U.S. Public and Private Higher Education
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
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University of Texas Dallas: Study - Crowdsourced Data Could Help Map Urban Food Deserts
RICHARDSON, Texas, July 4 -- The University of Texas Dallas campus issued the following news release:
New research from The University of Texas at Dallas suggests food deserts might be more prevalent in the U.S. than the numbers reported in government estimates.
In a feasibility study (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00071/full) published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, scholars found that the methods used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to identify areas with low access to healthy food are often outdated and narrow in scope.
Their findings indicate
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RICHARDSON, Texas, July 4 -- The University of Texas Dallas campus issued the following news release:
New research from The University of Texas at Dallas suggests food deserts might be more prevalent in the U.S. than the numbers reported in government estimates.
In a feasibility study (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00071/full) published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, scholars found that the methods used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to identify areas with low access to healthy food are often outdated and narrow in scope.
Their findings indicatethat crowdsourced information gathered from mobile apps such as Yelp could help provide more accurate real-time representation of food deserts in impoverished communities.
"Using data from the city of Dallas, we compared our results with the 2015 USDA database and discovered the agency needs an up-to-date source of information on grocery stores," said Dr. Dohyeong Kim, associate professor of public policy and political economy and of geospatial information sciences in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at UT Dallas. "The number of food deserts may be a lot larger than what the USDA says it is."
The USDA considers three metrics when identifying "food deserts," areas where residents lack access to fresh and healthy food: income, car ownership and distance to the nearest supermarket. In an effort to improve accuracy of food desert locations, the UT Dallas researchers looked at two additional variables not included by the USDA: access to public transit and shopper-provided food pricing gathered from Yelp, an online source of business reviews by the public.
"If a community has few public transportation options nearby, that may contribute to the existence of a food desert," Kim said. "Plus, low-income households still face limited access to healthy food if prices are too high."
The researchers analyzed data from Dallas' 296 census tracts, which are neighborhood-sized geographical areas used by government agencies to collect population data. Nine census tracts were identified as food deserts based on the USDA's 2015 data only. Using 2018 Yelp data alone, the researchers identified 50 census tracts -- mostly in south Dallas -- as food deserts. Thirty-three census tracts were overlapped by both data sources.
"Using data from the city of Dallas, we compared our results with the 2015 USDA database and discovered the agency needs an up-to-date source of information on grocery stores. The number of food deserts may be a lot larger than what the USDA says it is."
Dr. Dohyeong Kim, associate professor of public policy and political economy and of geospatial information sciences in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
Due to the time difference between the two data sources, Kim cautioned that their findings could not confirm which dataset -- USDA vs. Yelp -- matches the situation on the ground more accurately, and he stressed that Yelp should not be considered as a replacement for government data. The results do show, however, that crowdsourced, georeferenced data could be a good supplement to improve accuracy of official government data and help guide health policies.
"Yelp data is still incomplete in coverage and limited for wide application, although it has the potential to be improved in the future," Kim said. "This study sheds light on the need for on-the-ground, place-specific observation in the study of food deserts, and future studies should include multiple cities to gauge the quality of Yelp data across the country."
Kim added that use of such crowdsourced information also could give guidance to other public-health mapping, such as for noise or pollution.
Other contributors to the study included first author Thomas McKey, UT Dallas geospatial information sciences doctoral student, and Dr. SungChul Seo from Eulji University, South Korea.
The study was supported by the Environmental Health Action Program, funded by the Ministry of Environment, South Korea.
University of Tartu Scientists are Developing Bioplastics to Replace Fossil-Based Materials
TARTU, Estonia, July 4 -- The University of Tartu issued the following news release:
Scientists at the University of Tartu have started work on an international project aiming to develop a novel technology to produce eco-friendly plastics. Finding an alternative to oil-based plastics is one of the greatest challenges for scientists in the 21st century.
Widely used plastics are largely based on fossil fuels. This has caused significant environmental pollution and contributed to climate change. Furthermore, the recycling of plastic packaging is complicated as most packages are made from a mixture
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TARTU, Estonia, July 4 -- The University of Tartu issued the following news release:
Scientists at the University of Tartu have started work on an international project aiming to develop a novel technology to produce eco-friendly plastics. Finding an alternative to oil-based plastics is one of the greatest challenges for scientists in the 21st century.
