City College receives GEER grant funding

Earlier this fall, City College at Montana State University Billings received Montana Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) grant funding for several health and trades programs that support new workforce based programming with a remote learning component.

Sole project funding was awarded for the Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program in the amount of $30,766. City College, together with Great Falls College and Gallatin College, received $180,000 in total funding for OneMSU Workforce Consortium on Respiratory Therapy. A statewide project for Construction Technology with partners City College, Gallatin College, Great Falls College and Missoula College yielded funding in the amount of $150,000.

The LPN program at City College teaches medical credentials such as patient care, monitoring patients’ health, medical data collection, as well as communication of patient status to registered nurses and doctors. This program is offered remotely as students can take courses online while fulfilling their clinical hours at an approved local medical institution.

“We are excited to have received this funding to further enhance the Licensed Practical Nursing program here at City College, especially as the need for qualified health care workers increases due to the pandemic,” says City College Dean, Vicki Trier. “This gives us an opportunity to expand our program offerings across the state.”

Statewide expansion and collaboration is at the heart of the OneMSU Workforce Consortium on Respiratory Therapy and Construction Technology grants. The Construction Technology grant funding will create a statewide certificate of technical skills for construction technology while the consortium will open new avenues for students to enroll in high-demand health programs.

The Commissioner of Higher Education, Clayton Christian, and Governor Steve Bullock announced a $2.2 million grant that would be distributed to bolster workforce development and remote training programs. Ten awardees comprised of two-year and community colleges, with a total of 19 projects were chosen through a competitive application process. The institutions selected all expressed the desire of multi-campus collaboration, enhanced credentials for students as they improve their skills, and education outreach to remote students.

The GEER grant was established by Congress under the Education Stabilization Fund in the amount of approximately $3 billion. Each applicant expressed the need of funding while proposing a project which the grant would directly impact.