Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania, received a $290,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, to establish a Healthy Relationships Resource Center. The Center will work to prevent, respond to, and educate the Mount Aloysius community about sexual assault and other domestic violence issues, both off- and on-campus. The initiative will provide comprehensive prevention education and responses to sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking for students. A coordinated community response team composed of off- and on-campus personnel will create plans and protocols to handle situations involving these issues. The Center will also promote a campus culture that actively encourages healthy relationships. Women make up two-thirds of the student body at the college.
Alverno College, a liberal arts educational institution for women in Milwaukee that is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, was awarded a five-year, $1,780,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for programs to increase student retention and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation students in healthcare fields. The grant will also support the development of three new degree programs in healthcare.
The U.S. Justice Department has awarded almost $4 million to support the establishment or expansion of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs that offer medical forensic care, advocacy, and other victim services to sexual assault survivors on campuses of higher education. This program will develop, expand or strengthen SANE services to improve the delivery of post-assault medical and advocacy services. Campuses will collaborate with victim service providers in the communities in which the institutions are located. If victim services programs are not available in the community or are not accessible to students, the institution will provide a victim services program on campus in collaboration with a community-based organization. Universities receiving funds from the grant are the University of South Alabama, the University of Arizona, Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, Tennessee Tech University, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the University of Wisconsin.