|
Untitled Document
|
DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College announced today the first in a series of initiatives to strengthen ties between the College and the community and Defiance region. Under the new Defiance College Partnership for Jobs program, the College is launching a student employment program that will fund up to 2,000 hours of community work in 2010 for qualifying Defiance College students. Students in the program will work at community-based non-profits as well as qualifying local small businesses, with the College helping to defray a portion of the students’ salary.
“I am pleased and excited that the College is able to participate in our local community in this way,” said President Mark Gordon. “Our students need work experience, and the community and local businesses need assistance providing jobs. This is a real win-win which can expand students’ learning while also helping to stimulate economic development and job growth in the region.”
The program will be administered through the McMaster School for Advancing Humanity as part of its commitment to assisting economic development in the local community. Community-based non-profits will be able to apply for student assistance with specific projects which offer educational benefits for the students as well as community benefit. Special preference will be given to those non-profit projects which offer the prospect of attracting additional financial support for the community. An innovative aspect of the program is that it will also provide financial support for students to work in select local small businesses which have not traditionally hired DC students and which can demonstrate that the project will provide significant pre-management training and mentoring for the student.
“This is a very exciting initiative by Defiance College and its new President. We are pleased that the College is making this level of commitment to job creation and economic development at a time when our region needs both,” said U.S. Representative Robert Latta, Congressman from Ohio’s Fifth District.
Local officials and community and business leaders have also expressed their strong support. Mayor Bob Armstrong praised the College for its willingness to provide financial resources that can strengthen the community. “This is precisely the kind of enhanced partnership that we have been hoping for,” said the Mayor.
Tim Small, President of the Defiance Area Chamber of Commerce, focused on the innovativeness of the program as it relates to assisting select small businesses. “Supporting our area small businesses in this way together with local non-profit organizations sends a real signal about the commitment of the College and DC President Mark Gordon to actively assist in job creation in our community,” he said. “We are delighted to be a part of this initiative.”
“The McMaster School at Defiance College has a great reputation for its programs that work with international community partners,” said Carrie Wetstein, Executive Director of United Way, Defiance County. “It’s great to see that the McMaster School is also concerned about our local communities both from the non-profit and the job creation sides. It’s exciting to know that Defiance College is thinking innovatively about ways to expand its support of local area non-profits at a time when budgets are becoming ever tighter even though the needs keep growing.”
Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate majors as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.
More Information: Defiance College Partnership
for Jobs program
Related article from The Blade, December 1, 2009
November 20, 2009
|
