Borough of Manhattan Community College’s (BMCC) Out in Two program got a boost with a $1 million gift from the Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield Fund.
The program aims to help students complete college in a timely manner. Program participants have access to financial support, a dedicated academic advisor, field trips to four-year colleges and universities, and more.
Recipients of the Out in Two scholarships have a graduation rate of nearly 90 percent over three years, versus 23 percent for non-recipients.
The college hosted a naming ceremony on May 20 of the Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield Lobby in Fiterman Hall. The Rosenfield family have been long-term supporters of successful scholarship programs and initiatives at BMCC.
“Our highest priority here at BMCC is to improve student success, not incrementally but dramatically,” said Interim President Karrin Wilks. “In order to do that, our students need a lot of support. We have to think about the full cost of attendance when we think about financially supporting students, so these scholarships that the Rosenfields have made possible go beyond tuition and fees. They go to helping our students pay for housing, food, transportation and textbooks.”
Florida
Tallahassee Community College’s (TCC) First Class Campaign is closer to reaching its goal, thanks to a $25,000 donation from DeWitt and Kathy Miller. Their donation is the 46th gift in the campaign to reach 50 commitments to renovate 50 classrooms. Their donation, with its dollar-for-dollar match, will provide $50,000 to renovate a classroom that houses the earth science, geology, oceanography and meteorology courses.
DeWitt Miller, a TCC alumnus, said that this investment was an easy thing for them to do because it supports student success at TCC.
“TCC has given us so much,” Miller said at a recent district board of trustees meeting. “I was a student at TCC, and their support enabled me to continue my coursework at Florida State University.”
Massachusetts
Bristol Community College (BCC) will use a $1 million gift from the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Charitable Foundation to centralize the campus’ academic support services and library into one location on the Attleboro Campus.
The new Stoico/FIRSTFED Library Learning Commons will give students an opportunity to meet with an academic or career advisor, connect with an academic tutor or reference librarian, explore the college’s library resources or collaborate with classmates on projects or coursework.
This is the largest donation the college has ever received for the Attleboro location and distinguishes the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Charitable Foundation as BCC’s second largest donor to date.
New Jersey
Union County College recently received $10,000 from the Northfield Bank Foundation. It will fund 10 student scholarships.
“Union students have been generously supported by the Northfield Bank Foundation for the past six years,” said Union President Margaret McMenamin.
North Carolina
ApprenticeshipNC, which is operated by the North Carolina Community College System, will use a $150,000 grant from the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship to increase the number and diversity of youth apprenticeships across the state.
Youth apprenticeship links the education and training needs of young people with the talent demands of employers, through mutually beneficial partnerships across schools, industry and communities.
Many of the youth apprenticeships developed in North Carolina to date have focused on the advanced manufacturing sector. With the PAYA grant, ApprenticeshipNC can work on expanding into industries, such as financial services, agribusiness, and hospitality and tourism.
“We’ve grown the number of youth apprentices from 750 to 2,500 in the past two years, but we still have much to do to scale and diversify youth apprenticeship programming in the state,” said North Carolina Community College System President Peter Hans. “This grant will help us get closer to our goal of establishing apprenticeship programs in all 100 counties and creating more work-based learning opportunities that benefit North Carolina students and employers.”
Texas
San Antonio College’s (SAC) Student Advocacy Center received a $760,000 grant from the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. The funds will go toward creating a helpline to support students at SAC and other colleges in the Alamo Colleges District.
The Student Advocacy Center is currently operating at capacity at its physical location, and a helpline will provide an effective way to extend services to more students in need. Students will be able to get assistance with emergency needs, such as money to avoid the termination of energy and water utilities or with making a monthly rent payment to prevent eviction. In addition, the helpline will ensure that more students who are food insecure receive the benefits they are eligible for federal benefits.
“This is a huge opportunity for us to really dig in and improve the amount of support for these students,” said Lisa Black, head of the Student Advocacy Center.
The helpline will be staffed by student interns who will receive important experiential learning in the social work program.
