$1.5 million grant given to Cabrini

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education has awarded nine colleges a grant to benefit underserved populations in the area ..

Mary Eileen O'Connor

Philadelphia.

assistant features editor

As part of a $1.5 million grant given to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education from the Department of Housing and Urban Development/Economic Development Initiative, Cabrini will receive $187,500 to develop an outreach program benefiting underserved populations in the Philadelphia area.

Cabrini is one of eight colleges in SEPCHE, which also includes Beaver, Neumann, Chestnut Hill, Gwynedd-Mercy, Holy Family, Immaculata and Rosemont Colleges.

Administration and faculty from the member colleges work together to draft proposals for grants that will fund various projects, such as technological updates in the colleges' libraries.

"I believe SEPCHE has raised almost $11 million since its development," said Cabrini president Antoinette Iadarola.

Although each college will use their portion of this new HUD/EDI grant to develop individual programs, all the colleges must establish some outreach programs as part of the grant.

There may be some collaboration among colleges, according to Kristine Mudrick, vice president for information technology and resources.

Cabrini's outreach program contains four parts: community and educational outreach, training and job link opportunities, a technology and library component and the creation of a social wellness research database.

The college will implement a health and fitness program targeted to the elderly and certain people who are at risk for health problems.

This could also include Cabrini faculty, staff and students.

The program will take place in the Dixon Center and the college will provide transportation to the campus for those involved.

A large part of the program will involve working with members of St. Donato's parish in West

Now in the final planning stages, the college is creating an Internet job bank that both graduating seniors and members of the parish will have access to for career information.

Cabrini staff will teach resume writing and computer skills to members of St. Donato's who need career training.

These people will have the opportunity to conduct mock job interviews, which will be videotaped and evaluated. For this purpose, a new video camera will be purchased for Cabrini's television studio.

The college is also in the midst of putting its holdings in the Educational Resource Center online.

Teachers at St. Donato's will have access to this material for use in their classrooms. Cabrini's education majors will also benefit from these online resources.

Other students may be able to participate in various areas of the programs as well.

The grant period lasts from September 1998 through mid-September 1999.

Mudrick said Cabrini's portion will be used for the "programs, staff, software and equipment" needed to support this endeavor.

When the funding is over, the college will need to look for new financial sources to keep the outreach programs alive.

"Often one successful grant leads to another," Mudrick said. "It is great to get funding for programs we wouldn't ordinarily have money for."

Mudrick helped to develop the HUD/EDI grant proposal. She believes the outreach programs will really help foster Cabrini's mission.

Both Mudrick and Iadarola agree that SEPCHE provides wonderful educational and cultural opportunities for the college.

The money from the grant will be available for use in the early fall '98.