Cummings Foundation $100,000 Award
Framingham State University (FSU) has received a $100,000 grant spread over four years from the Cummings Foundation to create a Summer Bridge Program for underrepresented and first-generation students from low-income households.
The focus of the Bridge Program, which will launch summer of 2021, will be on academics, financial literacy, mental wellness, and inclusive leadership. FSU is one of the 130 local nonprofits to receive grants through Cummings Foundation's $20 Million Grant Program and was chosen from a total of 738 applicants after a competitive review process.
"During this time of extreme economic stress and anxiety, we are so grateful to receive this award from Cummings Foundation," says Framingham State University President F. Javier Cevallos. "These critcal funds will be used to provide direct assistance to our most vulnerable students as they make the difficult transition from high school to college. A college education remains the most tried and true way to move up the socioeconomic ladder. This program is going to help us ensure that more students are successful when they reach FSU."
$1 Million Grant to Fund STEM Academic Success Year Three
FSU continues its five-year, $1 million grant project funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to increase the academic success and persistence of first-generation and underrepresented students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The grant funds FSU’s Transparent Pathways in STEM project, which aims to redesign academic pathways and curricula in a way that removes obstacles to student success and levels the playing field for all students, particularly those from underrepresented groups.
The project involves approximately 60 STEM faculty from FSU and MassBay Community College (FSU’s largest feeder school) in an evidence-based intensive faculty development model that will lead to improvements in the individual and collective faculty practice, creating a lasting culture of inclusive excellence in the STEM curriculum and faculty ranks. Most importantly, it will foster and create the faculty leadership that is critical for effecting a sizeable impact to institutional culture.
Whiting Foundation Funds Faculty Travel
Shin Freedman, Head of Scholarly Resources & Collections for the Henry Whittemore Library, has received a 2020 Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation Fellowship to travel to China. She will learn about Chinese minority groups and living experiences of the people where major minority groups reside in Changchun, Yunnan and Xinjiang. Through the lens of diversity, inclusion and resilience, she plans to explore ethnographic understanding about how these groups have sustained their cultural heritage in the 21st century to incorporate into her courses as global diversity, inclusion and equity issues and challenges.
Walmart Foundation Award
Framingham State University received its first grant of $4,750 from the Walmart Foundation, for the Rams Resource Center which provides non-perishable food items, toiletries, and resource referral for FSU students, faculty, and staff.
Schwartz Charitable Foundation
A $3,500 grant was given for the Student Support Fund, to provide timely and impactful assistance to students facing financial crisis.
Civic Hub Grant
Civic engagement programming during 2020-21
The Henry Whittemore Library was recently awarded a federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant for $7,500 from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). “We are proud to deliver grant funding to libraries for projects that fill unique needs of libraries across Massachusetts.” said Rob Favini, Head of Library Advisory and Development at the MBLC. Through campus events and online content, FSU will build awareness of civic issues such as the Presidential election, climate change, and racism. The grant will fund numerous activities, including a photojournalism exhibition, podcasts, lectures on democracy and voting, racial healing circles and a book discussion.
Fulbright Award
President Cevallos Awarded Fulbright Grant to Attend International Education Administrators Seminar in France
Fulbright's International Education Administrators seminars help US international education professionals and senior higher education officials create meaningful connections with the societal, cultural, and higher education systems of other countries. Grantees have the opportunity to learn about the host country's education system and establish networks of US and international colleagues. Grantees return with an enhanced ability to serve and encourage international students and prospective study-abroad students. Unfortunately, the seminar has been postponed due to the pandemic. Dr. Cevallos hopes to attend in 2021.
Gifts to Fund Office of Diversity and Inclusion, College Planning Collaborative
FSU is grateful for the continued generosity of The Herb and Maxine Jacobs Foundation. The Foundation is funding several projects this year including campus Pathway internships and fellowships in computer science and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, as well as support for the College Planning Collaborative and the 100 Males to College program.
Davis Educational Foundation Awards FSU $24,320
This award is to enhance the quality of undergraduate online and hybrid academic program delivery through expanding the Quality Matters (QM) framework for designing online and blended (hybrid) courses. The Education Technology Office will work with faculty members to train in the QM framework and certify new peer reviewers for course curricula. This award is Framingham State’s third grant from the Davis Educational Foundation.
Continued Support for 100 Males to College
The Department of Higher Education has awarded a continuation grant in the amount of $60,000 to FSU’s MetroWest College Planning Collaborative for its “100 Males to College” program. The program focuses on improving college access, college participation, and college completion success rates for high school males in the MetroWest region.
Adventures in Lifelong Learning receives second BayPath Elder Services grant
Framingham State University (FSU) has received a $14,000 grant from BayPath Elder Services to hire an outreach coordinator to expand the free Adventures in Lifelong Learning Program to isolated seniors, as well as those from underrepresented communities. The goal of the program is to decrease social isolation among seniors while keeping them active and healthy, nurturing their intellect and creativity, and promoting their well-being.
“Social isolation is a pressing concern for older adults and can lead to physical illness, depression and cognitive decline,” says Dr. Yaser Najjar, Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education at FSU. “This issue has only grown worse during the current pandemic. We are grateful to BayPath Elder Services for this generous grant, which will allow us to expand this popular program to even more seniors.”
Cellular Biology Education Consortium Award
Assistant Professor of Biology Amanda Simons has been awarded a $3,000 subaward from the National Science Foundation's Cellular Biology Education Consortium (CBEC). The primary activity of CBEC is the development of "cell blocks," modules consisting of written and video protocols and classroom implementation strategies and assessments. Dr. Simons' funding will provide research equipment needed for independent study students for the creation of a "cell block."
MetroWest Health Foundation Awards Two Grants to the Health & Wellness Center
This spring and summer brought two awards, one for a new Vaping Cessation Program for the Health Center, and one for the Counseling Center to purchase equipment and furniture to better serve students safely during the pandemic. This academic year, students who are motivated to quit or cut back on vaping will receive a multi-faceted program to help them, based on successful tobacco cessation models.