Miles Community College was recently selected as a participant in the second cohort for Project Vision, a National Science Foundation (NSF) project aimed at two-year colleges. The project was created to provide selected schools with development and resources to apply for grants and funding under the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) program.
Project Vision announced their second cohort, comprised of 13-colleges. The goal of this project is to catalyze submissions of proposals from 45-2YCs not previously associated with DUE programs. Not only does Project Vision teams help each 2YCs generate an innovative idea that aligns with DUE funding, but Project Vision supports capacity building at each college, so that these colleges can regularly submit proposals to NSF. Specifically, Project Vision’s staff and team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) work with local faculty and staff to create a comfort level in writing grants and looking for growth opportunities. In addition, Project Vision involves College Board of Trustees (BOT), which encourages new college Presidents to pursue DUE funding and thus help grow and sustain the DUE program.
“This is such exciting news for the college,” stated MCC President Ron Slinger. “For MCC to be one of 13 institutions selected from a nationally competitive field of applicants demonstrates just how outstanding our academic programs are.”
Project Vision’s mission is to provide two-year diverse, small, rural colleges, and/or colleges with newer Presidents the expertise to generate innovative ideas that produce award-worthy NSF proposals. It will offer support at all levels of a college ecosystem including Board of Trustees, president, administrators, faculty, and staff. Project Vision will also provide professional development activities for BOT, presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff by working with these entities to embrace the merits of the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program and other Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) programs while also providing each college the support needed to build up their capacity and to regularly submit proposals, as deemed appropriate, to the ATE Program and other DUE Programs. The project will also lead this initiative by a seasoned team of ATE experts, a former college president/CEO, senior college administrators, and former NSF program officers who couple on-site analysis with follow-up services to help each college build STEM and grant capacity.
The 13-colleges selected to participate are:
“Project Vision will allow us to get even better,” commented Slinger, who became the 9th president of MCC in January of 2020. “This is not only great news for MCC but also for all of Eastern Montana. The opportunity to draw significant National Science Foundation funding for our programs will be a real game changer and spark new economic development opportunities for the region and the state.”
About the National Science Foundation’s ATE Program With an emphasis on two-year colleges, the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program focuses on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy. The program involves partnerships between academic institutions and industry to promote improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels. The ATE program supports curriculum development; professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers; career pathways to two-year colleges from secondary schools and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions; and other activities. For more information about Project Vision, see: www.projectvis.org.
About Miles Community College Founded in 1939, Miles Community College (MCC) was established as the first community college in the state of Montana. Nestled in the heart of Miles City, the two-year college offers a bustling campus with on-site housing, a full athletic program, and a state-of-the-art Ag Advancement Center and offers quality programs including nursing/healthcare, agriculture & equine studies, business, information technology, education, and more.
