NMCC Foundation presents endowment grant awards
PRESQUE ISLE – A fund designed to provide Northern Maine Community College students with experiential learning opportunities through technology that would, in turn, ensure area employers have a pool of highly qualified employees is proving especially worthwhile in the wake of state budget cutbacks.
Through the generosity of several donors, the NMCC Foundation Investing in Innovation Fund was created during the organization’s first-ever major gifts campaign in 2007. Applications for the most recent round of grant awards were prepared by faculty and staff over the past several months and submitted to a committee comprised of NMCC Foundation board representatives, as well as college faculty and staff members.
THE NORTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION recently announced this year’s grant awards for the Investing in Innovation Fund that was created through the “Campaign for the County’s College.” Taking a moment to look at the instructional technology purchased with the funds awarded are, from left: Brian Hamel, NMCC Foundation board chair and representative of the Investing in Innovation Fund committee; Greg Thompson, arts and sciences department faculty and grant recipient; and Paula Flora, nursing and allied health department and grant recipient.
“We received several applications from various academic departments and programs that represented a cross-section of the campus community,” said Jason Parent, director of development and college relations and executive director of the NMCC Foundation. “The committee very thoroughly reviewed the applications and selected two projects for funding in this cycle.”
The first funded project supports the work of the nursing and allied health department. Over $650 was allocated to purchase an IV training kit and IV arm that will allow students in the nursing, emergency medical services and medical assisting programs to learn by practicing how to administer intravenous therapy.
“Students enrolled in the nursing and allied health programs at the college are taught essential skills in intravenous therapy. The Investing in Innovation Fund grant was instrumental in providing funds to purchase equipment for these skills,” said Paula Flora, NMCC nursing instructor, who was among the faculty members in the nursing, emergency medical services and medical assisting programs to collaborate on writing the proposal. “The training arms are used in a variety of lab courses. Ninety-five percent of hospitalized clients have an intravenous device in place, and it is imperative that students practice and gain proficiency on a training device prior to performing these skills on clients.”
According to Flora, this year alone, the training arms will benefit approximately 70 nursing students, 44 emergency medical students and 28 medical assisting students.
The second project funded through the Investing in Innovation Fund provided over $900 for the purchase of a microscope and 10 sets of 12 microbiology slides for life sciences classes at NMCC. The microscope was needed to replace one that could not be repaired. It will be used by students in human biology, anatomy and physiology, and microbiology courses.
“In order to study any biology, students must be able to see a cell which is too small for the naked eye. The bacteria slides will be used by the second-year nursing students in a microbiology course. In this course we study pathogens. The slides, which feature different bacteria, will allow the students to see what these bacteria look like as a standard reference for when they culture the bacteria in our laboratory class,” said Greg Thompson, NMCC life sciences instructor.
The Investing in Innovation Fund was developed through the “Campaign for the County’s College” in response to what area business and community leaders told NMCC officials regarding the importance of educating and training the county’s future workforce using technology that was reflective of what was being used in area businesses, as well as what technology would be needed moving forward. The fund was also created to address the fact that budget cutbacks and the rising cost of energy have created significant challenges in the area of funding instructional technology.
Applications for the Investing in Innovation are solicited annually from members of the NMCC campus community. A committee comprised of two NMCC Foundation board members, two college administrators, four faculty members, and two staff members review the requests for funding.
