Project Title:
NSU Project INVESTS: Inclusivity and Next-Generation Vision to Expand Student and Teaching Success
Funding Program:
Connecting Minority Communities Program
Project Purpose/Type:
Through Project INVESTS: Inclusivity and Next-Generation Vision to Expand Student and Teaching Success, Northeastern State University (NSU) seeks to make an unprecedented investment in the expansion of its educational infrastructure to meet the needs of tribal and other low-income and underrepresented college students, over 66% of whom live in rural areas.
City/Town/Service Area:
State(s):
-
$2,950,598.00Funding Amount$2,950,598.00Total Project Cost0.00Non-Federal Cost Share
NSU's Project INVESTS activities include improvement of network capacity and virtual instructional delivery systems, intensive training resources for existing Information Technology staff to ensure and safeguard a more robust and complex network, as well as an online/hybrid course development training resources for NSU faculty. To build the remote learning capacity for low-income students, NSU will expand virtual services offered by its U.S. Department of Education TRIO programs serving college-bound low-income and first-generation high school students (Upward Bound) and NSU low-income and first-generation college students (Student Support Services) and improving remote learning capacity for NSU’s high school-to-college summer bridge program. NSU will also train its IT staff to manage the upgraded network systems, and the IT Department and the campus Center for Teaching and Learning will provide information technology and multimedia paid internships to NSU undergraduate juniors and seniors. To improve remote learning access on campus, NSU will replace old analog equipment in its Library Auditorium with state-of-the-art Zoom teaching and learning resources and extend capabilities across the entire institution using mobile Zoom carts. To improve online program development and course quality, NSU will train faculty in digital and technical skills and increase the number of online courses available.
The project builds remote learning capacity at NSU for low-income college students and improves the pipeline of students enrolling in postsecondary education. It improves remote learning access and anchor community access to Wi-Fi resources by strengthening NSU’s network stability, performance, and security. Finally, it improves online program development and course quality that will ultimately lead to greater success in student online courses.
Beneficiaries of this project will include NSU students, faculty, and staff. Student beneficiaries include: 14,000 low-income NSU students, including undergraduate/graduate students; low-income, first-generation college students enrolled in the NSU US Department of Education Student Support Services program; low-income NSU students participating in high-impact Project INVESTS internships with the Information Technology Department and the Center for Teaching and Learning; low-income concurrently enrolled high school students and college-bound low-income and first-generation high school students enrolled in the NSU US Department of Education Upward Bound program; and low-income high school graduates transitioning to NSU through the institution’s Summer Bridge program. Faculty and staff beneficiaries include the IT Department staff trained and certified in advanced networking and cybersecurity skills; and NSU full-time faculty trained in advanced certification, trained in digital skill-building, and trained in Zoom Cart technology. Additionally, the projects will assist hundreds of community residents in NSU's anchor community in rural Tahlequah, Oklahoma annually through enhanced Wi-Fi service in campus building public spaces including the NSU Library Auditorium, and in campus parking lots where low-income families without at-home internet can congregate to access broadband service provided through the university.
The recipient does not intend to subaward funds.
The applicant does not fund a consortium. The applicant’s activities do not occur in the surrounding anchor communities. Details are described below of community involvement.