ECC, MCC get grants to design new program

McHenry County College and Elgin Community College are among eight community colleges statewide that are getting grants to design programs aimed to help adult education students get certificates and degrees in manufacturing and health sciences.

Funding for the “ABE to Credentials” grants comes from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which awarded $200,000 to the Illinois Community College Board to launch the initiative, said Karen Hunter Anderson, the college board’s vice president for adult education and institutional support. The colleges are receiving $20,000 each through Nov. 15 to design the programs.

Illinois was among nine states picked by the foundation to get the initial funding, but only four or five will be selected later this fall to get the full grant to implement the program, or about $1.5 million, Hunter Anderson said.

“The feedback we received (from the foundation) was that we were ranked very high,” she said. “We are very optimistic.”

If the college board is awarded the full grant, each college will receive an additional $75,000 per year for the next three years to implement the program upon approval of their design, Hunter Anderson said.

“We hope that this grant contributes to the redesign of adult education in the state, and that it will allow easier transition into postsecondary education with a positive effect on the workforce needs of Illinois,” she said.

The other grant recipients are Richard J. Daley College, part of City Colleges of Chicago, as well as schools in Mattoon, Godfrey and Springfield, Hunter Anderson said. Two more recipients will be named next week, she said.

ECC Dean of Adult Education Peggy Heinrich said the college’s plan focuses on helping adult education students, including English as a Second Language students, get welding and computer numerical control operator certificates.

The college will offer support services to students, such as a free support class and case management, she said.

“There are programs where (adult education students) can be placed right now,” she said. “Don’t make them wait, let them start now; these are adults who need to work.”

MCC wants to help adult education students work toward getting certificates and degrees in manufacturing, automotive and office management skills, said MCC Dean of Adult Education Richard Clute. The majority of the college’s adult education students are ESL students, he said.

“This is a great opportunity for adult education students,” said Clute, who heads the MCC committee in charge of designing the proposed program. “We’re trying to offer them a way into college and into better employment.”

The grant money will not be used toward tuition, officials said. If approved for implementation, each college is expected to issue credentials to 450 students in the next three years, officials said.