College receives $1.7 million Dept. of Education grant

“We are very pleased to have received the grant, because it allows the College to focus on two of the hottest employment fields in the country today—media and security,” said Dr. Allen Edwards.

Specifically, the grant will provide the resources to hire additional faculty in EMT, retrain existing faculty in current technologies and acquire up-to-date equipment for the department’s teaching labs. It will also allow the College to develop two additional technology programs, one in new media and one in security engineering administration. These additions will help to better prepare students to enter the workforce.

“I appreciate the Department of Education’s investment in Pellissippi State Technical Community College,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander. “This funding will go a long way to prepare students with updated equipment and training. A highly trained workforce will attract more jobs and better jobs to East Tennessee.”

The grant will permit the College to modify the curriculum of four existing EMT programs—Video Production Technology, Communications Graphics Technology, Photography and Web Development Technology—to provide cross-training of students majoring in those areas.

“It used to be that it was sufficient for students to specialize in one of these disciplines,” said Dr. Jim Bruns, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs. “However, as technology has changed, we have found that students are better trained and more employable if they learn aspects from each of these areas and are able to apply them in a job situation.”

Students in two other EMT programs—Networking and Communications Systems Technology and Electrical Engineering Technology—will also experience a similar technology cross-training. According to people employed in the industry, a need exists for employees who understand wiring for modern technologies in homes and businesses. Electrical engineering technologists haven’t traditionally been trained for media, security and networking wiring. This grant allows the two programs to pool resources and address this niche.

The cross-training between these two EMT programs is only a part of the new security engineering administration technology program to be developed. Another facet of the program will be to prepare students for jobs in the area of security administration, which is a critical need for employers in East Tennessee.

“We have numerous employers in the area who have come to us asking for our help in providing trained security administrators for their businesses,” said Bruns. “We’re glad that this grant will allow Pellissippi State to continue to meet the demands of our community.”

The grant also provides for an endowment opportunity for the Pellissippi State Foundation. The College can receive up to 20 percent of the grant, or up to $362,000 in endowment funds. The amount of money the Foundation will actually receive depends upon its own fundraising efforts. Federal funds will match dollar for dollar what the Foundation raises for endowment funds between October 1, 2003, and September 30, 2008. Endowment funds include funds for scholarships, equipment and other areas of need.

The grant proposal was developed after receiving input from the College’s business and industry partners and advisory committees. Pellissippi State hopes this grant will help to increase student enrollment and success in the EMT areas, as well as provide better-prepared employees in those fields.

Title III Strengthening projects assist postsecondary institutions in improving their management, academic programs and fiscal stability. This is the third Title III grant that Pellissippi State has received in recent years. In 1995 the College was awarded a Strengthening grant for $1.4 million, and in 1996 it received an endowment award of $500,000.

Individuals or businesses interested in participating in the endowment opportunities should contact Peggy Wilson, vice president of College Advancement, at 694-6403.