Bronx Community College (BCC) announced Tuesday that it received a two-year grant for $1.5 million from the New York State Workforce Development Initiative.
The grant will help support the implementation of the “Uptown Future of Work Centers” program in partnership with Hostos Community College (HCC) and the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). This partnership focuses on providing allied health training across BCC’s and HCC’s main Bronx-based campuses and BMCC’s Upper Manhattan satellite training site located at The City University of New York (CUNY) in the Heights location.
Through the Uptown Future of Work Center, BCC, HCC and BMCC will work in partnership across each college’s respective employer networks to develop and implement new and enhanced allied health curricula across several in-demand, short-term training programs. Across all three sites, the colleges will provide diverse training programs, offering options for students based on their careers of interest and meeting heightened employer demand across professions in the allied health sector. BCC will offer Computed Tomography certification courses for their Nuclear Medicine and Radiological Technology students and Certified Medical Administrative Assistant and Phlebotomy training programs for the community. Hostos will provide a Certified Billing and Coding Specialist training program and BMCC will offer a Patient Navigator Training Program.
“This is an exciting opportunity for community members residing in The Bronx and Manhattan to participate in trainings that are in demand throughout the healthcare sector,” said Madelaine Centeno, BCC’s director of Workforce and Continuing Education. “The trainings being offered at the three CUNY colleges will prepare individuals to gain the skills and certifications needed to respond to the industry needs.”
Through this program, BCC, HCC and BMCC will build the internal capacity of each college by facilitating cross-collaboration with employers — resulting in more jobs and internship opportunities for all students — and implementing referrals between programs whereby the trainings offered by each campus will be open to all students.
“I am incredibly excited to collaborate with other CUNY programs while continuing to offer students opportunities to obtain additional skill sets. Advancements in instrumentation and the continued need for technologists have created a pathway for additional certifications,” said Grace Tursi-Wenzler, BCC program director of Nuclear Medicine Technology. “These novel skill sets will only help to improve the job outcomes of our graduates while providing opportunities for further career advancement.”
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