Saratoga News

Packard Foundation grants $500,000 to WVC-Mission

By Michelle Alaimo

The West Valley-Mission Community College District was recently awarded four grants totaling $500,000 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The grants represent one of the largest private donations ever received by the district.

"This is a milestone for community colleges, which traditionally have not received much support from private foundations," chancellor Rose Tseng said.

"The grants address critical issues facing community colleges today: welfare reform, technology and strategic planning," Fred Prochaska, associate dean for sponsored research and grants, said.

The largest grant will bring in $375,000 to the district over three years. The money was used July 1 to establish a program called The Career Skills Resource Project, which will help welfare recipients find work more quickly, Prochaska said.

The project will offer short-term programs, which only take one or two semesters to complete. Classes offered under this program will teach skills for the health-care profession, a variety of office jobs and some computer-related jobs. Prochaska said students will be learning in class and on the job at the same time.

All the other grants are for one year, two of which were renewed from last year. West Valley College renewed a $48,808 grant for a program called "Innovative Tools for 21st-Century Teaching." This program is for distance-learning classes, Prochaska said. Interactive video conferencing will be used along with television and the Internet to teach courses without students having to physically come to the college.

Mission College renewed a $49,994 grant for a similar program on its campus. The money will go toward upgrading instructional classrooms and increasing the number of distance-learning classes.

The district also received a $25,000 grant from the Packard Foundation's Organizational Effectiveness Program, which Prochaska said will support a strategic planning program that began on July 1.

He explained that strategic planning has three goals: enhancing learning, building community and strengthening resources. Carlson said the grant will fund workshops and seminars.

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