ALEXANDRIA, VA-Recently Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) received a $1.11 million grant to support dual enrollment in their Information and Engineering Technology (IET) program. This news follows Gov. Northam’s announcement that the Commonwealth plans to allocate $11 million to stimulate Virginia’s economy.
The funding provided to NVCC will help develop a regional workforce in the IET field. It will give the college the opportunity to reach out to underrepresented student populations, offering mentoring services and much more.
The roll-out will include:
1) Two summer bridge programs, serving a total of 48 students per year. Bridge programs provide college credit for graduating high school students and will help orient them to career pathways in IET and student services on campus
2) A structured block-schedule for first semester IET students in cybersecurity, cloud computing, or engineering technology. Block-scheduling places students in groups during their first year with the same sequence and schedule of classes. Up to 48 students will be placed each year, which will allow mentoring and advising to work seamlessly with coursework.
3) An internship and career readiness program for IET students between their first and second year of coursework in collaboration with local employers. These internships will also work to further NVCCs goal of integrating academic coursework and work experience.
4) A credentialing program to prepare regional high school teachers for teaching credit-bearing dual enrollment courses in information and engineering technology.
5) A veteran’s outreach program to transition NOVA veterans and military-connected students to IET programs. NVCC currently enrolls 734 military-connected students as General Studies majors. This program will coordinate veteran career workshops.
By the summer of 2024, it is expected that the program will have 288 graduates and create 96 internships.
