Amador County – Columbia College in Sonora was awarded a $1.1 million federal grant that will be used to expand services to disadvantaged students, the college announced in September.

Coni M. Chavez, executive assistant to the president said Columbia College “has been awarded a $1.1 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education.”

The “Student Support Services” grant will give funding for “increased counseling, advising, and transfer services to students,” Chavez said. The program will also feature group workshops, special activities and events such as field trips to four-year universities. She said the program will “grant aid directly to qualified students.”

The college will hire a full-time faculty counselor/project director and full-time program coordinator to implement the activities.

The Student Support Services grant will be overseen by Dean of Student Services Melissa Raby.

Raby said the “additional funding could not have come at a better time.” She said Columbia College “students really need this extra support, and while our enrollment has been consistently growing over the past few years, our budget has been cut tremendously by the state.”

Chavez said “counselor-student ratios at the college are well beyond generally accepted levels for community colleges,” normally 400 to one. She said Columbia has “only one counselor for every 1,379 students.”

The program will specifically target students that are low-income, disabled, or first-generation college students – each of whom typically experience far lower retention, graduation, transfer, and good academic standing rates other than comparative groups, Chavez said.

In fall of 2008, 1,722 Columbia College students identified themselves as first generation according to a USDE definition, in which neither parent has a bachelor’s degree. The figure represented 73.1 percent of students who provided data regarding their parents’ educational status. Another 43 percent reported meeting low-income criteria, while 14.5 percent reported a disability of some kind.

Director of Development Beccie Michael coordinated the Columbia College grant proposal, which she said “scored 297 points out of 300 possible.”

Michael was hired through another five-year grant to help expand resources available to the college.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.