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In less than a year, �������� (GGC) has received three grants totaling $700,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). All three grants will help address specific needs in the information technology (IT) field.

“We appreciate the generosity of NSF and the dedication and hard work of our faculty to recognize and find solutions for gaps in the information technology field,” said Dr. Chavonda Mills, dean of GGC’s School of Science and Technology. “Our faculty worked tirelessly to submit these three proposals to NSF, all of which benefit our students.”

The most recent grant of $200,000 was awarded by GGC on March 26. Its aim, said Dr. Wei Jin, professor of information technology, is to improve retention and academic success for GGC’s information technology majors. The two-year grant is focused on “a holistic approach to improve learning and motivation in introductory programming with automated grading, web-based team support and game development.” The grant participants will benefit from several high-impact practices and be offered multiple pathways and opportunities to learn and develop programming skills, which are a critical foundation for IT careers.

Also this year, a grant of $200,000 was awarded on March 19 this year and will be used to fund a special internship program for IT students to help them gain real world experience while also helping area non-profit organizations in developing software. Its focus is to help encourage more Hispanic students pursue careers in software development. The grant is for three years and will assist 18 GGC interns.

“We will conduct a yearly hackathon with a challenge to help causes in the Hispanic community and we will employ various methods to recruit more Latina students into the software development major,” said Dr. Cengiz Gunay, associate professor of IT at GGC. “There will be regular career development panels with an emphasis on inclusivity of Latin American students, and we will work closely with Hispanic-serving student clubs.”

In October 2023, NSF awarded GGC a $300,000 grant to expand and broaden the Technology Ambassador Program (TAP). The grant helps TAP share its experience and work products with the public, especially teachers.

“The most successful products of TAP are the fun and engaging workshop activities created by TAP students for target populations with diverse knowledge and backgrounds,” said Dr. Anca Doloc-Mihu, associate professor of information technology at GGC. “The project will disseminate this expertise by sharing TAP workshop activities with teachers via on-site workshops and then on a public online repository so that anyone can use them for outreach. Finally, a newly created alumni network will provide career development workshops to nurture the current TAP students and strengthen this exemplary program.”

Since the grant award in October 2023, there have been two TAP Career and Networking  Nights during which TAP students network with TAP alumni for career advice. The first teacher’s workshop happened in May to introduce TAP students and their work to Georgia teachers and their students. The goal is to introduce IT programming to kids in K-12 in a fun and engaging way that will entice them to select and persist in an IT and STEM career.

“We want to collaborate with the teachers and bring our TAP student’s work to their students. To help us with all the projects and website to showcase the work that will be accessible to the public, the grant funds helped us hire 10 student assistants,” added Doloc-Mihu.

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