Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Portland Community College garners multitude of honors and awards

Photos and story by Kate Chester

While summer marks a quieter time on most college campuses, Portland Community College is seeing an uptick in activity when it comes to the number of awards, honors and grant monies headed its way.

Awards:

• The U.S. Small Business Administration has recognized Matt Thomas, founder of Brew Dr. Kombucha and a client of PCC’s Small Business Development Center, as Oregon’s Small Business Exporter of the year. Craft brewed in Portland since 2009, Brew Dr. Kombucha continues an aggressive growth trajectory and is expanding its company footprint in Canada’s natural and conventional grocery channels. Assistance from PCC’s SBDC and an SBA loan guaranty have contributed to the product’s success and rank as the third largest kombucha producer in the U.S. The SBDC is part of PCC’s CLIMB Center, which offers both professional training and business development.
• Portland Community College has been honored by APPA: Leadership in Education Facilities with the 2016 International Sustainability Award. The award is designed to recognize and advance sustainability excellence in educational facilities and to applaud the integration of sustainable policies and “green” practices throughout all facets of an organization. Tony Ichsan, PCC’s facilities director, and Briar Schoon, the college’s sustainability manager, traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to attend APPA’s annual conference and exhibition and pick up the award.
• 

  Narce Rodriguez.

  Narce Rodriguez, dean of Student Development at PCC’s Rock Creek Campus, has been tapped as this year’s Oregon TRiO Association Achiever. The award honors a college graduate of an Oregon TRiO program who has earned professional, community and personal accomplishments over time. Rodriguez received the award at the annual professional development conference hosted by Oregon TRiO, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of low income and first generation college students.

Grants:

• The college has been awarded $288,816 from the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission for the “Effecting Cross-Discipline Practices in Education for STEM Success (EXPrESS)” grant. The project will expand recruitment, retention and support for women and underrepresented student groups in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) transfer degree programs, specifically those studying physics, chemistry and engineering. Activities will focus on STEM identification (as a STEM learner and professional), curriculum revisions, pedagogical innovations, student support, career and transfer preparation, and partnerships.
• The Metro Area Communications Commission has awarded $48,600 to PCC to upgrade and replace equipment in its broadcast studio, part of the college’s Multimedia program. The program produces the newscast “PCC Bridges TV News” and original programming for Channel 27, the college’s cable access channel, which provides students with valuable training and skills.
• The college has been awarded $37,491 from the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission to adapt two existing, successful open education resources for PCC’s calculus sequence. The resulting textbook and platform will better align with course content and outcome guides and will include both print and digital versions for portable devices.