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JCC awarded federal globalization grant

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Jamestown Community College a grant for $92,000 to further the college’s comprehensive globalization efforts.

The Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program (UISFL) grant represents the first year of an anticipated two-year commitment that will provide funds for faculty and curriculum development and expand study abroad opportunities available to JCC students.

Titled “The Global Readiness Continuum: High School to Community College and Beyond,” JCC’s grant-funded project also engages students enrolled in College Connections, JCC’s concurrent enrollment program with regional high schools.

JCC is one of only 36 institutions nationwide to receive the award, which is part of a $2.8 million fund. The college received similar UISFL grant funding in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years to initiate its globalization efforts.

“The priority of our efforts is the development of global perspectives which will prepare all members of the college community to understand and function within a global context,” said Marilyn A. Zagora, JCC’s vice president of academic affairs. “Our intent is to encourage a paradigm shift toward globalization as an opportunity to be embraced and celebrated.”

JCC’s UISFL grant will be overseen by a project team that includes Dr. Zagora as well as project director Laura Anderson, who is also coordinator of global studies and assistant professor of Spanish; Jennifer Apthorpe, international outreach coordinator; Theresa Baginski, coordinator of modern languages and associate professor of Spanish; Laurie Detenbeck, project manager; Nelson Garifi, executive director of academic innovation; and Gregory Rabb, study abroad coordinator and professor of political science.

“JCC’s grant-funded program includes four primary goals,” Garifi explained. “The first goal creates a pipeline of ‘global-ready’ entering college students who understand the value of study abroad and foreign language study to their personal and professional lives and are predisposed to including these elements in their college experiences. Secondly, we seek to expand partnerships between JCC’s language/global studies curriculum and other disciplines.”

Increasing the number of students pursuing foreign language study and strengthening student connections both locally and globally are the objectives of the grant’s third goal. The fourth goal is diversifying the JCC students studying abroad by engaging previously under-served populations.

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