based course. Participants in the program will prepare for and earn their GED credential and Career Readiness Certificate. In addition they will complete a mini-capstone project and earn their Digital Literacy Certification using Microsoft.
“These grants will assist in the creation of workforce readiness programs that address the growing national need for workers and sustain the economic health of Virginia’s community colleges,” said Dr. Glen DuBois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS)