Great Basin College (GBC) in Elko, Nevada, has secured nearly $1 million in federal funding aimed at expanding distance learning and skills training for rural communities across Nevada. The funding comes from the US Department of Agriculture's Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant.
The grant will enable GBC to enhance its interactive video technologies and establish new locations to better serve secondary, postsecondary, tribal, and incarcerated students within its extensive 86,500-square-mile service area. Dr. Amber Donnelli, Interim President of Great Basin College, highlighted the challenges faced by rural students due to geographical and financial barriers. "Education is key to closing those gaps," she stated. "This funding will allow us to modernize and expand our technologies and counter the challenges to distance, cost and earning ability that rural students face."
Great Basin College offers associate and baccalaureate level instruction through distance education in various career, technical education, and academic areas. Annually, the college conducts an average of 72 distance learning classes that support over 2,000 rural students in pursuing valuable credentials.
Dr. Karl Stevens, Dean of Business, Computer Technologies, and Online Education at GBC noted that the new equipment would significantly benefit students. He explained that while GBC has long used interactive video equipment for live class sessions at various locations including partnering high schools, it traditionally required physical attendance in specific classrooms. "This updated equipment will make it possible to outfit classrooms at a much lower equipment cost and more importantly extend the reach of a professor's live instruction to students' personal computers or handheld devices," said Stevens.
Dr. Donnelli emphasized that the USDA's investment would bolster GBC’s capacity to deliver collaborative educational experiences that prepare students for high-skill jobs. "This is such an exciting win for us," she remarked. "We are committed to helping our students remain in their rural communities to live and work while building a fulfilling and family-sustaining career."
For further details on the US Department of Agriculture Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant, interested parties can contact Nicole Maher at Great Basin College via email: nicole.maher@gbcnv.edu.