Newly Awarded NSF Grant Expands Opportunities for IT Students - Cybersecurity Skills Through Regional Internships
Co-PIs: Brady Nielsen and Brent Booth
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Co-PIs Brady Nielsen and Brent Booth with Dean Jim Brady at SFCC
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Information Technology (IT) graduates with cybersecurity skills are in high demand by industry employers in the Spokane region, as well as nationally. In response to this demand, the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant for cybersecurity was awarded to SFCC to create opportunities for 24 to 30 students to develop cybersecurity skills as interns working with regional businesses or government organizations. The grant will enhance the student experience in SFCC's Associate of Applied Science Information Technology degree (Cybersecurity Emphasis), certificate programs in cyber defense and forensic network security, and the four-year Bachelor of Applied Science degree in cybersecurity. PI Brady Nielsen, together with Dean Jim Brady and SFCC IT faculty, will emphasize the importance of this internship program to students as a way to contextualize learning and prepare them for specific cybersecurity skills and knowledge most needed by local IT employers.
An innovative component of this project will include collaboration with BAS Applied Management students, who will help design and manage the AAS-IT Cybersecurity intern program. Co-PI Brent Booth will oversee identifying and engaging the BAS Applied Management students on internship projects including facilitating employer workforce needs assessments, contract and project management, and facilitating the placement of IT student interns. In addition, the new NSF grant team will partner with the University of Washington Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity (CERSE) to focus evaluative components of the project on SFCC's organizational capacity to pursue longer-term opportunities in the cybersecurity arena.
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant # 1982320. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 
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NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Grant Prepares Rural Teachers for Geospatial Technologies in the Classroom
co-PIs: Marilyn Nielson, Erin Rudders and David Stasney
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Dave Stasney discusses GIS field data with a high school teacher participating in the training workshop held at the Colville Rural Center
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SCC environmental science faculty (Marilyn Nielson, Erin Rudders and Dave Stasney) received a $225,000, three-year Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant from the National Science Foundation which began Fall 2018. Now in its second year, the project is already making a significant impact in training and supporting rural Northeast Washington educators as they implement geospatial technologies in their high school classrooms. The SCC faculty team delivered a 15-hour workshop at the SCC Colville Rural Center this past summer, which introduced 10 rural high school teachers to Geographic Information System (GIS) concepts, tools, and learning exercises that can be easily incorporated into relevant coursework. Two additional teachers were brought on board during a similar training in October. High school educators will return to Colville this upcoming summer to share classroom experiences and refine plans to incorporate geospatial learning for the third year.
The SCC team is using this grant opportunity to encourage high school students to engage with GIS and other geospatial technologies that will lead to career pathways in environmental science. The NSF grant includes funds to enable students from the surrounding rural high schools to attend Environmental Science Career Day on the SCC Spokane campus each fall. This year, nearly 200 students were in attendance. The project extends the opportunity for students by offering SCC’s introductory geographic information systems (GIS) course as a dual-credit option during the final project year (2020/21). This course provides students with a stand-alone resume-building skill, a jump start into Spokane Community College’s Environmental Sciences programs, and transferable credits.
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant # 1800981. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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SCC Science Faculty Welcome First Cohort of NSF STEM Science Scholars
Co-PIs: Jaye Hopkins, Methea Sapp, Andy Buddington
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SCC Science faculty members Jaye Hopkins, Methea Sapp and Andy Buddington with their first cohort of NSF Science Scholars in Silver Valley, Idaho.
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Led by science faculty members and NSF co-PIs Jaye Hopkins, Methea Sapp, and Andy Buddington, the new SCC Science Scholar Program enrolled its first cohort of six students in Fall Quarter 2019. The new group of SCC Science Scholars met for the first time to participate in a field trip experience in the Silver Valley of Idaho this past September. The trip started with an overview of the Silver Valley remediation Superfund site from project scientists, then included a trip into the Galena Mine in Wallace and stops at several locations where the remediation work is ongoing. The field trip experience was all part of the nearly $650,000, five-year National Science Foundation grant award for STEM scholarships at SCC. The program will begin recruiting for the 2020 cohort of Science Scholars beginning January 1 and provides academically talented students with demonstrated financial need the opportunity to apply for scholarship support to pursue two-year science transfer degrees. To apply for the scholarship program, students must be starting a two-year full-time transfer degree in biology, chemistry or geology and have some unmet financial need as determined by the FAFSA.
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 The students met with a variety of working scientists with degrees ranging from chemistry to environmental science to civil engineering. PI Jaye Hopkins says that "the opportunity to meet with industry scientists and see the remediation work in the Silver Valley first hand was very motivating to students as they enter their science program at SCC this year."
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant # 1833712. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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SFCC and SCC Awarded Funds to Assist Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD)
Grant Administrators: Marjorie Davis and Lori Hunt
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 Federal regulations require basic food assistance recipients identified as Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) to meet certain work requirements or educational access to remain eligible for benefits. Previous to the recent federal rule changes, ABAWDs were exempt from the work requirements to maintain food benefits; however many are still not aware of these new requirements. Both SFCC and SCC recently received one-year $75,000 SBCTC grants for each college to host an ABAWD Navigator assigned to outreach to qualified recipients of the program. The role of the Navigator is to connect with ABAWDs in the Spokane area to explain the educational opportunities available at CCS, as well as other options to ensure work requirements are met. This includes providing intake, assessment and access to open entry workforce activities at community colleges or community-based organizations. ABAWD Navigators will also work to enhance collaborations with community partners and increase resources for colleges to support low-income students.
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Each college is awarded a $75,000 ABAWD Navigator grant for the period October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020. The award is 100% federal dollars.
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SCC Expands Campus Behavioral Health and Suicide Prevention Services
Grant Administrators: Shannon Ketcham and Connan Campbell
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SCC received a $59,996 grant from the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) to enhance training, resources and campus capacity to assist students, faculty, and staff with issues surrounding suicide prevention. Launched January 2019, the SCC Suicide Prevention Program expanded the campus delivery of critical suicide prevention training for faculty and staff including Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST); Mental Health First Aid; Question Persuade, Refer (QPR); and Trauma-Informed Approaches to Student Support. A total of 18 training sessions have been delivered over the past year with 154 faculty and staff participating. In addition, 11 members of the Veterans Advisory Board and Veteran Friendly Contacts at SCC completed an online certificate course, Serving our Veterans' Behavioral Health. Two SCC staff, Carmen Green and Shannon Ketcham, earned certification by the National Council on Behavioral Health as Mental Health First Aid instructors via the grant funding helping to expand the longer-term campus capacity related to the challenges of suicide prevention. Also, five SCC delegates were able to attend two separate conference opportunities, including the Washington State 2019 Conference on Suicide Prevention in Postsecondary Education and the World Suicide Prevention Day Conference. Other resources supported by this grant included the purchase of an electronic health record system for the CCS Mental Health Therapy program and additional print materials regarding regional suicide prevention and crisis response resources.
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The Grants & Sponsored Research Office can help you apply for grants and ALSO help you once the grant has been awarded! Our website offers links to many resources to walk you through the process of grant Post Award implementation, good stewardship and any compliance requirements! Also - feel free to contact our new Post Award Grants Manager Lupito Flores at 434-5148 with any questions about your grant project, as well as how to navigate the program requirements, state or federal guidelines of your award! The G&SR office can support you every step of the way as you navigate the entire grants life cycle. For more information visit us at https://ccsnet.ccs.spokane.edu/Grants.aspx.
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