FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contact: Robin Shepard
March 17, 2008                                                                      (209) 381-6470

MERCED COLLEGE FOUNDATION AWARDS
MINI-GRANTS TO FACULTY

          Ten projects submitted by Merced College faculty, ranging from a book lending library to appliance upgrades in the College’s food laboratory, are being funded through the Merced College Foundation’s Faculty Mini-Grant program.  A total of $10,525 will be awarded to faculty members who demonstrated that their proposals would positively enhance the teaching and learning environment at the College.

          “We believe that these grants will produce some very good and positive changes in our classrooms,’ said Maggie Randolph, president of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.  “As we continue to raise funds for Merced College, we hope to expand our grant efforts so that more professors can benefit from the extra help.”

          The maximum award amount was $1,000, Randolph said, noting that the grants were “a good investment in education.”

          The ten projects selected were: the purchase of appliances for the foods laboratory, submitted by Family and Consumer Science professor Michelle Pecchenino; the purchase of tree cuttings for plant  propagation classes, submitted by Agriculture professor Bryan Tassey; funding for a “Super Saturday Seminar” for adjunct faculty in the Child Development Department, submitted by Early Childhood Education professor Marian Fritzemeier; and the purchase of textbooks for a lending library in the Puente Program, submitted by English professor Vince Piro.

          Also funded were: a campus literary journal, submitted by English professor Jeremy Mumford; a child development learning community for Spanish-speaking child care providers, submitted by Early Childhood Education professor Stacey Roduner; a summer seminar in association with the National Endowment for the Humanities; submitted by Humanities professor Max Hallman; the purchase of leather welding jackets, submitted by Industrial Technology professor Steve Boyle; the development of new learning software in the Radiologic Technology Department, submitted by Radiography professor Judy Rose and a film and lecture series, submitted by Humanities/Philosophy professor Keith Law.

          “We are very happy to be able to assist our professors with these important projects, all of which will contribute to their ability to effectively teach our students,” Randolph said.