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A student receiving interview coaching at the Coyote Career Day.

Student Success Grants help support LTCC academic departments, full-time and adjunct faculty, and staff whose projects enhance student learning.

These grants are intended to increase student access, retention, and successful course completion. Staff, faculty, and departments use the grants to purchase educational materials, help fund field trips or other events that budgets cannot accommodate, and otherwise support student learning.

Thanks to donor support, the Foundation has awarded Student Success Grants annually since the 2016/17 academic year.

Completed 2022/23 Student Success Grants

The following projects were completed in the previous academic year:

Balance Ball Chairs for Student Wellness

The library had just one balance ball chair that was always in use. This grant provided ten more chairs. The balance ball chairs provide students with comfort and flexibility during long tutoring and study sessions. Balance chairs meet the needs of a variety of students including neurodivergent learners, student athletes, students recovering from injuries, and those looking for a break from sitting all day.

ThinkBook Laptops

The lending library received six ThinkBooks which students can check out on a limited basis rather than having to purchase an expensive laptop. Thinkbooks have more processing power to meet the needs of students in classes with unique software requirements including geographic information systems, digital media arts, or computer science classes.

Coyote Career Day

This day-long event, held in June 2023, included a career expo where students connected with local employers and organizations who have volunteer and internship opportunities. Students also attended job-related workshops, participated in career exploration activities, and a photographer took professional headshots.

Microtome

This instrument is for cutting extremely thin sections of material for examination under a microscope. The microtome allows students to view the anatomy and physiology of organisms on a micro scale and see organs, cells and even molecules.

Equatio Math Software

Equatio allows students to read, write and listen to mathematical material. This software gives students more opportunities to show their mastery in math in a way that best suits their learning style. Students can screenshot any equation and move it into Equatio for support. Equatio is available to all students through Student Accessibility Services.

College and Career Field Trip

TRiO’s Educational Talent Search Program provides college field trips for first generation, low-income high school seniors from South Tahoe High and Mt. Tallac High School. This grant supported a college field trip to UC San Diego along with other colleges. This experience helped broaden students knowledge of college life, develop a better sense of the value of higher education, and ignite their minds to the possibilities of the future!

Community Building and Mental Health Support

The Promise program places high importance on facilitating community building, fostering a sense of belonging, and listening to the needs of students. This grant funded a painting and games night once per term for Promise students. These events helped students to reduce stress, while also developing interpersonal skills and cameraderie with their peers.

Past Student Success Grants

Peer Mentor to Support Student Athletes – $1,440

This grant will fund an LTCC student athlete alum who will mentor and oversee student athlete study hall sessions. As a former student athlete, the peer mentor can connect and relate to the students while providing them with valuable advice on studying, time management, and other student athlete success skills.

Biology/ Science/ Environmental Science Career Workshops – $2,500

The grant will fund two Biology, Science, and Environmental Science Career Workshops with panel discussions in conjunction with career and pathways program. There will be 3-4 panelists who will present on a variety of careers and jobs within the biological discipline.

TFH Vibroacoustic Therapy Chair – $2,183

A renovation to the Disability Resource Center, DRC, will provide a therapeutic space to promote wellness, safety, self-care, resilience, and recovery.  The grant will supply a Vibroacoustic Therapy Chair that allows the user to feel vibrations of music through the chair; making it an excellent way to achieve deep cellular stimulation. Providing students with a space where they can relax and practice coping skills allows them to be more present in the learning experience.

National Parks Field Trips – $2,000

A new field-based course offered at LTCC, Geology of National Parks and Monuments, requires a field lab in which students need to travel to a National Park or Monument to fulfill the course requirements. Students will participate in two field trips to National Parks in California. The grant funds will offset trip expenses, thereby allowing students to focus on their field lab work and meet their course objectives.

Coyote Student Technology Scholars Program – $3,525

This grant will provide workshops that educate students in scholarly technology, such as Canvas, Zoom, and Office 365 Suite. The aim of this program is to provide students with technological literacy and to develop skills in technology needed both in LTCC online learning and in career and college transfer requirements.

Preventative Dentistry Outreach Program – $3,025

Preventative Dentistry is a project where dental assistant students from South Tahoe High School teach elementary school students about preventive dental care. This grant will allow the high school dual enrollment dental students to visit each elementary school and provide the students with their own dental care kit, and instruct the young students on how to properly use each preventive dentistry tool.

