Grants totaling $427,504 will help SCC expand nursing, teaching programs
Seminole Community College received two grants totaling $427,504 from the Florida Department of Education that will help fund areas where jobs are in demand.
A $263,794 grant will help SCC add faculty and staff, and fund needed equipment for the expansion of the Nursing Program. A second grant for $163,710 will help SCC develop its professional development program for public school teachers.
The grants will help SCC add at least eight positions, including five faculty positions.
p>Funding will help SCC increase annual enrollment in its nursing program. Also, the College will develop and implement new learning strategies to make sure all nursing students graduate.
The grant will also fund the purchase of patient simulators, which allow students to safely apply their learned decision-making skills. Further, SCC will purchase video iPods so nursing students can download podcasts of lectures.
The simulators and iPods are designed to help even more SCC nursing students succeed, said Angela Kersenbrock, dean of Career Programs at SCC. Podcasts and iPods will allow students to download and study lectures and clinical simulations on demand.
SCC also plans to restructure some curriculum coursework to emphasize small groups, she said.
"We'll be able to teach students how they can find the information, and how they can work as a team," Kersenbrock said. "This will reinforce learning by providing materials for students as they need it."
According to a May 2007 survey by Partners for a Healthy Community, large numbers of open nursing position are still going unfilled at Central Florida hospitals. And most hospitals in the region are expecting their staffing needs for nurses to increase over the next two years. The grant will help SCC address those critical needs.
All of SCC's health programs will relocate to the new $33 million Altamonte Springs Campus in January.
The second DOE grant will help SCC develop a college-credit professional development curriculum for public-school teachers.
SCC began a pilot program in July 2006 for professionals -- either current teachers or those seeking to become teachers -- who have a four-year degree but did not major in education. The program allows students to gain the required state certification.
During the first year, enrollment in the program increased by 300 percent. The grant will help SCC add faculty and at least one new course. SCC hopes to increase enrollment in the program by another 100 percent, to 150 students, by 2009, said Marilyn Hawkins, SCC education professor.
There is a critical need for teachers in Seminole County. According to a July 2007 forecast report from the Florida Department of Education, Seminole County will need an average of 475 new teachers per year through 2010.
The teaching program is offered at SCC's new Center for Economic Development, which has wireless access throughout and classrooms using the latest in multi-media, audio-visual and videoconferencing technology.
Both grants are from the Critical Jobs Initiative, SUCCEED, Florida, a division of the DOE. Established in 2005, the grant program is designed to build education programs to meet the state's most critical work force needs.