Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Requests
- Click on the document below to see a copy of the appropriations request forms submitted to Senator Bennett.
NATIONAL PROJECT REQUESTS
Project: National Writing Project
Amount: $24,300,000
Purpose: Local writing projects
Location: Berkeley, CA - Grants will also be available to Utah applicants
Recipient of funds: National Writing Project
Explanation/Justification: The National Writing Project (NWP is an authorized program within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The funding received by the National Writing Project supports a network of nearly 200 sites. The NWP submits an annual application to the U.S. Department of Education and uses the funds received to award matching grants to these local writing project sites.
Project: Arts in Education
Amount: $38,200,000
Purpose: Art programs for persons with disabilities
Location: Washington, D.C. - Utah entities able to receive awards
Recipient of funds: Arts in Education
Explanation/Justification: The Arts in Education program authorizes noncompetitive awards to VSA arts, whose programs encourage the involvement of, and foster greater awareness of the need for, arts programs for persons with disabilities. Support also is given to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for its arts education programs for children and youth.
Project: Reach Out and Read
Amount: $5,000,000
Purpose: Early literacy
Location: Boston, MA - Children in Utah will also benefit
Recipient of funds: Reach Out and Read
Explanation/Justification: Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud in pediatric exam rooms across the nation. The ROR program provides the tools to help promote children's developmental skills and later school success.
Project: Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.
Amount: $24,800,000
Purpose: Literacy for underserved children
Location: Washington, D.C. - Strengthens reading skills of students nationwide
Recipient of funds: Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.
Explanation/Justification: Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. prepares and motivates children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. RIF's highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year.
Project: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Amount: $10,649,000
Purpose: Advancement of quality teaching
Location: Arlington, VA - Beneficial for Utah teachers
Recipient of funds: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Explanation/Justification: The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is to advance the quality of teaching and learning by maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards; and advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers.
UTAH PROJECT REQUESTS
Project: Health Center Capital Improvements Projects
Amount: $ 1,985,000
Purpose: For the purchase of equipment and clinic expansion and renovation
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Association for Utah Community Health
Explanation/Justification: Utah's health centers continue to exceed expectations in providing care to the medically underserved. Health centers in Utah continue to see a higher percentage of uninsured than their counterparts nationally. Several health centers, both urban and rural locations, have reached physical capacity and can no longer expand access to additional patients. This comes at a time when uninsured and unemployment rates have substantially risen. Completion of the requested projects will ensure primary and preventive services to over 100,000 Utahns and will improve health care delivery and quality. Access to primary and preventive care services saves the health care system millions of dollars annually by reducing inappropriate emergency room use and preventing avoidable hospitalizations. Several health centers, both urban and rural locations, have reached physical capacity and can no longer expand access to additional patients. All requested funding is for one-time projects for equipment purchases, clinic expansion and/or renovation that will become self-sustaining.
Project: Career Ladder Educational Workforce Initiative in Green Construction Management
Amount: $ 995,000
Purpose: For technology, equipment and infrastructure for training construction professionals
Location: St. George, UT
Recipient of funds: CEBA Interlocal Agency
Explanation/Justification: There is a shortage of individuals capable of performing construction management duties. The shortage of construction managers with a knowledge and expertise in green building is even greater. Population growth indicates a need for residential and commercial building. Construction employment in Washington, Kane, Iron, Garfield, Beaver and Clark counties is anticipated to increase by 68% between 2006 and 2016. Funding is for a workforce training project to meet the growing demand for green construction professionals skilled in energy efficiency, and renewable energy installations. The funding will purchase computers and construction management related software, provide for classroom set-up and construction lab equipment.
Project: Dixie Regional Medical Imaging Upgrade
Amount: $ 750,000
Purpose: To purchase equipment necessary for quality patient care in the emergency department, cardio/vascular and cancer treatment centers.
Location: St. George, UT
Recipient of funds: Dixie Regional Medical Center (DRMC)
Explanation/Justification: The DRMC is a major referral center for Southern Utah. It takes its role in the community very seriously, and the community relies on DRMC for all of its complex and primary healthcare needs. The surrounding communities have few small regional hospitals and DRMC is the only facility that offers many of the complex medical services that the region requires. Accessibility of care is a national priority, particularly in rural areas. DRMC offers a uniquely broad spectrum of care to its large referral area that would otherwise be unavailable. DRMC's first capital priority is to purchase an MRI Excite upgrade for its busy emergency department (ED). The MRI upgrade will provide better imaging and faster throughput which is important as it is used in the ED for critical cases.
