Faculty & Staff Support
An important part of the Gateway Community College Foundation’s mission is providing key resources to help the College offer high quality instruction in an environment conducive to learning.
Providing a good education means more than having enough classrooms, desks, and chairs to go around, however.
At Gateway, it also means:
- Offering faculty & staff professional development opportunities to hone their skills and broaden their experience and knowledge base.
- Supplying additional resources to help students get the most from their education.
- Providing financial support to help students overcome potential roadblocks to their education.
The Foundation funds several key initiatives to support these efforts, including Professional Development Grants to Faculty and Staff, the Student Group Assistance Program, the Family Economic Security Program (FESP), and the Helping Hands Fund.
Professional Development
Each year, the Foundation sets aside funds to support professional development activities and technology acquisitions that enhance student learning or improves the college’s ability to serve the community. Awards are made for projects, events, programs, and equipment that directly benefit a large number of people. Need, measurable outcomes, and success potential are important selection criteria.
Any faculty or staff member can submit a Professional Development Grant proposal, which must be reviewed and approved by a dean. The Professional Development Grants Committee reviews all applications and makes selection recommendations to the Foundation’s Executive Committee. Grants can range from $500 to $2,000.
Examples of previously approved grant applications include:
- Attendance at professional development conferences, symposia, and institutes;
- Acquisition of Library-housed anatomical models and a wheel alignment machine;
- Battery maintainers for the Automotive Technology program; and
- A Veteran’s Week Program.
In 2020 we awarded grants to support the following activities:
- Emergency Medical Technician Course Equipment
- Provides funding for faculty to revamp their courses to include the utilization of Open Educational Resources
- Human Cadaver class at Yale University (partnership between Gateway and Yale where Gateway students enroll in this course at Yale University and it is taught by a Gateway Community College Faculty member)
- Faculty/Gen Ed Assessment
- Purchase of Equipment and Tools for Computer Servicing Classroom (provides much needed updating of equipment to make it more current and relevant for students taking courses in this computer classroom)
- Purchase of a goggles cabinet for Chemistry labs so that goggles can be sterilized and reused.
- Planning of a gaming workshop for Gateway students.
- Training for First Year Studies faculty on Accelerated Learning Program
Student Group Assistance Fund
Via this fund, the Gateway Community College Foundation financially underwrites student support needs across the College.
Examples of how this fund has been used include:
- Sending a team to compete in the Federal Challenge, a micro-economic policy decision-making competition at the Federal Reserve Board Bank in Boston;
- Helping Gateway’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) group undertake community outreach activities, attend campus-wide seminars and compete in regional and national events;
- Supporting the activities of Gateway’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for two-year colleges;
- Offering cultural diversity awareness programs that help the college community explore, embrace, and promote racial, ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity.
