St. Louis Community College is one of eight community colleges in the country selected to participate in the Walmart Brighter Futures project. This national demonstration project is designed to assist community colleges in meeting the increasing need for training and services for dislocated workers.
The Walmart Brighter Futures Project is funded through a $3.5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation to the League for Innovation in the Community College to work with a select group of community colleges to develop programs and services to put displaced workers back to work. The resulting programs and services will then serve as a model for other community colleges facing the same need to increase their offerings as a result of the economic downturn.
“We appreciate the generosity of the Walmart Foundation and the leadership of the League for Innovation in making this work possible,” said Zelema Harris, STLCC chancellor.
“We look forward to working with our national partners and our local business and community partners to help make a difference across the country by putting people back to work and improving the condition of working families in our communities.”
Each selected community college will receive up to $336,500 to provide training and services for displaced workers that will help put them back to work. The training will focus on jobs requiring 21st century skills in an effort to provide a promising career future for the workers.
In addition to specific job training, displaced workers will receive career counseling and job acquisition skills such as job search, résumé writing, and interviewing techniques. Participants will also receive funds for tuition, books and other expenses associated with continuing their education.
“This project will provide an opportunity for these community colleges to try new approaches that will expand the capacity of community colleges to serve the needs of displaced workers across the country,” said Gerardo E. de los Santos, president and CEO of the League for Innovation.
The League for Innovation in the Community College is an international organization dedicated to catalyzing the community college movement. The league hosts conferences and institutes, develops Web resources, conducts research, produces publications, provides services, and leads projects and initiatives with more than 900 member colleges, 160 corporate partners, and a host of other government and nonprofit agencies in a continuing effort to make a positive difference for students and communities.
Information about the league is available at www.league.org.
Hazelwood East college bus tour
The Hazelwood East High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) college bus tour, originally scheduled for October 16, is now set for October 15. All district high school students are welcome to join the one-day tour.
Participating students and parents will visit Lincoln University in Jefferson City and the University of Missouri-Columbia. The cost is $20 per person for students and parents of Hazelwood East High; the cost is $25 for students and parents who do not attend Hazelwood East High. Seating is limited to 50; a deposit will be required to hold seats.
Seats will be reserved first-come, first-served with a complete registration form; students must be in good standing with his or her school to participate. For more information, contact LaWanda Burnette at (314) 750-8970 or lburnette_reagent@att.net
SIUE has record enrollment
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has reached the largest overall enrollment in the history of the school at 13,940, breaking the previous high of 13,700 recorded in 1970.
SIUE Provost Paul Ferguson released the fall numbers last week, which include undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. The new freshman class of 1,940 is up from 1,922, representing the largest group of new freshmen ever. The figures represent the fifth consecutive year of growth in new freshmen enrolled at SIUE.
According to Scott Belobrajdic, SIUE’s assistant vice chancellor for Enrollment Management, this is the second consecutive year of overall enrollment growth at the University including a 2 percent increase in returning undergraduates over last year and a 12 percent increase in graduate school enrollment. Applications to SIUE undergraduate and graduate school programs reached 15,373 this year. That is 16 percent more than last year and a 21 percent increase over fall 2007.