Project: Eagle Mountain Library Facilities Improvement Project
Amount: $200,000
Purpose: For the purchase of equipment
Location: Eagle Mountain, UT
Recipient of funds: Eagle Mountain City
Explanation/Justification: The Eagle Mountain Library promotes early literacy. It also provides various adult education classes for the community, including senior computer skills and gardening. These funds will purchase computers, desks, equipment and a catalog system. The current library automation being used was originally developed for schools. The library is in need of an automation system designed for public library use that will help track family usage, collection statistics, and cataloging.
Project: Intermountain Healthcare Electronic Health Records (EHR) Initiative
Amount: $600,000
Purpose: To support dissemination of HIT to physician practices and for the development of next generation health information technology
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Intermountain Healthcare
Explanation/Justification: Health information has become a national priority. Congressional hearings and administration policy recognizes that health information technology provides a route to making smarter clinical decisions and providing better care for less. This initiative is to disseminate electronic medical record system to physician offices throughout the region. By providing the system to the doctors for much less than it would cost them to implement their own, IHC will remove the financial barrier and ensure that more Utah physicians are in a position to take advantage of the incentives included in the stimulus. This initiative is also developing the next generation of health information technology. Intermountain has partnered with General Electric to develop a new, scalable, highly interoperable and adaptable system to meet the challenges that an increasingly complex healthcare environment presents.
Project: Community Health Initiative
Amount: $250,000
Purpose: For equipment and medical supplies to coordinate and support the delivery of accessible and affordable care to low-income and uninsured families
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Intermountain Healthcare Foundation
Explanation/Justification: There is a correlation between increasing quality of care and reducing healthcare costs. Providing accessible preventative care not only improves the quality of life for the patient, but also reduces the financial burden on them by avoiding costly hospitalizations. This reduces the financial burden on the patient as well as the nation's healthcare infrastructure. The foundation seeks funds to provide care to low income, under-served, and/or uninsured members of the region, including rural areas through its clinics located throughout Utah.
Project: Jewish Family Services of Utah Family Caregiver Support Project
Amount: $300,000
Purpose: For a community-based caregiver service program
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Jewish Family Services of Utah
Explanation/Justification: It is currently estimated that there are some 44 million family caregivers in the United States. Together, they constitute a critical national health care resource that the Administration on Aging refers to as the "backbone" of the nation's long-term care system. However, many family caregivers face serious consequences as a result of providing care. As a group, they have chronic conditions at more than twice the rate of non-caregivers. Fortunately, research has shown that family caregivers can benefit from accurate, timely information about the services that are available to them. This demonstration would develop, test, evaluate, and disseminate an innovative community-based approach to caregiver services to improve the utilization and impact of existing programs. The model would be structured around a resource center that would focus on outreach, assessment, and service coordination. It is estimated that this program will provide 500 caregivers and family members with services through the various components of the Community of Caring Program in one year.
Project: Anabolic Steroid Awareness Among High School Athletes
Amount: $ 1,000,000
Purpose: For a high school anabolic steroid awareness campaign
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: I Won't Cheat Foundation
Explanation/Justification: Recent studies have found that about one of every 20 kids will use steroids by the time they are seniors in high school. The hazards associated with anabolic steroids are well established. High schools across the country have had problems with steroid usage. The dangers of anabolic steroid use are magnified when used by teens and include irreversible damage to vital and reproductive organs, psychological problems and other issues associated with illegal drug usage. Funds will be used to take a proven anti-anabolic steroid program to high schools in all 50 states.
Project: Nationally Accredited Online-Competency Based College of Health Professionals
Amount: $650,000
Purpose: For organization and curriculum development for a nationally accredited online-competency based College of Health Professionals
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Western Governors University
Explanation/Justification: Utah and the United States face a critical and growing need for qualified health care workers. As a nation, we will need more than one million new registered nurses by 2010, and almost half of these will need baccalaureate or master's nursing degrees. In addition, ongoing, rapid changes in health care systems require new skills and expertise not only in new workers coming out of college, but in the existing health care workforce. To meet the growing need for competent, qualified health professionals, WGU is creating a new College of Health Professions that will develop and offer competency-based bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing, public health, health education, health care management and health informatics. These funds will be used to organize and create the College of Health Professionals and develop a curriculum.
