Project Title:
Connect Arizona Now: Digital Inclusion for Underserved Students and Communities of Southern Arizona (CAN)
Funding Program:
Connecting Minority Communities Program
Project Purpose/Type:
The University of Arizona (UArizona)'s Connect Arizona Now: Digital Inclusion for Underserved Students and Communities of Southern Arizona (Project CAN) will address the need for broadband internet access, connectivity, and digital inclusion in the highly diverse, often rural, communities of Southern Arizona.
City/Town/Service Area:
State(s):
-
$3,051,875.00Funding Amount$3,051,875.00Total Project Cost0.00Non-Federal Cost Share
Project CAN will create “equipment bundles” that can be checked out by students from UArizona Libraries, including hotspots, laptops, headphones, and webcams. The project will also increase student access to broadband and higher education through (1) expansion of UArizona network and classroom technologies; and (2) providing support personnel at education sites in rural AZ. Dunbar Pavilion will serve as the locus for the community-based programming portion of the project. UArizona will provide broadband internet access, equipment, and help facilitate educational opportunities and resources for the Dunbar Pavilion, the Tucson Urban League, and the surrounding community.
Project CAN will increase the number of resources available to the lending program to better serve students in need and address the gap between rural and urban education by expanding access to reliable broadband and classroom technologies. It will provide flexible strategies that facilitate and expand effective rural community access to quality education, particularly in STEM fields and develop training and technical support to maximize the use of new and emerging technology, train faculty and students, and to ensure continuous service and troubleshooting of equipment. With community partners, the project will create a Family Resource Center, Financial Empowerment Center / Creative Development Space, and Education Resource Center and Museum Archive.
Students, faculty, and staff at the University of Arizona will benefit from improved broadband access and technology. Community members in the Douglas, Thatcher, Yuma, and Pascua Yaqui communities in Southern Arizona will be able to access the new community resource centers.
The subrecipients for this project are Dunbar Pavilion and Tucson Urban League. The Dunbar Pavilion is an African American Center for Art and Culture; and for this project will serve as the locus for the community-based programming and provide space for the Family Resource Center and the Education Resource Center and Museum Archive. The Tucson Urban League has been serving the community for the last 51 years, through programming, education, and economic development; and for this project is providing physical space for the Financial Empowerment Center and assisting with planning and implementation of Economic Development Program.
The applicant does fund a consortia. The applicant’s activities do occur in the surrounding anchor communities. Details of community involvement are described below.