Chattanooga State Community College is the recent recipient of a $738,525 Tennessee Coronavirus Relief Fund Grant awarded through the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to help defray the expenses of delivering instructional support to students at the main campus, as well as at the Dayton and Kimball sites.
Chattanooga State found that more than 1,100 students, including 71% from the credit side and 29% from the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Chattanooga State, did not have adequate technology equipment to complete their spring courses.
The college loaned devices to students for the spring and summer terms and will continue to loan devices to students through the fall.
U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts 2018 reports 20% of the households in the counties Chattanooga State serves do not have a computer and 30% do not have broadband internet. For the distressed counties in the service area, the percentage of households without an internet connection is almost 40%.
The $738,525 grant will support the technology needs of students and of online class delivery this fall. Purchases supported by this grant include computers, monitors, laptops, computer backpacks and 100 internet hotspots.
In addition, the grant will outfit 30 labs and classrooms across the main campus and at instructional sites in Kimball and Dayton with BlendFlex Learning equipment, which will allow students to attend class remotely.
Involving more than 55 classes, services will also include academic advising, financial aid sessions, academic success coaching, as well as interventions and teacher meetings.
Additional benefits will allow the community to be linked with Chattanooga State’s main campus in order to see and hear guest speakers, authors and scholars’ presentations.
In total, approximately 3,100 students will benefit from distance learning courses, says Chattanooga State in a news release.
Source: Chattanooga State Community College