RUTLAND—College of St. Joseph has received a $2.2 million Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education, under the Strengthening Institutions Program. The grant is the largest CSJ has received in its history. Title III grants are highly competitive, and CSJ achieved a perfect score for its successful grant proposal.
The federal Title III Strengthening Institutions Program helps eligible colleges expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen academic quality and institutional management. The grant may be used for planning, faculty development, and establishing endowment funds. Administrative management, and the development and improvement of academic programs also are supported.
The funds, awarded over five years, will support new initiatives, such as an integrated teaching and learning commons to address student needs, enhance academic success, and increase student engagement and graduation rate. Other initiatives will include enhanced classroom technology and a learning management system.
“In recent years, the college has launched a number of initiatives which have served to enhance student engagement and success. This grant will be vital in helping us to integrate and coordinate those efforts and to be able to respond to individual student needs even more readily and effectively. We are all very eager and excited to begin the work of incorporating the specific initiatives laid out in the grant proposal,” said David Balfour, vice president for academic affairs.
“We knew this to be an ambitious endeavor. We now look forward to transitioning our proposal’s research-based possibilities for enhancing student success into realities. CSJ is truly a small wonder, with big ideas,” said Carrie Becker, a CSJ faculty member who wrote the grant proposal.
The grant provides CSJ with a wonderful opportunity to strengthen and improve key areas of the college, according to Judy Morgan, associate vice president for external affairs. “I see this grant as the force behind the college’s initiative to create a strong foundation that will greatly enhance our growth for the future, and profoundly improving service to our students,” Morgan said.
