August 31, 2011
SPCC Gets Golden LEAF Grant Extension for Career Cruiser
South Piedmont Community College has been granted a one-year extension for utilizing remaining funds from a $556,380 Golden LEAF grant awarded in 2009 to purchase and operate the Career Cruiser, a mobile classroom serving communities across Anson County.
With the original grant period coming to an end, SPCC staff found they had met all the project’s goals ahead of schedule with $130,000 of the grant remaining. Those goals included serving 300 individuals on the Cruiser and certifying 100 workers Job Ready with essential workplace skills through the Career Readiness Certification (CRC) program.
“We were thrilled to get the extension because we know there is so much more that we can do,” said Linda Kappauf, director of Human Resources Development at SPCC. Kappauf said those plans include working more closely with faith-based organizations and HOLLA, a grass-roots organization dedicated to improving educational opportunities, to reach out to even more Anson County adults in need of training to be certified Job Ready.
“This is a real credit to the fiscal responsibility the people working with the Career Cruiser have shown,” said Stuart Wasilowski, vice president of Corporate and Continuing Education. “The extension was requested because we have met our performance goals for this outreach project while conserving enough of the money to cover an additional year of operations.”
Wasilowski said the grant extension was expected to allow the college to certify 40-50 additional candidates Job Ready. He said that a study of people who had already accessed services aboard the Cruiser showed that roughly half had enrolled in additional course work at the college after they encountered Cruiser staffers Toby Carpenter and Eric Tillmon. The extension is expected to continue that trend, and introduce additional students to SPCC’s college credit, continuing education and Basic Skills programs.
To learn more about the Career Cruiser, visit www.spcc.edu or call 704-290-6292.
Media Inquiries: Rosemary Britt, 704-272-5342, rbritt@spcc.edu
