Middlesex Community College Lands Biotech Grant
LOWELL — Middlesex Community College has received an $841,000 grant over two years that will fund a pilot learn-and-earn biotechnology program aimed at formalizing relationships with industry partners and providing career opportunities for students.
The grant from Strategic Grant Partners in Boston, as well as MCC’s plans to create a STEM hub on Middle Street, were announced by school administration at a Thursday morning board of trustees meeting held on the Lowell campus.
MCC President James Mabry unveiled a proposal, still in its early stages, to purchase the Pollard Building — one of three Middle Street buildings in which MCC occupies space — from Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School.
“What we’re pursuing here is a vision for a STEM center or STEM hub on Middle Street, where we coalesce all our STEM programs in Lowell in those three buildings on Middle Street,” Mabry said.
He said a formal proposal would come before the trustees later this spring. LMACS, which already partners with MCC, would remain in the building.
Both initiatives mark a continued commitment in biotechnology and STEM at MCC, which has the largest output of biotechnology technicians in the state, according to Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Phil Sisson.
Sisson said MCC partnered with Strategic Grant Partners for a six-month review before the grant was awarded Monday.
MCC was one of the first higher education institutions in Massachusetts to receive a grant from the institution, along with Boston University, Mabry said.
“I think we’re very excited about what this is going to mean for our enrollment in biotech and how we’re responding to industry,” Sisson said.
Mabry said the program will provide a dedicated pipeline for companies that are struggling to find workers. If the model is successful, it could also be adapted to other industries, he said.
MCC offers both certificate and associate degree programs in biotechnology. As students complete the certificate program, they are required to enter an internship, Sisson said.
“Sometimes, before they finish the classes in the certificate, we have third-party vendors from the field that are trying to place those students in jobs,” Sisson said. “So what we wanted to do is be able to find a way to formalize that work with employers.”
The learn-and-earn program will allow MCC to work with employers who will commit to both part-time and full-time opportunities for students after they complete a series of courses, he said.
“So rather than the internship, they will then go into and be selected for a two-year program that will help them not only go into the workforce and get the kind of experience that they need in a highly selective environment, but to be able to see what that environment is like and see a trajectory to go on for a baccalaureate, a master’s degree, as you probably heard about in our A2M (Associates to Master’s Degree) program with Northeastern (University),” Sisson said.
Students who perform well in the work component would be hired into the profession full time with benefits, he said. Sisson said it opens the possibility of creating an associate’s degree and apprenticeship model, which would be the first of its kind in the state.
He said determining class schedules for the program “has been a Rubik’s Cube” due to the rotating shift model often used in biotech manufacturing companies, called a Pitman schedule, which can differ between employers.
Sisson said he expects 30 students will be in the pilot program over the next two years, starting in the fall at MCC’s new biotech facility in the Talbot Building at 44 Middle St. The school’s dental hygiene program is also located there.
MCC’s cybersecurity program is housed in the Pollard Building, across the street at 67 Middle St.
In other business, trustees Chairman James Campbell gave an update on the 360-degree presidential evaluation being conducted by AGB Consultants. He said open forums and private interviews for the assessment begin next week on both the Lowell and Bedford campuses. Campbell said he expects the review and report to be completed by late March.
Story courtesy of The Lowell Sun.
