Jersey City, N.J. – Saint Peter’s College today announced that its project, Strengthening Achievement among Hispanic and Students of Minority Backgrounds, received an excellence award at the inaugural New Jersey Higher Education Showcase of Exemplary Practices: Excellence in Teacher Preparation on Friday, April 20, 2012.
Saint Peter’s College, a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), was awarded a $2.8 million Title V federal grant in the fall of 2010 under the HSI Program, which provides grants to assist HSIs with their efforts to expand and enhance academic offerings, program quality and institutional stability for Hispanic students, in addition to improving the attainment of Hispanic students.
“With 18 projects from 11 institutions nominated in the category of “Institutional Grants”, this honor truly speaks to the success of our hardworking grant writers and our dedicated project directors,” said Marylou Yam, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs at Saint Peter’s College. “This award provides us with added motivation as we continue to successfully implement all of the initiatives associated with this grant.”
As part of the Title V federal grant, Saint Peter’s College opened the Center for English Language Acquisition and Culture on April 19, 2012. The Center is a full service resource center, which will provide an interactive study environment to better support ESL students in their language development. The Title V grant will also enable the expansion of thriving academic assistance programs and activities to successfully integrate Spanish-speaking students into the College community. The grant also involves faculty development on cultural competency and academic readiness programs in Jersey City high schools.
The New Jersey Higher Education Showcase of Exemplary Practices: Excellence in Teacher Preparation is sponsored by Rochelle Hendricks, the secretary of higher education, and the New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The purpose of the event is to recognize exemplary programs and practices in teacher preparation in New Jersey, share them within the teacher education community and disseminate them across the state.
Saint Peter’s College, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment.
Contact
Angeline Boyer
(201) 761-6238
aboyer1@spc.edu