WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded two competitive grants totaling $799,421 to Clarke College in Dubuque and Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa through the Strengthening Institutions program.
"These funds will help Clarke College and Indian Hills Community College improve their institution's technologies to make them more user friendly for both students and teachers," Grassley said.
The Strengthening Institutions program provides grants to eligible institutions of higher education to enable them to improve their academic quality, institutional management, fiscal stability, and increase their self-sufficiency..
The funds will be distributed as shown below.
· Clarke College receives $399,421 to help create a technology-rich teaching and learning environment by using existing and emerging instructional software and technology to develop discipline-specific materials that engage students of all backgrounds in acquiring the knowledge, skills and dispositions for living and working in a global knowledge-based economy.
· Indian Hills Community College receives $400,000 to help upgrade technology to strengthen academic programs by increasing student access through technology upgrades that will assure uninterrupted distance learning services and improved online offerings and provide faculty and staff with training and technical support services to effectively utilize the new technology. The money will also help strengthen institutional management by purchasing, installing and using imaging software to improve security and efficiency and by replacing the storage area network to increase data storage capacity and guarantee continued maintenance support.