COC Partnering in $7.5 Million NSF Grant with Madison Area Technical College

By Jose Herrera

College of the Canyons is one of five community colleges from across the nation partnering in a $7.5 million National Science Foundation grant that was awarded to Madison Area Technical College.     

Over the next five years, the consortium of participating colleges will form the CREATE National Energy Center, which will provide resources to build a skilled technical workforce, improve gender equity in the energy field, expand partnerships between education and industry, and contribute to the transformation of global energy industries.   

Funded through NSF’s Advanced Technological Education program, the CREATE National Energy Center will be the only one of its kind in the country.   

“We are honored to be the only California community college that is taking part in this groundbreaking energy initiative,” COC Chancellor Dianne G. Van Hook said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to contributing to the CREATE National Energy Center’s mission of preparing students to enter the rapidly evolving global energy workforce.”  

Other colleges participating in the NSF grant with Madison Area Technical College are Central Carolina Community College, Delaware Technical Community College and Indian River State College.   

COC’s $1.7 million allocation of the award will go toward the development of new energy curriculum, faculty professional development activities, student outreach and dissemination of Energy Center resources to a nationwide audience.  

“The CREATE National Energy Center is the result of years of hard work and dedication by the partner colleges focused on training qualified instructors, expanding educational opportunities for students, and driving innovation in the field of energy across the United States,” said Gabrielle Temple, CREATE project manager at the college.  

Temple, who’s been with COC for about a dozen years, said NSF’s Advanced Technological Education program has a community college focus with a mission to provide innovative training for technicians in the science and technology fields, and put them in the work force.  

“That’s something that you can get behind…education, training and putting people in good jobs,” Temple said.

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