Pierce fails to receive Title 3 federal funding, still sets high goals for student progress

Valerie Ettenhofer
Staff Writer 

If the staff in charge of allocating the Pierce College budget does their job well, students shouldn’t notice the hole in federal funding caused by our failure to qualify for a Title 3 grant. Actually, the college has probably been without the government-awarded grant since most students have been here. Only once in its history, about a decade ago, did the school receive the much-appreciated annual 400,000 dollars that the grant rewards.

Title 3 is a competitive grant that requires schools to submit a detailed plan of action that outlines exactly what the college would do with the money. The plan also must include a proposed system of measuring the success the financial support creates, ensuring its effectiveness. Vice President of Advancement Suzy Ames insists that Pierces’ financial departments had a strong and prepared application, even if it did not make the cut.

“Our grant proposal focuses on three areas,” she explains. “The first is increasing faculty professional development so that they can have the skills to help more students succeed in the classroom. The second one is expanding research for data collection so we can make more data-driven, informed decisions. The third is to increase the number of students that progress from one level to the next.”

Ames points out that the grant is designed for flexibility. Once the proposal is made, the money must be spent in the aforementioned way, but it’s up to each school individually to determine their greatest area of need and fill in the gaps with federal funding. By the time Pierce College applies again, they may have a completely different economic need, and may make the case for a new set of changes.

Any grant money available is allocated directly by Washington D.C.’s Department of Education, whereas the majority of community college funding is divided up among 34 state institutions by Olympia’s board. The amount spent on education per year depends on both national and state budgets.

Next year, the powers that be may choose to continue down their already-ranked list of schools, meaning that Pierce, whose application only fell twelve points short of being accepted, may get a share of federal funding sooner rather than later.

Ames, however, has a positive plan for the school’s future that doesn’t rely on federal support. “We are committed to furthering these programs with or without Title 3. We’re focusing on bold and scalable initiatives; starting small but doing the small thing really well; making a difference for those students and then figuring out how to grow it so we can help more students.”

These initiatives may be seen through pilot programs, including one that aims to help students ‘level up’ through math courses, increasing their competency at an efficient rate.

The Foundation for Pierce College may lend the most direct help, as its purpose is to examine the school’s financial options and pursue the most beneficial forms of funding. Luckily for students, Ames is also the Foundation’s Executive Director, and takes her job seriously. She hopes to improve the school through local means.

“We are actively having conversations with private local foundations and national foundations that have a common interest in the needs that we had identified in our grant, to see if we can help fill that gap,” said Ames.