Project: McKay-Dee Hospital Advanced Medical Imaging Project
Amount: $750,000
Purpose: For the purchase of medical imaging equipment
Location: Ogden, UT
Recipient of funds: McKay-Dee Hospital
Explanation/Justification: McKay-Dee Hospital Center has been recognized by the Radiological Society of North America for its all-digital imaging system, which uses no film and makes imaging significantly more convenient and efficient for physicians and patients. The imaging services at McKay-Dee Hospital Center include CT scans, full angiography (including neurovascular, ablation, and endovascular), nuclear imaging, PET/CT, MRI, digital mammography and general radiology. We offer a full spectrum of CT services including three CT scanners, CT angiography and cardiac CT and coronary calcification scoring. Ultrasound services are provided 24 hours a day. McKay-Dee currently has three MRI machines that are averaging nearly 4,500 tests per machine per year. We are in need of replacing an 11 year old 1.5T Symphony MRI with 3T technology. This unit is critically important to the services that McKay-Dee provides the surrounding communities, however it has reached the end of its service life and no longer represents the standard of care in medical imaging technology. This federal partnership represents a new standard in care for the communities that McKay-Dee Hospital Center serves and vital capital replacement for imaging tools essential to our physician's work. Increasing patient volumes cause a backlog of diagnostic services; this project will help to alleviate that problem while increasing the quality of diagnostic data to which McKay-Dee's physicians have access.
Project: Healthcare Facilities and Infection Prevention Initiative
Amount: $ 650,000
Purpose: To undertake the first year of a 3-year clinical trial on nosocomial infection
Location: Orem, UT
Recipient of funds: WestCAMP, Inc.
Explanation/Justification: The CDC estimates nearly 2 million of the 40 million patients hospitalized annually will get a "hospital-acquired" or nosocomial infection (NI) while in a U.S. hospital. Nearly 90,000 of these patients will die from the infection. There is an urgent need to test new breakthrough technologies that are now available and assess their efficacy and cost-effectiveness for preventing or dramatically reducing infection risk. Patients and others deserve to know whether promising new technologies claiming to be safer, non-toxic, less corrosive, and more effective at infection prevention or significant infection reduction are available. WestCAMP, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit Utah corporation, proposes to undertake a three-year clinical trial and study to investigate and evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of new breakthrough technology. This would fund testing new technologies against current technologies to gather accurate and scientifically reliable data to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of new and current technologies. The cost savings achieved through the use of breakthrough technology solutions that prevent or dramatically reduce nosocomial infections are enormous. These can be reinvested elsewhere or applied to improving the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, safety, efficacy, and quality of healthcare while ensuring improved patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Project: Monticello Health Education and Screening Initiative
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: To provide health education and screenings for victims of mill tailings exposure
Location: Monticello, UT
Recipient of funds: Monticello City
Explanation/Justification: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) activities created the 8 mile Superfund Site that subsumed the 2 mile town of Monticello, Utah. DOE and EPA have remediated the environmental health of the mill site but have done mothering to remediate the public health of the community. The citizens of Monticello, who now have abnormally high incidence of cancer due to their exposure of DOE's radioactive and hazardous mill tailings, were not DOE employees and therefore do not qualify for any existing screening and treatment programs. Funds are sought to support health education and cancer screening activities for citizens of Monticello, UT who were exposed to uranium mill tailings. This project will establish a preventative cancer screening program at Monticello Hospital that is operated through cooperative agreements with the Utah Department of Health and the University of Utah Medical School to apply basic principles, and state-of-the-art methodology, for comprehensive medical screening tests for a set of health conditions known to arise from radiation and hazardous exposure.
Project: Nursing Educational Technology and Infrastructure
Amount: $ 400,000
Purpose: For technology and equipment for the School of Nursing
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Westminster College
Explanation/Justification: The current and future shortage of nurses is a well document problem for the national health care infrastructure. Westminster provides a unique and affordable program. It is the only program in the region that trains nurses with a specialization in anesthesia. In rural areas, where it is difficult to recruit anesthesiologists, this skill set is particularly useful. Quality nursing programs with a robust curriculum will attract more students to the field and supply the next generation of health professionals. Funds would be used to purchase simulation manikins, cadavers, informatics software and additional computers to allow students more realistic and experiential training. All graduates of Westminster College's School of Nursing and Health Sciences enjoy a one hundred percent employment rate post graduation.
