Lee University Receives Major Grant
CLEVELAND, TN–Lee University will be the recipient of a $1.8 million dollar grant from the United States Department of Education, school officials announced on July 15.
The grant, which was extended to 20 institutions nationally under the Title III Strengthening Institutions program, will be distributed to Lee over five years. The money will partly fund a multi-million-dollar initiative to improve technology for teaching and academic applications.
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Lee University Center for Humanities |
“I am thrilled with this wonderful grant,” said Dr. Paul Conn, president of Lee University. “It will give us a huge boost in developing our technology for teaching and learning for our students. We have a talented faculty, and this will give them better tools in the classroom and all across the campus.”
Lee was notified of the award through a call from Tennessee Senator Bob Corker’s office in an official letter from the U.S. Department of Education.
“The Title III grant will provide us with resources to enhance our teaching in every area. Lee has always been a teaching institution with student learning at the center of everything we do,” said Dr. Carolyn Dirksen, vice president for Academic Affairs at Lee.
The university plans to establish a Center for Teaching Excellence that will foster the faculty development program by helping faculty to more actively engage students with critical thinking exercises. The university will also add the position of director of Faculty Development, according to Dirksen.
Plans are also in place for faculty members to participate in four summer seminars on revising curriculum and instruction; these faculty will then be teaching enhanced courses for students and assisting other faculty in incorporating new teaching methods through workshops and mentoring.
Classroom teaching will also be enhanced through a technology expansion that will enable interactive instruction in and out of the classroom. Student services and administration will also be served in this expansion with a new information management system.
“The two people who deserve special praise for our receiving this grant are Vanessa Hammond, director of our Office of Grants, and Jayson Van Hook, assistant vice president for research,” said Conn.
Improved teaching, increased student engagement in learning and improved student services will result in a higher graduation rate, one of the key performance measures for the Title III Program.
The total cost of the initiative is $4,787,523.18. Sixty-two per cent will be covered with non-federal funds.
Lee University is a private, comprehensive university located in Cleveland, Tenn. Lee is emerging as a leader in higher education in the southeastern region and was ranked in 2006 in the “Top Tier” in the South by U.S. News & World Report. Lee is also ranked by Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” and is now one of the 136 colleges named Best in the Southeast.
Over the past eighteen years, Lee has become one of the largest Christ-centered private institutions in Tennessee and the largest in the Appalachian College Association. Lee’s enrollment has more than tripled from 1,214 students in 1986 to 4,012 students in fall 2006. The student body is diverse, comprised of students from 48 states and 52 countries. Lee is a member of the NAIA Division 1 athletic association. The university offers more than 45 degree programs and study abroad programs in over 30 locations around the world.
For more information on Lee University, please visit www.leeuniversity.edu or call 423-614-8500.
