Burlington County Freeholder Director Joe Donnelly asked the freeholder board to help Burlington County College secure grant funding of up to $2.4 million from the State of New Jersey for technology upgrades that will ensure BCC stays in the forefront of education in the future.
The state recently announced a competitive grant application process for capital and equipment projects at higher education institutions. Donnelly has encouraged Burlington County College to apply for these funds to provide access to instructional technology and resources in their classrooms and upgrade their technology infrastructure.
“I propose that the county provide matching funds of up to $500,000 which will provide the college leverage to obtain an additional $500,000, resulting in $1 million for one of the projects,” Donnelly said. “The college has agreed to pursue a second grant of $1.4 million for technology upgrades for their classrooms.”
The college has agreed to pay the required 25 percent match for debt service for the second grant.
BCC has established a Minor Capital Reserve Account to fund projects such as these, but with the funding available through the state and now the county match, the college will be able to extend funding to additional projects.
The state announced that a number of pre-existing capital funds were being replenished with dollars and institutions of higher education would be invited to apply for capital funding in a 2013 Competitive Grants Cycle. March 25 is the established deadline for submitting the grant applications.
“I have conferred with the college about these opportunities and the college will be applying for funding through two state-supported bond programs: Higher Education Technology Infrastructure Fund and Higher Education Equipment Leasing Fund,” Donnelly said.
The HETI grant funds technology infrastructure improvements at NJ’s institutions of higher education. Projects submitted for HETI grants will advance the institution toward the next level of technology investment including integrated voice, video and data networks. Institutions must provide a matching amount at least equal to the amount of the HETI grant (one to one match).
The ELF grant finances the purchase of equipment, held in the name of the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority and leased to the institution.
This purchase must be related to scientific, engineering, technical, computer, communications or instructional equipment that will be utilized for the advancement of student education. Institutions must commit to paying 25 percent of the debt service on the bonds issued to fund the equipment purchase requested in their ELF application (three to one match).
“BCC’s existing network infrastructure at its primary locations, Pemberton and Mt. Laurel, was purchased in 2004 and is approaching nine years old,” said Burlington County College President David C. Hespe. “In technology terms it has reached its product end of life and cannot compete with the network technology available today and accommodate the tidal wave of student devices (handheld, mobile, pads etc.) being relied on by students.”
The Next Generation Enterprise Network project would replace the existing core and edge network switches, as well as the wireless network access points for the college.
The new NGEN network would effectively and efficiently support network mobility, energy management, security, application performance and multimedia optimization. Leveraging BCC’s NGEN, students and faculty will reap the benefits of a true digital learning environment with increased bandwidth, faster network and application response, seamless Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) support.
The total project cost under the HETI Grant Application would be $1 million including the county match of $500,000.
“Currently, less than half of BCC’s classrooms offer dedicated digital audio visual technologies for educational resources and materials suitable for a 21st century learning environment,” Donnelly said. “The goal is to digitally enable 100 percent of BCC’s viable classrooms with next generation A/V and instructional technologies so that faculty members and students will have access to consistent and dependable learning resources.”
This Next Generation Educational Technology project will include replacing existing older classroom equipment and installing equipment in classrooms that are currently not digitally enabled.
This project will also include upgrades in the computer labs, mobile technology labs, and video conferencing capability. Infrastructure and equipment for classrooms and laboratories that support learning outcomes and competencies for students in technology-intensive degree and certificate programs will be funded which include those aligned with high demand occupations such as mechatronics, computer-controlled machining and manufacturing, and robotics-assisted manufacturing.
Total ELF Application Amount: $1.4 million with a required match of 25 percent annually of the debt service costs of the NJEFA, which the college has agreed to cover.
“We really appreciate the county’s efforts to help us secure these grants to fund technology upgrades for our students,” Hespe said.
