The U.S. Department of Labor awarded $12 million to Norwalk Community College and six other Connecticut schools to help people train for careers in health and life sciences careers.
The Labor Department awarded the funding under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants Program. Also receiving funding are:
Ӣ Capital Community College in Hartford;
Ӣ Charter Oak Community College, an online program of study;
Ӣ Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic;
Ӣ Gateway Community College in New Haven;
Ӣ Manchester Community College; and
Ӣ Middlesex Community College in Meriden.
Just over a year ago, Norwalk Community College (NCC) opened a new science, health and wellness center, built at a cost of $38 million and included a lab that simulates the patient room layouts of Greenwich, Norwalk and Stamford hospitals.
“I was particularly pleased that our proposal was submitted collaboratively by a state university, our only public, online college and five community colleges,” Robert Kennedy, president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, said in a prepared statement. “I also appreciate the extraordinary amount of industry support we received ”“ from hospitals across the state, to (Connecticut United for Research Excellence), to Jackson Laboratory. Our private sector partners understand that, with 96,000 students in our institutions, we have the capacity to train and prepare the workers they need.”
The grant was a portion of $500 million awarded by the Labor Department, including $17.6 million for separate efforts in New York City and upstate New York. The department awarded an initial $500 million a year ago, with City University of New York receiving nearly $20 million in that tranche, and Connecticut coming away empty.
Connecticut could qualify for an additional $2.5 million grant, with DOL not immediately providing specifics. In all, the Obama administration has freed up $2 billion under the program over four years as part of the American Jobs Act.
Connecticut”™s new Health and Life-Sciences Career Initiative will prepare veterans and workers who have lost jobs for careers in health and life sciences occupations. It marks the second major grant here on that front, after The Workplace Inc. led an effort to secure $10 million in federal funding for a health career “academy” in Bridgeport where it is based.
The NCC-consortium grant will be used to “migrate” courses to an online mode, including modules that can be delivered as apps on mobile devices.
“Our goal is simple: We”™re supporting schools that will work directly with companies to develop training programs that respond to the real needs of employers,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, speaking at St. Petersburg College in Florida. “The beauty of this program is that all of our grantees have formed strategic partnerships with local employers. With these monies, schools can develop training programs that will help grow the most promising local industries. They can invest in staff and educational resources and provide students with access to free, digital learning materials. All of the course materials developed through these grants will be available for use by other education providers through a Creative Commons license.”
