For Immediate Release
November 4, 2002Contact: John Hammond, Director of Public Relations, 210/733-2147, jhammond@accd.edu
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SAC Awarded Grants to Enhance Recruitment,
Distance Ed
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| San Antonio College recently received grants from private and public sources
to enhance recruitment of low-income, inner-city Hispanics and to enable
the delivery of distance education to rural communities with limited resources. Recruitment Project A $60,000 grant from the Jessie Ball du Pont Fund was awarded for a study to investigate why low-income Hispanics from inner-city San Antonio don't enroll in area colleges and to help develop effective recruitment strategies. The College Access Program will work with the San Antonio-based Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) in the project, which includes identifying best practices in low-income Hispanic recruitment, obstacles to higher education, and the design of recruitment strategies. IDRA has worked for excellence and equity in education for almost 30 years by setting standards in the design, analysis, and synthesis of research involving diverse populations. Distance Education Access A $312,315 grant from the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will purchase technology for dual credit distance education in rural high schools and for web-based access to continuing education for students, teachers, parents and the community. The technology includes web-enabled computers, interactive videoconferencing facilities, and electronic links between high school and college personnel. The targeted schools are in Center Point ISD (Kerr County), Nixon-Smiley ISD (Gonzales County), Kenedy ISD (Karnes County), and Comfort ISD (Kendall County). These districts are relatively isolated, have limited resources to offer advanced or specialty courses, and have a student enrollment of at least 50 percent who are economically disadvantaged. San Antonio College was the first college in San Antonio to offer a course on the Internet and was also the first in the city to offer an associates degree on the Internet. The college currently enrolls more than 3,000 Internet students and 1,700 dual credit students. |
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1300 San Pedro Ave. • San Antonio, Texas • 78212-4299 • (210) 733-2147 |