(Estherville)– Iowa Lakes Community College is one of seven Iowa community colleges that will share in nearly 1.5 million dolalrs in Title Three grants to improve online teaching and services to online students.
The grant will be allocated over five years and be used to purchase equipment, train faculty, and to provide online student advising and support services.
Colleges which are part of the Iowa Community College Online Consortium inlcude Eastern Iowa Community College, Iowa Lakes Community College, Iowa Western Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College, Southeastern Community College, Southwestern Community College and Western Iowa Tech Community College.
Officials hope more students taking classes through the consortium will successfully complete courses which can lead to an Associate Degree.
The grant also allows the colleges to train four seasoned online faculty at each college to serve as mentors to other faculty members who are new to online teaching.
In addition, software and hardware would be purchased so the seven libraries are able to communicate better with online students. Officials say that will simplify the process for students to gain access to reference materials at any of the seven partner colleges.