Widely used plastics are largely based on fossil fuels. This has caused significant environmental pollution and contributed to climate change. Furthermore, the recycling of plastic packaging is complicated as most packages are made from a mixtureof different types of polymers. This crucial problem provides ample material for research to scientists all over the world.
The BioStyrene project, led by the University of Tartu, strives to work out options to replace the fossil-based styrene, which is widely used as a source material for plastics, by materials derived from wood biomass. As one solution, a part of the fossil styrene is replaced with wood-based lignin, which currently does not have many uses. The research also opens up new prospects for the timber industry, finding more use for lower-quality material or the residual product, lignin.
"Using wood for the production of novel materials considerably reduces the industry's dependence on fossil-based plastics. For this reason, we have set the goal to find a solution that is also applicable in large-scale industry. To ensure comprehensive expertise, we have involved not only international researchers but also three private enterprises in the project," said Lauri Vares, Senior Research Fellow in Organic Chemistry at the Institute of Technology, University of Tartu. "We have also reached the first important results - we have established that in paints, styrene can be successfully replaced by an alternative produced from biomass. Furthemore, such bio-paints, could even have better properties than the currently used paints," Vares added.
The BioStyrene project (ER30) is co-financed by the Estonia-Russia cross-border cooperation programme 2014-2020. Other participants in the project led by the Institute of Technology of the University of Tartu are St Petersburg State Forest Technical University, and the enterprises Vapa, Plastpolymer (Russia) and TBD Biodiscovery (Estonia). The total cost of the project is Euros586,987, incl. funding from the Estonia-Russia cross-border cooperation programme, Euros437,617.
The Estonia-Russia cross-border cooperation programme 2014-2020 aims to foster cross-border cooperation between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation to promote socio-economic development in the regions on both sides of the border. The programme website can be found at http://www.estoniarussia.eu.
University of Manchester: Multimillion Pound Scheme Could Make Early Diagnosis of Liver Disease a Reality
MANCHESTER, England, July 4 -- The University of Manchester issued the following news release on July 3:
A new consortium, led by The University of Manchester (UoM) and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), has been awarded pound sterling4.5 Million to help patients with liver disease receive earlier, more accurate, and potentially life-saving diagnoses.
The UK Government's Innovate UK Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will provide pound sterling2.5 million, with another pound sterling2 million matched in-kind funding from industry partners GE Healthcare and Roche Diagnostics
The
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MANCHESTER, England, July 4 -- The University of Manchester issued the following news release on July 3:
A new consortium, led by The University of Manchester (UoM) and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), has been awarded pound sterling4.5 Million to help patients with liver disease receive earlier, more accurate, and potentially life-saving diagnoses.
The UK Government's Innovate UK Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will provide pound sterling2.5 million, with another pound sterling2 million matched in-kind funding from industry partners GE Healthcare and Roche Diagnostics
TheIntegrated Diagnostics for Early Detection of Liver Disease - or ID LIVER consortium - will develop new software integrating patient and diagnostic data from different diagnostic tests.
Currently, the tests can only identify liver disease when well established. None identify early signs of liver disease or pick up patients destined for much worse outcomes.
ID LIVER is one of seven projects that will receive a share of a pound sterling16m grant from the fund, all of which intelligently combine data from blood tests, tissue analysis, imaging techniques, genetic profiles and our medical history.
The Manchester ID LIVER project is in partnership with colleagues from The University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, as well as major industry partners GE Healthcare and Roche Diagnostics.
I am thrilled that we have won this Innovate UK award, bringing together our best researchers in the university, NHS and technology sector. This would not have been possible without the research and research and development (R&D) support of global leaders, Roche Diagnostics and GE Healthcare and the enthusiasm of our SME partners. Transforming this aspect of healthcare is particularly important for the population of Greater Manchester as we have one of the UK's highest rates of advanced liver disease
Professor Neil Hanley
The Challenge Fund recognises the value of bringing together university researchers, NHS experts and industry partners, large and small, to address major health challenges that no individual team could address on its own. The consortium is completed by Jiva.ai, Perspectum Diagnostics, Health Innovation Manchester, Trustech Smart Healthcare Ventures, Sectra, NorthWest EHealth, Octopus Ventures, and The Sollis Partnership. The project is also supported by the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) in Greater Manchester (through Health Innovation Manchester) and the East Midlands, which will drive the clinical innovation and provide a route to NHS adoption of the new diagnostic approaches.
