FDLTCC gets
$1.9 million federal grant
CLOQUET
- Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has been awarded
a $1,975,000 Title III grant from the United States Department
of Education, Office of Post secondary Education, to develop
a new four-year degree program and supporting educational
opportunities in the subject area of Sustainable Development.
The
grant term runs five years from October, 2003, through September,
2008. Dr. Jean E. Ness, from the University of Minnesota Institute
on Community Integration, is the grant author and will serve
as Project Director and Principal Investigator. Fond du Lac
Tribal and Community College recently expanded its mission
to include offering a limited number of four-year, baccalaureate
degree programs. In the first part of 2003, the college received
approval to provide bachelors degrees in Elementary Education
from the Minnesota Legislature and the Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities Board of Trustees. The college hopes to gain
the necessary approvals for the Sustainable Development degree
during the early months of 2004.
"This
grant will greatly benefit the development of our new degree
program," said Sr. Therese Gutting, Ed.D., vice president
of academic affairs at FDLTCC. "It gives us the opportunity
to create and implement the best possible courses, degree
program, and learning resources for students. There are very
few colleges and universities across the country offering
a program similar to this, so this puts us on a leading edge
of education again. We want our program to be the best."
The
design of the new degree program in Sustainable Development
will include a unique combination of core courses plus a choice
of four specialized areas, including Small Business Entrepreneurship
and Management, Environmental Science, Renewable Energy Systems,
and American Indian Studies. Students graduating with degrees
in Sustainable Development will be well-prepared for employment
in a variety of situations such as large corporate and small
business settings, natural resources agencies, energy production
companies and large energy consumers, tribal organizations,
and public entities.
The
grant project specifies four key objectives. The first is
to develop courses and gain the necessary approvals for the
four-year degree program. The second is to increase and maintain
the college library infrastructure to include resources and
references in Small Business Management and Sustainable Development
to support bachelors degree-seeking students. Third, establish
on campus a Midwest Woodland Wisdom American Indian Business
Leaders Headquarters within the degree program. The fourth
is to develop and implement strategies and tools to measure,
assess, and predict student retention in the Sustainable Development
baccalaureate degree program.
The
project aims to work on developing curriculum, establishing
degree requirements, and gaining program approvals in the
first year of the grant. Goals of the subsequent years include
implementation of the degree program and establishing the
educational support resources in years two through five.
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