WINSTED, CT – May 29, 2019 – Northwestern Connecticut Community College (NCCC) has been selected to receive a $35,000 grant as part of the U.S. Department of State’s 2019 Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad.  NCCC is one of 21 colleges and universities from across the United States selected from over 120 applications to create, expand, and/or diversify American student mobility overseas in support of foreign policy goals. In addition to the small grants competition, the program will also offer opportunities for faculty, staff, and administrators at U.S. colleges and universities to participate in a series of virtual and in-person study abroad capacity building activities. The Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by World Learning.

NCCC Professors Sharon Gusky, Jessica Treat and Crystal Wiggins were inspired to apply for the grant after their recent participation in CT CLICKs, a virtual exchange program run by the CT College of Technology. Through the CLICKs project NCCC students worked virtually with students in Nancy, France and expanded their global knowledge and interest in travel abroad. Two of the students, Sarah Scott and Justus Boyhen, will be traveling to Normandy, France in June to participate in an international summer program. This new grant will enable NCCC to develop faculty-led study abroad programs so that more community college students can travel abroad.

Jessica Treat, Professor of English and Spanish, will lead the project and will create a study abroad center which will house information for faculty and students interested in studying abroad. Sharon Gusky, Professor of Biology, and Crystal Wiggins, Professor of Mathematics, will work with faculty to develop more virtual exchanges.

“We are pleased to support Northwestern Connecticut Community College along with 20 other U.S. colleges and universities from across the United States as part of our suite of initiatives aimed at increasing American student mobility.  We are committed to providing more opportunities for American students to benefit from the rich experience of studying overseas,” said Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

For a full list of grant recipients for the 2019 competition, as well as information about upcoming Capacity Building Initiative workshops and resources under this same program, please visit the Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad website at www.studyabroadcapacitybuilding.com.

For further information about other study abroad resources and other exchange programs offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please contact ECA-Press@state.gov and visit https://studyabroad.state.gov/.

For information about Northwestern Connecticut Community College’s study abroad initiative, please contact Jessica Treat at jtreat@nwcc.edu.

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