Liver disease is a silent killer as patients will often have no symptoms in early stages. In the UK almost four in 10 people suffer health problems due to their livers not functioning correctly.
A proportion of these patients develop liver scarring that can often progress to complete liver failure - one of the UK's largest health challenges, for which there is currently no solution apart from transplantation.
Professor Neil Hanley, Director of Research and Innovation at MFT, and the ID LIVER Project Lead, said: "I am thrilled that we have won this Innovate UK award, bringing together our best researchers in the university, NHS and technology sector. This would not have been possible without the research and research and development (R&D) support of global leaders, Roche Diagnostics and GE Healthcare and the enthusiasm of our SME partners. Transforming this aspect of healthcare is particularly important for the population of Greater Manchester as we have one of the UK's highest rates of advanced liver disease."
Prof Hanley, who is also a Professor of Medicine at The University of Manchester, added: "By identifying liver disease in a primary care setting we are aligning the care of liver disease to the NHS Long Term plan, of prevention rather than treatment.
"Bringing together clinical, academic and industrial R&D is also exactly what our Citylabs Innovation Campus is about, driving Manchester jobs and investment around health and life sciences."
Sir Mike Deegan CBE, Group Chief Executive of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Manchester is uniquely positioned, through our devolved health and social care system, and the research and innovation infrastructure we have developed here, to tackle the challenge of liver disease.
"The ID LIVER consortium represents what Manchester does best; working together to deliver innovations that benefit our patients. It shows the power of partnership working and reflects our ambition to become an internationally recognised force in integrating diagnostics."
Diagnostic tests brought together within ID LIVER include Perspectum Diagnostic's magnetic resonance imaging technology 'LiverMultiScan', which provides quantitative measures associated with liver tissue characteristics.
Combining imaging-based metrics with other clinical data will allow healthcare professionals to make faster decisions, with greater confidence. By doing so, the team aims to identify patients with early-stage liver disease and those at risk of progressive life-threatening liver disease, including liver cancer.
By integrating clinical data with Jiva.ai's artificial intelligence and data science, people at risk of progressive liver disease who would previously attend hospital for diagnosis, often too late for preventative or curative treatment, will now be identified earlier by hospital-led screening in their local community.
Professor Graham Lord, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, said: "Prevention and early detection of disease is one of our priorities and this funding success will enable scientists in the Piper Hanley lab, part of the University's Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, to take novel discoveries in liver fibrosis through to the clinic and out into the wider community for patient benefit."
Dr Abdullahi Sheriff, Strategic Partnerships and Solutions leader at GE Healthcare UK and Ireland commented: "We are delighted to be working with the world class team from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and the consortium of partners on this ground breaking project. We believe in the power of partnerships in improving health outcomes and the transformative potential this partnership has to improve the early identification and treatment of liver disease and cancers at scale in the UK."
Geoff Twist, Managing Director UK and Ireland and Management Centre European Agents at Roche Diagnostics Ltd, said: "We are thrilled with these funding awards, because it gives us the opportunity to work towards groundbreaking innovation in early diagnosis and because working in partnership is vital to achieve success in the health system. By bringing together the collective knowledge and expertise of these academic, medical and industry partners, these projects have the potential to impact patient care globally through new diagnostic solutions in cancer as well as thoracic and liver disease."
Pamela Healy OBE, chief executive at the British Liver Trust said: "This is incredible news which could be the catalyst required to significantly improve early detection of liver disease in the UK. Three-quarters of patients are diagnosed in A & E when the disease is advanced and treatment options are limited and costly.
"Increasing investment into early diagnosis is vital as if caught at an early stage, simple lifestyle changes or treatments can be enough for the liver to recover. This would save lives and could save the NHS millions by reducing the burden of advanced liver disease."
Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:
"Our brilliant scientists and researchers in the North West are harnessing world-leading technologies, like AI, to tackle some of the most complex and chronic diseases that we face."
"Tragically, we know that liver problems, which affect up to four in ten people, are often not picked up early enough.
