A $3.3 million federal grant will fund a partnership between Riverside Community College and UC Riverside to strengthen community college instruction and to create a pipeline for highly qualified community college instructors.
The five-year grant, called a Title V Cooperative Grant, will in part, support new programs under the California Community College Collaborative at UC Riverside, dubbed "C4 at UCR."
On this new project RCC's Moreno Valley Campus will serve as the lead institution, partnering with the District's Norco Campus and with UCR.
The project will create:
. A center for community college faculty development.
. Targeted instructional programs and support services.
. A graduate internship program aimed at increasing the number of Hispanic students and other underrepresented student populations pursuing community college teaching careers.
"This grant represents the first of many ways that RCC Moreno Valley and UCR will cooperate to enhance the quality of education received by community college students," said Irving Hendrick, Interim President, RCC Moreno Valley Campus.
"The program fits well into the larger vision of RCCD Chancellor Salvatore Rotella, UCR Chancellor France Córdova, California Community Colleges Chancellor Mark Drummond, and UC President Robert Dynes about how to serve important needs of California community colleges."
The Center is being established under the leadership of Steven T. Bossert, Dean of the UCR Graduate School of Education.
"We are excited about this new partnership grant because it will enhance teaching and student learning by creating a pipeline of highly qualified faculty for the community college system," said Dean Bossert.
Specific goals funded under the grant:
. Increase learning and raise graduation rates, with a special emphasis on low-income and underrepresented students.
. Assist faculty in developing more appropriate instructional methods to improve student learning and success.
. Reorganize, integrate and strengthen the curriculum in English as a Second Language and mathematics to better address the needs of second-language students.
. Increase student learning through revised and expanded tutoring and creation of a Supplemental Instruction (SI) Program.
. Providing an internship for students who want to pursue careers in teaching at community colleges.