Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) is proud to announce a recently awarded three-year, $750,000 NASA Minority University Research and Education Project Community College Curriculum Improvement grant. BCCC was among four two-year institutions in the country to receive this prestigious award.
The goal of the grant is to increase the number of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) classes available at minority-serving community colleges and to provide STEM educator training. BCCC will use its $750,000 to launch a new project called “Improving and Expanding the STEM Programs at BCCC to Attract, Retain and Support the Success of Diverse Students.”
“This new BCCC STEM initiative will focus on increasing the success rate and workforce development of underrepresented students, such as women, African Americans, and disadvantaged veterans in BCCC’s engineering-related programs,” said BCCC President and CEO Dr. Gordon F. May. “This is another example of how BCCC programs align with community needs.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), employment in STEM occupations will grow by 18.7 percent until 2020, compared to 14.3 percent for all occupations. Approximately 59 percent of the projected increase will be in science and engineering jobs in the computer and mathematical science occupations. These occupations also have the largest growth rate at 23 percent.
To further increase student success rate and workforce development, BCCC is partnering with several organizations, including NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Morgan State University, Capitol Technology University, Coppin State University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore City Public School System, Lockheed Martin, JLL/Amazon, Berry Plastics, AMTEK Company, Juxtopia, National Society of Black Engineers, Career Communication Groups, Pearson Education, Maryland Center for Veteran Education and Training, and the United States Postal Service.
Dr. Yun Liu, professor of mathematics and robotics, will spearhead the project on behalf of BCCC. Dr. Liu and BCCC Grant Development Director, Dr. Michele Towson, led the NASA grant development team.
For more information about BCCC’s grant award from NASA, contact Dr. Yun Liu at 410-462-8324 or email: yliu@bccc.edu.