"The University of Manchester project we are backing today will help ensure more lives are saved and improved, by using state of the art technology to identify liver damage earlier and more accurately."
University of Macau, NKOIL Sign Agreement to Strengthen Collaboration in Smart City Development
MACAU, China, July 4 -- The University of Macau issued the following news release:
The University of Macau (UM) and Nam Kwong Petroleum & Chemicals Co.,Ltd (NKOIL) have signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. Through this agreement, both parties hope to promote the commercialisation of research results, cultivate talent, and jointly create a smart city in Macao. Both parties will give full play to their respective advantages and carry out cooperation in four areas, namely gas pipeline network optimization, energy internet of things, comprehensive utilisation of distributed energy,
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MACAU, China, July 4 -- The University of Macau issued the following news release:
The University of Macau (UM) and Nam Kwong Petroleum & Chemicals Co.,Ltd (NKOIL) have signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. Through this agreement, both parties hope to promote the commercialisation of research results, cultivate talent, and jointly create a smart city in Macao. Both parties will give full play to their respective advantages and carry out cooperation in four areas, namely gas pipeline network optimization, energy internet of things, comprehensive utilisation of distributed energy,and special equipment safety monitoring. They also plan to establish a mechanism for regular communication and strengthen cooperation in nurturing talent in such areas as smart city development, internet of things, smart energy, and big data, for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
With the support of the Macao SAR government and the Science and Technology Development Fund, in 2018, UM obtained approval from the state government to establish a state key laboratory of internet of things for smart city development. The lab is dedicated to solving key scientific and technical problems related to internet of things for smart city development by proposing fundamental and general theories, algorithms, and systems. Since its establishment, the lab has been focusing on five areas, namely smart sensor and communication network, urban big data and smart technology, smart energy, smart transport, as well as urban public security and disaster prevention.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nam Kwong Group, NKOIL takes 'serving Macao and Macao residents' as its mission. It is committed to optimising the energy structure and stabilising the supply of petroleum products in Macao to fulfil its social responsibility. Its subsidiary, Nam Kwong Natural Gas Company Limited, actively cooperates with and supports the implementation of the relevant administrative policies and concepts of the Macao SAR government, vigorously promotes clean and efficient energy as well as the digital application of natural gas pipeline networks and smart gas construction, and strives to be a champion of environmentally friendly new energy and smart city technology.
UM Rector Yonghua Song and NKOIL General Manager Tang Zhaohui signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. Other guests who attended the agreement signing ceremony include Wang Tongyan, executive director and vice-president of Nam Kwong Group; Prof Ge Wei, vice rector of UM; Prof Yang Zhixin, director of the Research Services and Knowledge Transfer Office at UM; Lao Kin Sang, deputy general manager of NKOIL; Prof Wong Man Chung, professor in the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smarty City at UM and head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UM; and Zhang Haijun, assistant general manager of enterprise management of NKOIL.
Swansea University: Welsh Super Database and Technology Platform Play Major Role in New International COVID-19 Research Collaboration
SWANSEA, Wales, July 4 -- Swansea University issued the following news:
The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, funded by Health and Care Research Wales, has been selected to play a key role in an international collaboration to accelerate Covid-19 research.
Established by Health Data Research UK and partners, following funding announced by the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator and the Gates Foundation, the new International Covid-19 Data Research Alliance and Workbench will support the rapid development of therapies to combat the global effects of Covid-19.
Many organisations
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SWANSEA, Wales, July 4 -- Swansea University issued the following news:
The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, funded by Health and Care Research Wales, has been selected to play a key role in an international collaboration to accelerate Covid-19 research.
Established by Health Data Research UK and partners, following funding announced by the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator and the Gates Foundation, the new International Covid-19 Data Research Alliance and Workbench will support the rapid development of therapies to combat the global effects of Covid-19.
Many organisationsacross the world are conducting studies into Covid-19 and generating data that, when pooled together and reanalysed, can lead to powerful insights that help accelerate the discovery of interventions. However, the data is often siloed, making it difficult for those generating the data to collaborate quickly.
The International Covid-19 Data Research Alliance and Workbench will provide an environment for focused collaborative research, matching high value data from many sources with cutting edge analysis to accelerate collaboration, discovery and development of therapeutics to combat Covid-19, all with privacy and accessibility in mind.
