Community College Journal - February/March 2011

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FEATURE

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Phase one of the project will employ
methane gas, a byproduct of waste mate-
rial in landfills, to produce electricity
for use by the college. In the coming
months, SFCC also plans to launch an
energy technology incubator that sup-
ports the exploration of next-generation
gasification and other solutions to en-
ergy conversion. Administrators say the
center will serve as a proving ground
for SFCC students looking to break into
local high-tech job markets.

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Southwest Virginia Community
College (SWCC)

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Cedar Bluff, Va.

BY ROD GITHENS AND TIMOTHY SAUER

COMMUNITYCOLLEGEJOURNAL June/July2010

Mary Lawson, executive director of SWCC’s educational foundation, focuses on what she calls “the added value of culture.”

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June/July 2010 COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOURNAL

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Journal Journal

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OnlinePrograms OfferGreen-Collar JobTraining

After more than two decades as a volunteer in cultural community organizations, Lawson brought an understanding of the potential positive impacts of art and music to her role at SWCC. Her efforts launched a $7.5 million fundraising campaign to build a community center with a performance space and art gallery and helped strengthen an already strong arts program at the college.

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By demonstrating that SWCC programs contribute to a larger cultural awareness within the community, Lawson says the foundation appeals to a wider range of donors, even if they don’t have personal or family links to the college.

“I think our success in fundraising and public relations for the college and its foundation has attracted those people who have the resources and are interested in cultural enrichment,” she wrote in an e-mail. “Donors give for that specialized programming, but that spills over into support for scholarships and buildings. We have an endowed chair in music and a growing music program.”

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Potential benefactors have witnessed firsthand the value of these efforts to the community, and the hope is that the efforts of the college will encourage their continued support.

“These donors, for the most part, are not people whose children have come here,” she writes. “They could

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Published 6 times per year by the American Association of Community Colleges

Participants dress the part for a West Hills Community College golf tournament fundraiser.

send their children ‘off’ to school, but they realize the importance of SWCC to the community.”

Northeast Iowa Community
College (NICC)
Calmer, Iowa

NICC derives much of its fundraising from businesses and corporations. It relies on workforce training staff and other leaders within the community college to work hand in hand with its foundation, paving the way for relationships that can drive the connection between the college and the local workforce. Officials from the fundraising side of the house are at the table when the college is developing new programs and partnerships.

NICC’s foundation board, for example, is currently partnering with workforce training staff to perform site visits with local business and industry partners that have successfully tapped the college’s training programs.

The college also invites industry representatives to participate in roundtable discussions about local business and workforce training needs. Supporters say such activities will open the door to discussions about future mutually beneficial partnerships.

“Given the budget shortfalls we’ve had in recent years, it is no longer feasible to offer a new program without first identifying outside funding to support it,” explains Tracy Kruse, NICC’s director of external relations.