Project: Boulders Mentoring Program
Amount: $ 350,000
Purpose: For a mentoring program for an at-risk population
Location: Provo, UT
Recipient of funds: Provo City
Explanation/Justification: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. ACF programs aim to achieve the goals of families and individuals empowered to increase their own economic independence and productivity, and promote strong, healthy, supportive communities that have a positive impact on the quality of life and the development of children. The Social Services Research account, newly designated this year, describes all the programs under the "Children and Families Services Programs" heading, as overseen by ACF. The proposed Boulders Mentoring Program is ideally suited to this goal, as mentors recruited into this program would oversee the social well-being of the residents of the Boulders complex. Funds would be used to assist in the development and administration of a mentoring program for an at-risk population of low-income and disabled persons residing in the Boulders Apartments, a 388-unit housing complex. Funding would, in part, support couple mentors to pay rent for a housing unit in or near the Boulders Apartments. Mentors would adopt at-risk families each to teach life skills and connect them to agencies offering needed services. The local consortium would work to assemble a detailed program and to provide general supervision.
Project: West Valley City Project Step Up- Progression for at Risk Youth Afterschool Program
Amount: $200,000
Purpose: To expand an at-risk youth afterschool program
Location: West Valley City, UT
Recipient of funds: West Valley City
Explanation/Justification: The short term goals of the project expansion for 2009/2010 are to increase numeracy and literacy in at least 900 students, resulting in higher student test scores and grades, thus enabling those students to be successful as they move through the educational system and into the community. The long term goals of the West Valley City and CEP collaboration are: 1) create a stronger community in which to live, work and prosper, 2) reduce crime and juvenile delinquency, 3) increase academically and physically fit children and youth, 4) educate skilled employees and leaders for tomorrow. As West Valley City's population has exploded, the school district has been confronted with an increasing number of students who need remediation in numeracy and literacy. West Valley City, in a unique collaboration with the Community Education Partnership of West Valley City, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, developed "Project Step Up - Progression for At Risk Youth", an afterschool program to promote the academic skills of West Valley children and youth. Federal funds will enable the program to acquire additional computers and academic supplies, and train and hire program staff.
Project: Nursing Education and Training Program
Amount: $ 490,000
Purpose: To increase the number of nursing graduates
Location: Ephraim, UT
Recipient of funds: Snow College
Explanation/Justification: There is a shortage of nurses nationally and specifically in rural Utah. By expanding the current nursing program at Snow College, more nurses will graduate and enter the nursing workforce. Most of these new nurses will remain in the central Utah area, an area which has a significant need for trained nurses. Snow College is the only college or university between Provo and Cedar City with an existing nursing program. Importantly, this area of Utah has the lowest per capita rate of income. These funds will help the College 1) hire one science faculty member for the Richfield campus to teach such classes as anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology, 2) acquire needed educational supplies and equipment, and 3) enhance the training and credentials of existing nursing faculty. Funding from other sources will be used to renovate space for laboratories and classrooms.
Project: Timpanogos Educational Center: Curriculum Development and Equipment
Amount: $ 250,000
Purpose: For equipment and curriculum expansion
Location: Orem, UT
Recipient of funds: Orem City
Explanation/Justification: In 2001, to highlight the National significance of an otherwise regional program, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress announced a cooperative initiative with the International Storytelling Center. The Timpanogos Educational Center and its festival in Orem, UT has quickly grown in reputation and in attendance, eclipsing the International Storytelling Center. To continue to cultivate and expand its educational opportunities and reach to the public-locally, statewide, and nationally-the Timpanogos Educational Center needs federal assistance. The Timpanogos Center is a unique, year-round, educational initiative that enriches the public's understanding and appreciation for culture, history, diversity, literature, and public speaking. This project will facilitate the Timpanogos Educational Center to expand its curriculum to include: (1) Four, two-week residencies featuring world renown storytellers giving school performances, teacher workshops, classes and performances for the general public and college students; (2) Four, five-day residencies for regional experts; (3) acquire technical capabilities necessary to record interviews for the media and public; and (4) acquire equipment required to audio and video record classes and performances for ongoing presentations in the Educational Center for Storytelling.
