Project Title:
The College of Southern Nevada's CONNECTIVITY CONCIERGES
Funding Program:
Connecting Minority Communities Program
Project Purpose/Type:
The College of Southern Nevada's CONNECTIVITY CONCIERGES project is designed to build the broadband and IT capacity of its institution by boosting digital literacy for its students, the majority of whom have unmet financial needs; and providing broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment, and support that can easily be accessed by the students and community members from the Anchor Community tracts in a 15-mile radius of the West Charleston (WC) campus.
City/Town/Service Area:
State(s):
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$2,488,048.00Funding Amount$2,488,048.00Total Project Cost0.00Non-Federal Cost Share
The applicant has proposed four project activities on two campuses that include the following: First, the College will create hospitable Concierge areas on campus with loaner connected devices, charging stations and secure lockers for students’ own equipment, hotspots, and Collaboration Pods to make access inviting and immediate for any student or community member on campus. Second, the College will staff the Concierge areas with designated Concierges, trained IT professionals from CSN’s Office of Technology Services (OTS) and Student Concierges, interns from CSN’s Department of Computing and Information Technology (CIT). Third, trainers will be hired who will provide Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) so Concierges can assist in various languages as necessary. Fourth, a College-wide Connectivity Committee will be formed to support Concierge staff, steer Concierge activities, review milestones and build partnerships that will keep the Concierges going once NTIA funding ends.
The Concierges will achieve four of the goals stated in the Nevada Strategy document: Community Anchor Institutions, such as two-year Colleges, will have adequate broadband service to support community needs; Every student will have access to a connected device and a broadband connection at school capable of supporting virtual learning; Access to a workforce skilled in broadband will be an economic development competitive advantage for Nevada; and the reach of digital equity and inclusion programming will be expanded.
All students at the College of Southern Nevada in Henderson, NV will benefit from the program, but students that have unmet financial needs and have low-income status will be prioritized as part of this project. It will provide them with broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment, and support that can easily be accessed.
Applicant does not intend to subaward funds
The applicant does not fund a consortia. The applicant’s activities do occur in the surrounding anchor communities. Details of community involvement are described below.