Innovation Works

Montgomery College Foundation Awards $40,000.00 through Innovation Fund Grants

The Montgomery College Foundation has awarded $40,000 in Innovation Fund grants for 2023-2024 to four initiatives that address student success, equity, and completion. The four were chosen from 11 proposals received. Created in 2011, the Innovation Fund grants are made possible this year through the generosity of Montgomery College Foundation donors.

Congratulations to the following award recipients:

• Enhancing the STaR Network for Future-Ready Student Employees
  Dr. Paul Miller    Award amount: $11,000.00
  
  In response to the critical need for comprehensive professional development among students at Montgomery College, the Student Training and Resource (STaR) Network, powered by ELITE, proposed an innovative expansion to encompass all students. This expansion addressed the high demand and limitations of Federal Work-Study employment and opened opportunities for invaluable skill development in communication, leadership, teamwork, and Generative AI awareness. By integrating high-impact practices, such as cohort learning and ePortfolios, alongside the creation of a microcredential system, the project aims to enhance career readiness and foster a supportive learning community. Supported by Career Coach for personalized development pathways, the initiative aligns with the college's strategic themes of Community Connection and Completion, promising to elevate student engagement, success, and workforce preparedness.
  
  
• Independent Study in Nursing: A Clinical Practicum Elective
  Dr. Carol-Jean Holness, Tara Sohrabi   Award amount: $ 8,400.00
  
  The critical shortage of nurses demands a national effort to boost capacity and foster a diverse, sustainable workforce. The Maryland Hospital Association (2022) estimates a need for 13,800 more nurses by 2025. Nursing programs need to provide sustainable structured learning experiences to facilitate a pathway for student preparedness to meet the workforce challenges. Collaboration across disciplines is vital to fostering a sense of community among students. A clinical practicum elective in nursing will improve program completion, integrate students into community healthcare settings, and effectively address local needs.
  
  
• The Dorsey Site in Sugarland: a Hands-on-Archaeology and Museum Education Program
  Tara L. Tetrault, Dr. Gadis Effendi, Suzanne Johnson   Award amount $5600.00
  
  The Dorsey Site's Community Archaeology Program educates students about archaeology, history, preservation, and African American culture. Founded in 1871, Sugarland was the largest African American town where women-owned land and businesses. This project aims to contribute to student's academic success and enrich the community fabric by providing a hands-on learning experience in the Sugarland Ethno History Project (SEHP) Museum. Four students are invited to learn field methods and artifacts at the Dorsey site, complete museum curation responsibilities, and give visitors tours and offers. One student assistant to support the program is included in this project. Two fall classes will be introduced to our program and collaborate on a material culture assignment.
  
  
• Peer-to-Peer Mentoring: Students Creating Connections of Support Across the MC Community
  Sharon Anthony, Professor Deborah Stuart, English & Reading, Lucas Craven, Piper Fair    Award amount: $15,000.00
  
  The Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program is a student-centered opportunity that incorporates student academic leaders in gateway courses to mentor newly enrolled students, fostering academic success, retention, and completion while creating a sense of belonging and engagement in the MC community. The student mentors will collaborate with instructors across disciplines while reflecting on their own learning journey. Student mentors and mentees will strengthen their communication skills, problem-solving strategies, and confidence as college students. Through mentor training and practice, the program's long-term goal of creating relevant support and increasing the enrollment, retention, graduation, and transfer rates among all students, with a particular focus on students of color, will be achieved.

Montgomery College Foundation Awards $45,200 through Innovation Fund Grants

The Montgomery College Foundation has awarded over $45,000 in Innovation Fund grants for 2022- 2023 to five initiatives that address student success, equity, and completion. The five were chosen from 13 proposals received. Created in 2011, the Innovation Fund grants are made possible this year through the generosity of Montgomery College Foundation donors.