Led from Swansea University Medical School, SAIL Databank is an internationally-recognised research group that works to anonymise and link routinely collected data from the NHS and other sources in a safe and secure way, for the purposes of supporting health and social care research.
SAIL Databank is the Trusted Research Environment for BREATHE, the Health Data Research UK hub for respiratory health, and is the focus for the accumulation of a wide range of Covid-19-related data. This includes managing access to de-identified data from the popular ZOE Covid-19 Symptom Study app.
Swansea University's SAIL Databank team also bring their innovative SeRP (Secure e-Research Platform) technical platform to the Alliance, delivering a novel 'adapter' technology, lowering the technical bar for further data partners to join the Alliance.
Professor David Ford, Director of SAIL Databank and SeRP (Secure eResearch Platform), and Chief Data Officer at BREATHE, said:
"We are delighted that Swansea University's Secure eResearch Platform (SeRP) is providing its Adapter technology to this important collaboration. Working with Aridhia, we will deliver the means by which independent, well governed, data repositories can participate in large scale federated research studies enabled by the Alliance, without having to move their data out from their local control."
SAIL Databank has received funding from Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales and its predecessor organisations since 2006, which has provided a concrete foundation for their role in supporting COVID-19 research.
Professor Kieran Walshe, Director of Health and Care Research Wales said:
"We are delighted to see how the continued funding and support of SAIL Databank has resulted in Wales being able to play a key role in the international Covid-19 research effort. Access to good quality data is pivotal to research that will have an impact on how we respond to this pandemic."
Dr Rob Orford, Chief Scientific Adviser for Health, Welsh Government, said:
"The SAIL Databank is a valuable asset in supporting our understanding of how Covid-19 is impacting on the health and wellbeing of people in Wales. We have actively worked alongside and encouraged collaboration with SAIL Databank, to build on the strength of expertise that available here in Wales."
The Health and Care Research Wales Covid-19 research in Wales webpage has details of all related research studies that are active, or in set up, in Wales.
Imperial College London: Investing in Clean Energy Makes Financial Sense Say Experts
LONDON, England, July 4 -- Imperial College London issued the following news on July 3:
Investing in clean energy rather than fossil fuels is an attractive choice for investors concluded experts at a Business School event.
In a webinar hosted by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment with the International Energy Agency (IEA) academics and industry leaders gathered for a discussion on how capital allocation and financial performance are shaping the future of the energy sector.
Drawing upon insights from a recent IEA and Imperial joint report Energy Investing: Exploring Risk and Return in
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LONDON, England, July 4 -- Imperial College London issued the following news on July 3:
Investing in clean energy rather than fossil fuels is an attractive choice for investors concluded experts at a Business School event.
In a webinar hosted by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment with the International Energy Agency (IEA) academics and industry leaders gathered for a discussion on how capital allocation and financial performance are shaping the future of the energy sector.
Drawing upon insights from a recent IEA and Imperial joint report Energy Investing: Exploring Risk and Return inthe Capital Markets, the event examined the extent to which investing in clean energy has made financial sense over time and how recent dramatic changes in market fundamentals is affecting the relative attractiveness of fossil fuels compared to renewables.
According to the report, renewable power is outperforming fossil fuels in US and European markets. The report reveals that despite the growing profile of renewables, the total investment in clean energy is still performing well short of the level needed to put the world's energy system on a sustainable path.
Publically-traded renewable power portfolios have posted significantly higher returns for investors and lower volatility over fossil fuels during the past 10 years and during the COVID-19 crisis. However, capital allocation to renewable power via stock markets is falling short of government goals due to other obstacles facing investors.
Presenting the findings of the report to a virtual audience of industry leaders, students, alumni and journalists, Dr Charles Donovan, Executive Director of the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at the Business School said: "We are in the midst of a clean tech miracle - in particular with regards to solar power. We are 10-15 years ahead of schedule due to a revolutionary set of changes. If there's any problem, it's that solar power is too cheap today." There's real momentum gathering behind renewable power, based purely on their economic advantage. Our results show that renewable power is outperforming financially, but has still not attracted sizable support from listed equity investors."
