NIC Foundation announces recipients of grant money

The North Idaho College Foundation recently announced the recipients of grant money from the NIC Foundation Grant Program. The funds awarded for 2008 totaled $49,619.

A committee of representatives from the Associated Students of NIC, staff assembly and faculty assembly, student services, instruction and the NIC Foundation chose the recipients based on each grant proposal’s relationship to the college’s strategic plan and its potential to advance the vision and mission of NIC.

The grant recipients are:

•$3,825 to the Associated Students of North Idaho College to expand the recycling program implemented by the Go Green Committee of ASNIC through the purchase of five recycling bins. The bins will be placed around campus to encourage participation and teach students and the campus community to be environmentally responsible.

•$10,635 to the Automotive Technology Program for the purchase of Mastertech VCI with software, Toughbook Laptop and Engine Analyzer. The equipment will allow scanner data produced by the vehicle to be wirelessly transmitted to a laptop and then be displayed through a beam projector, enabling a greater number of students to receive a more effective instructional delivery method.

•$3,906 to the Business and Professional Programs Division for the purchase of assistive technology to support the development of a new course in Emerging Technologies for older students (60 and older) in the community. The funds will allow for the possibility of expanding this class by working with high schools to create an Intergenerational Program between teens and seniors.

•$5,885 to the Center for Educational Access for the purchase of equipment (one laptop and 30 wireless microphones) for the Speaker Box program, which allows instructors to produce audio lectures for students with learning disabilities. It will increase student success by providing an innovative method to capture verbal information from the classroom that students can then use to study.

•$10,000 to the eLearning and Outreach Department for the purchase of the Wimba learning program to enable communication faculty to provide speech and other courses as true Internet delivery courses, therefore expanding the access to communication courses. The program will allow students to present speeches online, provide audience, peer and faculty review to take place online and will allow remote learners access to participate in speech competitions at a distance.

•$3,952 to the Instructional Technology and Math departments for the purchase of two Sympodium Interactive Pen Displays for two separate math classrooms. The Sympodium will allow the instructor to electronically control presentations in the classroom lecture allowing for enhanced delivery of the information. In addition, the instructor can write lecture notes directly to the server, the instructor’s Web site or a flash drive and the students can access them for study purposes.

•$2,266 to the Silver Valley Center for the purchase of a laptop computer and LCD projector to be used in classroom spaces that do not have technology. In addition, the equipment will be used outside the center when doing presentations within the community.

•$2,150 to the Theater Department to host Tim Mooney, a professional actor who has written and performs a one-person play about the classic French playwright Moliere. The effective learning tool teaches how to deliver classical monologues in an entertaining way. The activity will support current theater students as well as students from local high schools and colleges.

•$7,000 to the Biology Department for the purchase of a UV Imaging System to both broaden undergraduate research possibilities and allow for the integration of modern molecular techniques into the microbiology classes. The equipment will give more than 100 students a molecular hands-on experience, which is currently missing in the curriculum.

NIC Foundation has awarded $768,578 to fund 173 grants over the past 15 years.