CCM One of 10 Colleges Selected to Participate in National Diversity Program

Three-Year Bridging Cultures Project Aimed at Enhancing Civic Learning

County College of Morris (CCM) has been selected as one of 10 community colleges across the country to take part in Bridging Cultures, a national initiative to better incorporate diversity, civic engagement and democratic thinking into teaching and learning.

The program, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is a project of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Democracy Commitment, a national effort aimed at engaging students in civic learning.

CCM is the only college in New Jersey designated to take part in the program. As part of the program, selected CCM faculty members will work on infusing teaching and learning about differences, community and democratic thinking into high-enrollment humanities courses, pilot materials and practices to promote such teaching and learning, introduce adjunct faculty to those materials and practices, and work with other community college partners to develop workshops for their faculty and administrators.

“The Bridging Cultures project is a logical next step for CCM in our commitment to supporting diversity and civic engagement,” noted Dr. Edward J. Yaw, CCM president.

In 2002, CCM was one of 10 colleges in the state to be awarded a Bildner New Jersey Campus Diversity Initiative Grant. In the course of that three-year project, the campus was able to significantly increase the integration of diversity and global awareness into courses throughout the college curriculum.

”We are pleased now to be part of this NEH-based program that will allow our faculty to continue and further build upon those efforts,” added Dr. Yaw.

The Bridging Cultures program will launch this summer with a faculty development institute in August. Each of the 10 participating colleges will receive a $7,500 award from NEH and has committed to providing $3,500 in institutional matching funds to support the program. The other participating institutions are Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona, Georgia Perimeter College, Kapiolani Community College in Hawaii, Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, Lone Star College at Kingwood in Texas, Miami Dade College in Florida, Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts, Mount Wachusett Community College in Massachusetts and Santa Fe College in Florida.