In a later part of the discussion Michael Waldron, Senior Energy Investment Analyst at the IEA and co-author of the report said: "There's a range of solutions and technologies which are needed for decarbonisation - some of those are not "clean" per se but they have to do with reducing emissions from high-emitting industries, such as production of methane emissions from oil and gas and so we see all of those types of solutions as being instrumental to achieving long-term sustainability goals."
Following the presentation, industry figures weighed in with their perspectives on the key issues. Zoe Knight, Managing Director, Global Head, HSBC Centre of Sustainable Finance at HSBC Holdings PLC said: "In emerging markets, one way to improve things post-COVID is to help liberalise the energy sector in order to bring in either direct investment on a national basis or foreign direct investment from corporates that are operating globally and have made pledges to deliver 100% of their power needs from renewables. This will help to attract the capital that the country needs and in turn decarbonise and create different jobs as we exit COVID."
The event was part of a new series of monthly webinars called Imperial Future Matters, which are organised by Imperial's Executive Education team. Further details about this event and others in the series can be found on the Business School website https://www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/executive-education/events/webinar-does-investing-renewable-energy-make-financial-sense/.
Bevill State Begins Strategic Planning for the Future
JASPER, Alabama, July 4 -- Bevill State Community College issued the following news:
Bevill State Community College (BSCC) met with faculty, staff, and administrators from all five locations on Monday, June 29, to continue the development of a new strategic plan. The College began this process earlier this year. However, recent statewide developments make the timing of this planning process optimal.
At the close of the regular legislative session, Alabama lawmakers approved a $1.25 billion bond issue for school construction in the largest capital improvement project in more than a decade. The
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JASPER, Alabama, July 4 -- Bevill State Community College issued the following news:
Bevill State Community College (BSCC) met with faculty, staff, and administrators from all five locations on Monday, June 29, to continue the development of a new strategic plan. The College began this process earlier this year. However, recent statewide developments make the timing of this planning process optimal.
At the close of the regular legislative session, Alabama lawmakers approved a $1.25 billion bond issue for school construction in the largest capital improvement project in more than a decade. TheAlabama Community College system has been allotted over $120 million of these funds.
"Bevill State is an integral part of our community," Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed (R-Jasper) said. "Young people from all over the region can come here and get first-class career training programs that set them up to be competitive in a global job market. It is imperative that these vital programs are appropriately funded which is why I am proud to have secured significant funding for BSCC in this year's budget."
"I would like to thank Representatives Tim Wadsworth, Connie Rowe, Kyle South and Tracy Estes for their support in the House and ensuring that BSCC receives the essential funding it needs to provide high-quality instruction," Reed said.
As a result of this funding, the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) launched ACCS ASPIRE 2030, a system-wide initiative to inspire community-focused strategic planning for the next 10 years. Through ASPIRE, colleges will apply for funding, provided by the recent bond issue, to improve campus infrastructure and better serve students and their communities. Applications will be submitted only after the colleges each conduct a rigorous self-analysis and thoroughly research the needs of future students and the communities in their service areas.
Local stakeholders and community members will join Bevill State employees and students in this strategic planning process for all areas of the College. Through this collaborative planning process, Bevill State Community College and its partners will identify needs and devise strategies for meeting those needs. They will then develop infrastructure projects to implement those strategies, prioritize those projects, and finally, submit proposals for funding those projects.
"Bevill State has been encouraged to 'think big' when envisioning what our college will look like in 2030. Strategic planning is always vital to the success of an institution, but in light of recent events, being innovative about the future of education when planning is necessary. The College is excited about this process," stated Dr. Kim Ennis, President of Bevill State Community College. "We are fortunate in Alabama to have leadership that recognizes, prioritizes, and supports education."
The legislature also voted to continue funding Bevill State with $300,000 for the Career Pathways Academy program. This program exposes high school sophomores to job opportunities in industry settings. Students learn about new career pathways and industry opportunities through career fairs, exploration camps, internships, and industry training. This wonderful opportunity for our area high school students was started through grant funds obtained in cooperation with our legislative delegation, especially Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed. Senator Reed and the delegation continue to be advocates for funding this program.
Additional funding for Bevill State Community College included $100,000 for college-wide maintenance projects, $350,000 for annual mine training program support, and $280,000 for student service projects.
