A new grant awarded to Carl Sandburg College will be used to help prepare high school students for college-level math classes.
The Sandburg Board of Trustees at its meeting Thursday night approved the acceptance of a Bridge and Transitions Grant from the Illinois Community College Board. Sandburg was one of 32 organizations in the state to receive this grant.
Funding from the grant will be used to implement the Transitional Mathematics Initiative, which will help high schools in the College’s district establish transitional math classes. Sandburg will host workshops for high school teachers and counselors to assist them with creating, implementing and applying for portability for their transitional math classes.
Students who earn a C or better in those courses would then be placed directly into 100-level math courses at Sandburg without needing to take a placement test. The goal of the initiative is to reduce developmental math barriers, which contribute to lower success and persistence rates for first-year Sandburg students.
The Board approved the Sandburg’s participation in a cohort to apply for a national grant for its welding program. Sandburg was selected for the 2020 Mentor-Connect Cohort for Technical Assistance and Mentoring Support. This competitive program assists colleges in applying for the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant. Participants who have worked with Mentor-Connect have had a 73 percent successful funding rate for ATE grants.
Sandburg’s Mentor-Connect team consists of Ellen Burns, dean of career and technical education; Bart Slye, welding instructor; and Taylor Finch-McVay, grant writer and researcher. The group will be paired with a mentor who will oversee the application process of Sandburg’s grant proposal.
The Board adopted a memorandum of understanding with the Sandburg Education Association to allow one additional participant from each party in the Communications Committee. This will allow for four representatives from each side to participate in meetings. The presidents of the College and SEA (or their designees) meet at least quarterly to discuss matters of mutual concern that do not involve negotiations.
In other business, the Board approved the following:
- Updates to the College’s policy on substance abuse/alcohol and other drugs.
- Resignation of Cathleen Gibson as administrative assistant to the dean of career & corporate development and director of corporate & leisure college, effective Jan. 15.
- Resignation of Kaitlyn Krieg as administrative assistant to the dean of extension services, effective Jan. 15.
- Employment of Mike Bailey as academic advisor, effective March 1.
The Board’s next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Feb. 27 on the Main Campus in Galesburg.
***Report Courtesy of Carl Sandburg College***