Project: Land-grant Education and Research Network (LEARN)
Amount: $1,081,000
Purpose: To establish a Land-grant Education and research network (LEARN)
Location: Logan, UT
Recipient of funds: Utah State University
Explanation/Justification: Beginning in 1785, Congress granted lands to public schools and certain educational institutions for the purposes of financially supporting education. United States Supreme Court rulings have established that these grants created trusts with all of the inherent fiduciary obligations and duties for the states as trustees in behalf of the beneficiaries. However, many states have managed the trusts as if they were the owner instead of the trustee, thus perpetuating ignorance of the trusts and the potential benefits as a resource for education. The federal government, as settlor of the trust, has a responsibility to facilitate the purpose of the trust. As the settlor of these trusts that at one time encompassed 134 million acres in the United States, the federal government has a solemn obligation to the purpose of the trusts it created. Almost every enabling act states that the lands were granted "to support the common schools", which are now known as the public schools. Decisions on school trust lands should be made with every reasonable effort not to encumber trust property, waste trust assets, nor inhibit the operation of the trust. The settlor of the trust has a duty not to frustrate, but to assist the state trustees in their duty to make the property productive as directed by Congress in the enabling acts. Basic contract law holds that it is bad faith for a party to a contract to later take action to frustrate the purpose of that contract.
Establishment of LEARN will enable research and the advancement of knowledge in an area largely overlooked and frequently neglected, misunderstood, or even mismanaged to the detriment of the intended beneficiaries of the foresight and wisdom of this great nation's founding fathers. As a grantor of the trusts, the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that these educational trusts are used to support schools and universities. LEARN will perpetuate the proactive oversight and utilization of school and institutional trust lands by beneficiaries and policy makers on a national basis. LEARN will conduct original research regarding such lands located throughout the United States, develop expertise regarding the effective utilization of these lands for purposes of school improvement, and disseminate the findings of research to increase non-tax financial support for education from the land grant created by Congress in 1785 and granted to public K-12 education and institutions of higher education at statehood. LEARN will disseminate to education beneficiaries and policy makers findings of research on states' trust corpora consisting of more than 45 million acres and permanent funds in excess of $45 billion.
Project: Expansion of Capacity for Nursing Education and Retention
Amount: $325,750
Purpose: To expand nursing student capacity and for nursing lab equipment
Location: Orem, UT
Recipient of funds: Utah Valley University
Explanation/Justification: Due to the nationwide nursing shortage, pressure from the community to graduate more nurses is at an all-time high, yet UVU lacks adequate facilities or equipment to do so. Currently, our nation is facing a critical nursing shortage, and the future looks even bleaker, with a predicted shortage of nurses to reach beyond 400,000 by the year 2020. With this prediction, UVU anticipates even more pressure to graduate more nurses. This has placed a huge burden on the nursing lab and classroom space, as well as the equipment used in those areas. We have increased the numbers of students, but have not been able to increase the amount of space in which they learn, and have been able to only minimally increase the amount of equipment. This nursing instrumentation proposal will help us increase the number, quality, advanced training, and retention of nurses graduating from UVU by funding critical lab equipment.
Project: Summer Boot Camp for Aspiring High School Entrepreneurs
Amount: $250,000
Purpose: To establish an entrepreneurship program for high school students
Location: Orem, UT
Recipient of funds: Utah Valley University
Explanation/Justification: Training in entrepreneurial skills can help today's students in the future regardless of whether they work in a business owned by others or run their own business. This skill set can also help students improve their academic performance now. Students who participate in entrepreneurship education programs have better attendance records, perform better on core subjects, and have lower dropout rates than those who do not participate in these programs. Moreover, entrepreneurship education has been shown to be especially effective in closing the achievement gap between minority students and others in public schools. The university proposes the establishment of an intensive, hands-on Summer Boot Camp for Aspiring High School Entrepreneurs geared toward rising high school juniors and seniors, as well as high school graduates accepted for admission to UVU. Selected students would participate in a one-month Boot Camp experience that includes attending daily, lively workshops on entrepreneurship, living in on-campus housing, and interacting with small business owners. The Boot Camp is designed to provide students with the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, business formation, operation, ownership, marketing, and other essential functions and activities.
