Tri-C Receives $342,000 OBOR Grant to Support Distance Learning and Literacy Initiatives

Cuyahoga Community College was awarded $342,000 in Technology Initiative Funds from the Ohio Board of Regents (OBOR).

Funds support the expansion of distance learning program into delivery of nursing courses, creation of a technology and information literacy initiative (TILI), including a virtual library and instruction for faculty in technology- based course development skills, and an upgrade of videoconferencing systems to support the delivery of distance learning courses.

“Ohio has a critical need for a more educated workforce. The nature of today’s economy, which is built on a fast changing knowledge base, means that it is far more important for individuals to have what is known as “information literacy” and to be fluent in the related area of information technology,” stated an official message from OBOR.

TILI — a comprehensive information technology network to serve the information needs of the students, faculty, staff and community at-large — emphasizes providing the highest level of service and support to all users. TILI encompasses the development and implementation of a Virtual CCC campus, virtual library, and a series of basic, intermediate, and advanced faculty training workshops in the following areas: HTML, DHTML, JavaScript manipulation and light scripting, image scanning, image manipulation, FrontPage, Blackboard, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office Suite (including Outlook).

Eight core and specialty courses in nursing will be converted to on-line or interactive video formats and targeted to regional and local audiences. By providing programming, services, and support systems that involve extensive collaboration between these departments, a superior information literacy network, which unifies traditional instruction and “hands-on” training, and is enveloped by an array of technological amenities, will be provided. L. Tiffany Barnes, Library, Learning Resource Center, and Technology Learning Center Director adds, “The blending of these departments affords users to have all of their information literacy needs met seamlessly, while effectively utilizing the skills and resources offered by these departments.”

A key priority of OBOR is to effect a “brain gain” for the state, a strategy which requires that public colleges and universities work with the state’s employers to make sure Ohio educates, retains, and attracts information literate and technologically.

Opened in 1963, Cuyahoga Community College is Ohio’s first community college, and is now the state’s largest, serving 55,000 students each year. More than 750,000 county residents have come through CCC’s doors. The College offers two-year associate’s degrees, certificate programs and the first two years of a baccalaureate degree. The curriculum includes over 900 courses in its 70 career and technical programs, the liberal arts and workforce training programs. Courses are offered at three Cuyahoga County campuses and 50 off- campus sites, and through television and the Internet.