By: Jodie Darrell, Staff Reporter | Photo By: Jonathan Gamboa, Production Manager
A record-setting $3.2 mil was donated to the CNM Foundation this year, said foundation Executive Director Lisa McCulloch.
The donations came from a long list of donors and will be used for student scholarships during the 2012-13 school year, said McCulloch.
“I believe the increase in donations is due to the fact that the role of community college in the community both locally and nationally has been elevated due to the fact CNM is providing such hopeful solutions in a tough economy,” said McCulloch
During the 2011-12 school year more than 800 scholarships were distributed with the $1.4 mil donated, said McCulloch. The foundation is looking forward to doubling that amount this year.
There are 76 scholarships offered to students by the foundation. Three scholarships are the most popular, especially for good students with challenging life situations; The Rust Opportunity Scholarship Endowment, The CNM Milestone Fund Scholarship, and The CNM Success Awards said McCulloch.
The rust scholarship is designed to help students in need of emergency assistance for non-academic problems such as a broken car, pending eviction, and other major events that could cause a student to drop out, said McCulloch.
“When life crisis happens, education can become un-manageable to accomplish and it can affect your budget. This scholarship will pay those expenses until it is back under control,” said McCulloch.
The Milestone Fund grants a student who maintains an increasing grade-point average and meets with a CNM Connect achievement coach each term up to $500 for up to three terms, said McCulloch.
“If you come to student services at CNM with a dream, we will help you make that come true no matter what,” said McCulloch.
The Success Awards Scholarship is for students preparing to graduate and provides up to $1,000 to help graduates transition into the workforce, said McCulloch.
The foundation has an internal goal to raise $10 mil for student scholarships over the next three years, said McCulloch.
“CNM is such a gem in the community, as far as the workforce training and economic development goes, that really my job is to make sure everybody who has resources to give away knows about CNM,” said McCulloch.
Anyone with resources to give away can design a scholarship, said McCulloch.
For more information about available scholarships, visit cnm.edu/depts/ fass/scholarships. For more information about the CNM Foundation, visit cnm.edu/ depts/cnmfoundation.