Project: Camp Consonant - Individualized Reading Remediation
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: To develop a dynamic sequence engine (i.e., a sequencer) for a software tutoring curriculum.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Waterford Research Institute
Explanation/Justification: Current studies indicate that 15-20% of the population has a reading disability. Within that population, it is estimated that almost 85% of school children have dyslexia. Research now shows that dyslexia is neurobiological in origin and people with dyslexia process information in a different part of the brain than individuals without dyslexia. A majority of dyslexics are not recognized until the third grade and by then reading disabilities are much more difficult to address. Technology-based tutoring with a sequencer can be used in schools without literary coaches or specialists to provide cost-effective access to the supplemental reading instruction essential for dyslexic students and students with other learning disabilities. Because Camp Consonant is web-based, study can also occur at home to involve parents in their child's progress. WRI will design a sequencer that will automatically collect information on the child using the program and, based on the child's responses, provide an individualized curriculum that will guide the child through the activities related to her or his own abilities and needs.
Project: Central Park: A Technology-Based Pre-K Reading, Science and Math Curriculum Project
Amount: $2,000,000
Purpose: For development of a technology-based pre-K reading, math and science curriculum
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Waterford Research Institute
Explanation/Justification: During the past decade, a consensus has been building among scholars, economists, politicians and educators that America must dedicate new resources to educating its youngest preschool students because too many children are entering elementary school so ill-prepared that they are at risk of being unable to succeed academically. Increasingly many families have been unable to provide the additional individualized instruction these children require for academic success.
Waterford would like to complete the first level of Central Park, which would consist of a total of 48 weeks of content. Central Park is designed to be an interactive software-based reading, math, and science curriculum for children ages two to eight that teaches both educational and character education (non-cognitive) concepts. Central Park is unique in many ways, including: both educational and character education concepts; it is designed for the youngest learners; it is research- and standards based; it provides individualized instruction including both the scaffolding and remediation that some children will require as well as more challenging materials for learners at the other end of the spectrum; and finally, its 3-D graphics and entertaining music are designed to foster children's interest in learning and maintain that interest over time.
Project: Distance Learning and Education Technology
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: To expand distance learning technology and infrastructure
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Westminster College
Explanation/Justification: A college degree has become an essential credential for most people seeking to enter or advance in the world of work. But many people who need a degree - and the education it symbolizes - simply cannot afford to take the time off that the traditional higher education model requires. In order to meet their needs, as well as to respond to the challenge of for-profit institutions which have mastered new technology, more and more traditional colleges have begun to offer online or distance learning courses as part of their curriculum. In light of the declining economy, online instruction provides a time and cost effective method to provide educational courses to working individuals and others who cannot enroll in a traditional full-time program. In that context, the College has begun the process of developing hybrid courses which retain the direct interaction between students and teachers while taking full advantage of the flexibility and cost savings offered by on-line instruction. These funds would support increasing bandwidth; creating greater data storage capacity; expanding the database server; assuring adequate IT administration and purchasing software licenses and programming resources.
Project: Grand County Career and Technical Education Equipment Project
Amount: $100,000
Purpose: To purchase equipment for Career and Technical Education programs
Location: Grand County, UT
Recipient of funds: Grand County School District
Explanation/Justification: Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are crucial to the success of the students in Grand County for two reasons: CTE programs account for almost half of the other class offerings in the high school and the selection of CTE courses offer important, practical skills to the students. According to the Utah State Office of Education, 75% of Utah high school students say they want to attend college after high school, of those, only about 25% of the students actually apply, get in, register for classes and attend a post secondary school and of those student, only 25% graduate with a four year degree. In a small rural district that has maxed out its bonding capabilities, only additional funding will allow Grand County to install necessary equipments to complete the vocational center. Funds will be allocated to purchase woodworking and auto equipment including, saws, a drill press, jointer, storage racks, sanders and other equipment for a new career and technical education center. CTE programs serve over 350 students annually and account for almost half of the class offerings in the high school.
Project: Grand County Solar Education Project
Amount: $350,000
Purpose: For a solar panel education project
Location: Grand County, UT
Recipient of funds: Grand County School District
Explanation/Justification: Renewable energy is of vital importance to the United States. National energy independence may hinge on our ability to harness solar power at public and private institutions where sunshine is abundant. While solar exposure is guaranteed in the high deserts of Grand County, funding for schools and green renovations is not. The regional economy, which depends almost solely on tourism, is faltering in a worldwide slide in travel and leisure activities. The school district is left with few resources. Grand County Solar Panel Education Project will act as a demonstration project. It will provide installation of photovoltaic panels and net meters on Grand County's two newest schools (an elementary school and vocational center), which will act as learning tools for the district's students and over 23,500 residents, and collect 50 kilowatts of electricity at peak performance, thereby reducing our dependence on non-renewable energy sources. To illustrate the exact efficiency of photovoltaic panels and provide information for long-term savings, a database will be established to track the project's net cost. With the long-term aim of adding solar panels throughout the district, the school district will study installation, maintenance and operations, and efficiency of the Grand County Solar Panel Education Project.
