About the Columbia State Community College Foundation

The Columbia State Community College Foundation’s mission is to support and partner with Columbia State to positively impact our communities and student success through the maintenance and enhancement of resources through excellence in relationship building, fundraising and investment management. Foundation management is under the direction of Bethany Lay, Executive for Advancement for Columbia State. Advancement also includes annual giving, alumni relations, community events and grants management.
In addition, for more than a decade the Foundation has partnered with Columbia State Community College, First Farmers Bank and other sponsors and patrons have successfully brought local and world-renowned artists to perform on the Cherry Theater stage as part of the Performance Series. The Foundation also supports the mission of the Pryor Art Gallery, located on the CSCC campus in Columbia, which strives to a first-class artistic venue where appreciation for all forms of visual art is enhanced through presentation of stimulating exhibits and programs that inspire, educate, enlighten, challenge and entertain.


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Tennessee’s RX TN consortium funding includes Columbia State

$500 million in community college grants awarded to expand job training through local employer partnerships

More than $500 million in grants to community colleges and universities around the country for the development and expansion of innovative training programs have been awarded as part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative, which promotes skills development and employment opportunities in fields such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and health care, as well as science, technology, engineering and math careers through partnerships between training providers and local employers.
The RX TN program is designed to improve the opportunities to Trade Adjustment Assistance-eligible workers and others in health care-related training while at the same time meet the needs of the health care employers and industry, according to Claudia Johnson, Advancement Office Director of Grants. "The total award amount for RX TN was $12,570,415. Columbia State’s proposed portion of the funds was set at $937,935."
Johnson noted that the RX TN project contains a strong student support prescription component designed to serve students and potential students to prepare for and make good decisions in selecting health care training as well as being successful once they start training to complete and obtain employment. The proposal also contains training prescriptions to address specific occupational training components that are currently not available or need enhanced/expanded to meet the needs of employers and industry in specific regions and across the state.
The U.S. Department of Labor is implementing and administering the program in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education. Educational institutions will use these funds to create affordable training programs that meet industry needs, invest in staff and educational resources and provide access to free, digital learning materials. All education materials developed through the grants will be available for use by the public and other education providers through a Creative Commons license. These grants emphasize evidence-based program design. Each grantee is required to collect rigorous student outcome data annually and conduct final evaluations at the end of the grant period to build knowledge about which strategies are most effective in placing graduates in jobs.