College Receives $2.2 Million U.S. Department of Labor Grant for IT Career Training
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Bunker Hill Community College will receive $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to develop new jobs skills in IT (Information Technology) for displaced workers, BHCC President Mary L. Fifield announced today. The total grant – almost $20 million – was awarded to the National Information, Security, and Geospatial Technology Consortium (NISGTC), which will be housed at Collin College in Texas. All of the members of this national consortium, which includes Bunker Hill Community College and six other community colleges, have National Science Foundation affiliations.
The selection process for this grant was highly competitive. More than 200 community colleges around the country applied and only 32 were selected by the Department of Labor in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education.
Bunker Hill Community College's $2.2 million grant will be used to work with its affiliated colleges in the Boston-area Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC) Center to develop and deliver IT programming, support services and job search/placement assistance to participants. The grant monies will be used, in particular, to train an IT workforce for jobs with documented labor shortages. Expanded partnerships with community-based organizations will be developed so that IT courses and programs can be offered at community sites.
"This is an exciting opportunity for Bunker Hill Community College and its BATEC partners to meet the needs of the IT workforce in the 21st century," said Dean of Professional Studies Bogusia Wojciechowska.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
With more than 50 years of academic excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. The College offers associate degrees and certificates, early college and dual enrollment, community education, corporate training, and industry-specific training programs. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).