Congratulations to the following award recipients:

• Student Training and Resource (STAR) Network powered by ELITE
  Dr. Paul Miller. Award amount: $ 11,000.00
  
  The Student Training and Resource (STAR) Network is a comprehensive student-employee professional development program that allows students to grow and learn in preparation for career readiness. The program includes various activities and resources to support students in their academic and professional development. The program aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their current roles at MC while supporting the College's mission to provide students with a high-quality education and preparation for the workforce and post-graduation success.
  
  
• The MC GetLit! Financial Literacy Program
  Mia price and Natasha Sacks. Award amount: $ 10,800.00
  
  This eight-week initiative will equip up to 25 students per semester, specifically those historically marginalized, with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed financial decisions. It will extend equal opportunities to all, regardless of socioeconomic background, and help prepare them to advocate for themselves effectively. Topics include college financials (aid, scholarships, career salaries), budgeting, financial goals, banking, credit, savings, identity theft, and investing. Offering this free program to our students will directly assist us in "Transforming our Future for our Students, our College, and our Community."
  
  
• Incorporating Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Activities in Biology and Chemistry College Education for PCR Testing in Lab Classes
  Dr. Antonio Del Castillo-Olivares. Award amount: $10,200.00
  
  The Chemical and Biological Sciences unit at MC is exploring the use of new technologies to enhance teaching practices and learning environments as part of the MC 2025 master plan. The biology professor proposes to use Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality to supplement two face-to-face laboratories from the current lab curriculum for Principles of Biology courses, which are required for science majors and taken by students from other programs. The proposal plans to provide distance learning students with real "At-Home" and "Hands-On" lab experiences using these technologies to increase enrollment, retention, engagement, and close the achievement gap.
  
  
• Dear Younger Me: The Immersive Experience Instillation
  Dr. Andrae L. Brown and Tilandra Rhyne.  Award amount: $ 11,000.00
  
  The premise of this project is to curate healing spaces and opportunities for Black women to engage in self-compassion and community building by addressing their inner child. Women were tasked to read notes to their younger selves and use cutting-edge technology to record their emotional responses. We are seeking funding to celebrate the real-life sheroes among us and engage students and the Montgomery College community through the curation and installation of immersive art experience using the data generated and artificial intelligence to create images, lighting, and sound in the Dear Younger Me: The Immersive Experience Instillation.
  
  
• Improving Student Feedback Practices
  Clary Brown. Award amount: $2,000.00
  
  Firsthand feedback from our students is one of MC's most invaluable decision-making support tools. The usual methods for collecting feedback are surveys and focus groups. However, garnering student participation can often be elusive. When an insufficient number or variety of students participate in a study, the results are anecdotal at best and unusable at worst. Both observation and research suggest that students respond best to studies offering cash or in-kind prize incentives. The College should test this hypothesis to meld it into reliable feedback-improvement practices. The proposal calls for funding to give incentives to students to take surveys, etc.

Montgomery College Foundation Awards $65,200 through Innovation Fund Grants

The Montgomery College Foundation has awarded over $65,000 in Innovation Fund grants for FY 2022 to three initiatives that address student success, equity, and completion. The three were chosen from 10 proposals received. Created in 2011, the Innovation Fund grants are made possible this year through the generosity of Montgomery College Foundation donors.

Congratulations to the following award recipients:

• COVID Research Empowers Students (CREST)
  Dr. Evdokia Kastanos and Dr. Michael Chase. Award amount: $29,700.00
   
  MC is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in protecting the health of community residents. This grant proposes to develop/pilot a system of wastewater surveillance on MC campuses for early detection of SARS CoV-2. This would monitor current infections and provide a preemptive window for allaying potential surges. Students will gain unique experiences in: 1) detection of future COVID-19 outbreaks or other infectious diseases, 2) collaboration with county and state health departments, and academic institutions to solve a global, public health crisis, 3) leverage of cross-discipline expertise in biology, biotechnology, and epidemiology, 4) undergraduate research, which is currently very limited. This project proposes a unique opportunity for students to engage in monitoring a global, public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with state/county agencies. Students can participate in wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by taking a biology/biotechnology course collegewide, receiving scholarships/stipends. This project will empower 30 students from demographic groups disproportionately hit by the pandemic to work towards reducing health disparities in their community.