Project: More Nurses Now
Amount: $1,225,000
Purpose: To increase the number of registered nurses by expanding statewide, outreach web-based nursing program to both rural and urban areas
Location: Ogden, UT
Recipient of funds: Weber State University (WSU)
Explanation/Justification: Demand for nursing graduates continues to exceed capacity.WSU is looking to hire additional faculty, expanding offerings, and including curriculum components that will prepare nurses to deal with increasing demands for bi-lingual English and Spanish speakers in the hospital and clinical environment. The benefits of Congressional investment include increased numbers of associate degree registered nurses and baccalaureate degree registered nurses; greater access to qualified students that would otherwise be denied entry to the nursing program; practical demonstration that articulated career ladder approaches to nursing education benefits that profession of nursing, nursing students, and communities; and practical demonstration that web-based nursing education is a feasible and successful method to provide nursing education access to both rural and urban students.
Project: Teachers for Tomorrow
Amount: $875,000
Purpose: To expand the pipeline of interested teacher education prospects and eliminate high rates of attrition during the first 2 years of college
Location: Ogden, UT
Recipient of funds: Weber State University (WSU)
Explanation/Justification: Without sound investment, the shortage of prepared and committed teachers threatens the quality of our educational system. Through a combination of efforts, a coalition of regional school district superintendents and WSU officials are working to partner and identify resources that can address the critical teacher shortages that are projected to face our state. Funding would be used to (a) offer additional financial assistance for students to help bridge the attrition gap that occurs during the first two years of enrollment before students are eligible for scholarships through the teacher education program, (b) increase support for advising and outreach as part of the Teachers for Tomorrow program in area high schools and at the university, and (c) expand curriculum offerings for the freshman and sophomore year for students interested in teacher education.
Project: Unified Laboratory Equipment
Amount: $505,000
Purpose: For the purchase of laboratory equipment
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Utah Department of Health
Explanation/Justification: The Unified Laboratory includes laboratories that serve mission critical public health and safety functions. These include the detection of disease, environmental testing and forensic toxicology. A properly equipped laboratory is vital to a healthy population and a healthy economy. The Utah Department of Health is requesting support for the purchase of new laboratory equipment because the old equipment cannot be moved from the current laboratory to the new Unified Laboratory because the equipment is outdated and no longer produced and no longer supported by the manufacturer and cannot be re-calibrated to scientific standards once moved.
Project: Utah Electronic Disease Surveillance System
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: For the development of a state-wide surveillance and outbreak management software system.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: The Utah Department of Health
Explanation/Justification: Disease surveillance, detection and prevention are primary functions of state and local public health agencies. Rapid detection and control of disease outbreaks is mission critical for public health, safety and economic functions across the state. The development of a state-wide disease tracking system will be invaluable in the event of a bioterrorism attack or pandemic disease event. The Utah Department of Health is requesting support for the development of a state-wide surveillance and outbreak management software system for infectious disease, environmental hazards and terrorism attacks to allow local, state health departments track, control and ultimately prevent illness and death.
Project: Utah Personalized Health Care Institute
Amount: $3,500,000
Purpose: To establish a personalized medicine infrastructure which supports, catalogs, and partially genotypes substantial biobanks resources.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: University of Utah
Explanation/Justification: The Utah Personalized Health Care Institute is a statewide collaborative effort to bring the most sophisticated methodologies and technologies available to patient care at the lowest possible cost. Goals of the initiative include: refine biological and genetic classification of health and disease; develop more personalized methods for disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation; create, bar none, the best tools for implementing new methodologies, comprehensive medical record management and decision support at the point of care; engage health professions and the general public in participating in their own personalized healthcare; integrate best practices in outcomes/effectiveness measurement and demonstrate return on investment; help make healthcare a more robust and positive contributor to Utah's economy. Funding goes to project team assembly to create informatics and data infrastructure, purchase software licenses, and genotyping for bio-bank personnel. This project will take dramatic steps in lowering the overall cost of health care delivery by increasing technological efficiencies, expediting early detection and personalized treatments through the creation of individualized health care approaches for participants. It will lower delivery costs and will ultimately save taxpayer dollars.