Art Museum Field Trips – $3,000

Two-day trip to Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco to visit museums including the De Young and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

iFly Field Trip – $2,000

A field trip to experience indoor skydiving at iFly in Roseville which uses state-of-the-art wind tunnel to teach students in a fun and educational environment.

Shaking Incubator for Biology Labs – $2,461

Microbiology is a required course for students going into allied health fields including nursing and medical school. The existing incubator lacked the shaking feature, and students couldn’t perform experiments deemed necessary on the curriculum guidelines.

Software for Students in the Disability Resource Center – $1,500

Helperbird is a Chrome website extension that supports students with a variety of disabilities. These students can easily use Helperbird while learning online and access a wide variety of display options that help students who learn differently. Helperbird makes web pages more accessible while encouraging productivity by limiting distractions.

Book and Material Fees for Dual Enrollment Students – $1,826

This grant will cover book, lab, and material fees for LTUSD students taking LTCC courses concurrently. Fees are waived for these students and with the grant covering required supplies, the classes will be truly cost-free college courses accessible to all high school students regardless of income.

Peer Coaching for Dual Enrollment Students – $3,000

A Dual Enrollment Peer Coach program will provide tutoring, support, and check-ins so struggling students can be successful and stay engaged.

Emergency Book Fund – $3,000

This fund helps students in need to cover the costs of books and/or access codes required for their classes.

Large Screen Digital Whiteboard for Remote and In-Person Tutoring and Teaching – $2,871

A smart cart provides a state-of-the-art interactive display, a large screen digital whiteboard that enables tutors and instructors to write out formulas, diagrams, etc. that are visible to both in-person and remote learning students.

Chemistry– $2,000

Purchased lab equipment allowing for more experiments to be completed in the LTCC chemistry and physics labs.

Equity – $1,500

Partial scholarship for two students to attend the NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RACE AND ETHNICITY IN AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION (NCORE), the leading national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education.

Geology – $3,900

Scholarship to offset trip expenses for 13 LTCC students in Geology 131AA: Grand Canyon. This four-unit, field-based course introduces students to the geology, hydrology, natural history, and management issues of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.

Mathematics – $5,000

Funds purchased 20 Chromebooks to replace the TI-89 calculators that STEM math students have been using for the past 22 years. Chromebooks are used during testing, so students only have access to designated online resources. The 20 Chromebooks supplement another 10 already in the library for the usual 30-student calculus class, pre-calculus, and second-year calculus classes. The Chromebooks are housed in the library and are available for students to check out when exams aren’t scheduled.

Anatomy Physiology – $4,300

Purchase of one arm, one leg, and four half-head models with musculature. When not in use in the lab, the models live in the library for students to check out to use for studying purposes.

Art Department – $900

Visiting Artist Series for Winter and Spring 2018. Artists gave hand-on demonstrations and lectures to students and community members.

 Biology Department – $1,600

Partial scholarships for students to attend a marine ecology field trip to Belize.

Business Department – $2,700

FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF TAHOE student club field trip to Bay Area and Reno businesses and organizations including Facebook, the Alzheimer’s Association, Intuitive Surgical, Adobe, the Tesla Gigafactory, and the Apple retail store in Reno.

Work Experience – $1,100

Wilderness and environmental science field trip to local businesses where students learned about job opportunities and hiring procedures. The field trip was followed by a workshop to help students hone their skills to conduct a successful job search.

Equity – $2,000

Textbooks and online material access codes purchased for economically disadvantaged students.

Art Department – $1,450

Visiting Artist Series for Winter and Spring 2017.

Biology 111, Introduction to Plant and Animal Biology – $370

Field trip to Fallen Leaf Lake Campground, Eagle Lakes, and Tahoe Mountain.

Biology 112, Zoology – $1,478

Field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and kayaking Elkhorn Slough.

Counseling – $726

Half the tuition costs for a single mother.

Library – $5,000

One-year subscription to the California Community College Library Consortium’s academic eBook collection.

Online Learning and Incarcerated Student Program – $1,236

Screen capturing software and HD webcams to create instructional materials for online and correspondence learning.

English Department and Writers’ Series – $1,350

Author Camille T. Dungyy gave a reading from her book on race in America and a student writing workshop.

Equity – $3,466

Emergency book fund for students.