- 303 Haggar College Center
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4579 - Director of Media Relations
Gwen O'Brien
gobrien@saintmarys.edu
Press Release
Saint Mary's College to Receive Federal Funding for Community Programs
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
March 13, 2009 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—President Barack Obama signed into law this week a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill that will fund federal government operations through the end of fiscal year 2009 (September 30). Funding for several northern Indiana projects was included in the package, including nearly $450,000 for two initiatives at Saint Mary’s College designed to benefit the South Bend-area community. U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Granger) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) were instrumental in helping to secure this funding.
The College will receive about $245,000 in federal dollars to support women’s entrepreneurship. The initiative will be developed through the collaborative efforts of the College’s Department of Business Administration and Economics (BUEC) and the staff of the Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership (CWIL). The College will partner with community businesses, non-profits, and organizations to provide a full spectrum of financial and business education services to women entrepreneurs.
“Now more than ever, with the great increase in unemployment in our region, we at Saint Mary's are eager to contribute our resources in business and women’s leadership education to help local women recognize the value of their skills and apply them creatively to start new small business or organizations, or even sustain existing ones,” said Elaine Meyer-Lee, director of CWIL. Susan Vance, chair of the BUEC department agrees. “It is important to be good stewards of this money and we look forward to making a positive impact on the community,” Vance said.
The College will also receive approximately $190,000 in federal funding to expand and refine its College Academy of Tutoring (CAT) program to serve as a model for other communities. The CAT program, which is operated through the College’s Office for Civic and Social Engagement, delivers assistance to disadvantaged children at local Title I elementary schools—public schools where more than half of all enrolled children participate in free/reduced-price lunch programs and few have access to the support necessary to succeed in school.
Current service sites include Coquillard, Lincoln, and Warren Primary Centers in South Bend and the downtown branch of the St. Joseph County Public Library. Saint Mary’s students volunteer as tutors, participate in the Read-to-a-Child program, serve as teacher assistants, interact through a pen pal program, and help coordinate on-campus donation drives that collect food, clothing, and school supplies. The CAT program has been successful. The children receiving tutoring and mentoring services have achieved higher scores on their ISTEP language arts tests and the quarterly assessments of participating kindergarteners have increased an average of 40-50 points.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