Project: Villa Franche Community Center
Amount: $123,750
Purpose: To establish a community-center and expand ESL job training and other classes at the Villa Franche apartment complex.
Location: South Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: South Salt Lake City
Explanation/Justification: The city leads the state in the percentage of its population, 22.5 percent, that was born in a foreign county, and has the lowest high school graduation rate, only 72.5 percent, for adults 25 and older. These funds will allow for the creation of a community education center at the Villa Franche apartment complex, which is modeled after a successful center at a nearby complex. Many of these families face enormous barriers related to language, culture, and institutional knowledge that leave them with little information about how to help their children navigate through school and life. The community is unprepared to receive these refugees and as a resultthey often face numerous challenges with substance abuse, crime, and gang activity. The funds go to job training classes, resident access computers, and youth programming.
Project: Waterford Assessment of Core Skills- Mathematics: An Effective Assessment Tool for Very Young Children
Amount: $800,000
Purpose: To develop an adaptive mathematics assessment for pre-K to fourth grade students.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: Waterford Research Institute
Explanation/Justification: The need for a computer administered assessment tool has been repeatedly expressed by local school and district staff due to the small number of available math assessments. The major deliverable from Waterford Assessment of Core Skills-Mathematics (WACS Math) will be the development of a computer-administered math assessment tool. It does not assume any skills on the part of the child but rather can assess whether the child has those skills or not. No prior knowledge of the skills and concepts is required for children completing the WACS Math assessment. WACS Math will be an adaptive test for pre-Kindergarten to fourth grade students. Its major strength will be its adaptive sequencing technology which makes it possible to show the full range of a child's capabilities in one testing session rather than just providing a binary "satisfactory/unsatisfactory" or "grade level/not grade level" assessment, thereby providing teachers with more in-depth information about students' needs, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Teachers will be able to spend more time helping children and less time on testing.
Project: Rural and Southwest Utah Renewable Energy Job Training and Creation Initiative
Amount: $400,000
Purpose: For a renewable energy job training and creation initiative.
Location: Cedar City, UT
Recipient of funds: Southern Utah University
Explanation/Justification: To meet the workforce renewable energy training needs of this area, Southern Utah University, Southwest Applied Technology College, and Beaver County School District are working to establish a Renewable Energy Training Center. The Renewable Energy Training Center will be a premier education destination for workforce renewable energy training as well as energy resources development, economic development, energy conservation, and conservation of the environment. Funding provides for curriculum development, equipment costs, materials and supplies, and operating costs.
Project: Delivering Needed Workforce Development and Training to Help Utah's Minority Entrepreneurs Win and Perform Contracts and Create Jobs
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: To enhance and expand workforce development and training, technical assistance, mentoring, and other services to minority entrepreneurs.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Recipient of funds: United 4 Economic Development
Explanation/Justification: U4ED can meet the needs of current and prospective minority business owners by enhancing and expanding the availability of targeted assistance to these entrepreneurs. Specifically, federal support would allow this nonprofit economic development umbrella organization to provide the customized workforce development and training, technical assistance, mentoring, and other services that are critically needed now by Utah's minority entrepreneurs to invest in and grow existing and new ventures.
Project: Ageless Exploratoriums
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: For education reform technology and curriculum
Location: Ogden, UT
Recipient of funds: Ageless Explorers, Inc.
Explanation/Justification: For many years, families have been striving to improve their children's education with minimal tools. The education industry has attempted to include entertainment in their educational tools with only limited success. Through Tude Shifters and Ageless Exploratoriums, teachers can increase the level of retention dramatically, with high-tech education products and classrooms. Today, the educational high-tech toy and game market has grown exponentially, creating an increased demand for products. The company will fulfill the need for both children and adults by maximizing potential of education through entertainment. Ageless offers a highly engaging, dynamic, interactive multimedia instructional technology that accelerates learning through whole brain instruction. Ageless takes multimedia-teaching tools and integrates them into an interactive 3D visual transport, which opens the senses to see, touch, feel, hear and taste everything they are learning about. This will open the right and left-brain at the same time,and as a result the student's attention span, retention and comprehension increased from 1.5% to 85-90%. By opening all five senses Ageless teaches at a faster rate, excites the learning process like never before and opens the right and left-brain at the same time resulting in a larger comprehension levels. Funding will provide for curriculum development and education technologies.
