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Date: 10/12/2021
SPRINGFIELD – Increasing STEM enrollment among Latinx students at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) is the goal of two U.S Department of Education grants formally announced by Congressman Richard Neal on Oct. 6.
The two grants totaled $7.35 million. Making the announcement in the Smith & Wesson STCC Advanced Manufacturing Building, STCC President Dr. John Cook noted that STEM enrollment has doubled in the last few years and employers are eager to hire the graduates. “This is a significant investment by and for the college,” Cook said.
According to information supplied by the college, “The first grant, titled ‘Project Acceleration: Re-Engineering Pathways to Student Success in STEM,’ will run for five years for a total of $3 million. It will allow STCC to create a STEM studies program and develop support services to increase access to STEM careers.
“The grant is designed to increase enrollment and improve the graduation rates of Latinx and low-income students in STEM majors and help them continue with their studies instead of withdrawing from school. In addition, the grant will allow STCC to help reduce the time it takes male students of color, particularly Latinx, to complete studies. The grant falls under the federal Title V program, which was created to improve higher education of Hispanic students.”
STCC, the only technical community college in Massachusetts, is federally designated as a “Hispanic Serving Institution,” with 30 percent of the students identifying as Latinx.
The second grant is titled “STEM Access and Retention Strategies” and the five-year grant, totaling $4,352,559, “will allow STCC to create and enhance support services for Latinx and low-income students. Services and programs supported by the grant include:
• Creation of STEM-focused First Year Experience Courses;
• Utilization of proactive STEM advisors, which would involves bringing services to students rather than waiting for them to ask; and
• Implementation of additional mental health services.
This grant also will allow STCC to enhance professional development for faculty, as well.
Neal noted 22 million Americans lost employment during the pandemic but that “the economy has really spun back.” He said 15 million to 16 million jobs have returned but there are now 11 million new jobs that need to be filled, many of those are in advanced manufacturing. He used an example of that General Dynamics in Pittsfield that has 300 open positions.
Neal said, “I still say the best poverty program is a good job.”