Southwestern Adventist University is proud to announce that its Education Department has been awarded a prestigious Augustus F. Hawkins Center for Excellence grant totaling $3.5 million. This significant funding will be distributed over five years, commencing on October 1, 2024.

The grant aims to prepare a diverse teacher workforce to meet the needs of students in many kinds of educational settings. Key objectives include:

• Enhance Certification Routes: The initiative will focus on expanding certification pathways, including traditional and bilingual options, to better prepare educators for all types of classroom environments.
• Explore Teacher Residency Options: The program will investigate and implement teacher residency models, providing aspiring educators with immersive, hands-on training in real classroom settings.
• Funding for Student Scholarships: A portion of the grant will be dedicated to student scholarships, making education more accessible to future educators from diverse backgrounds.
• Expand Faculty and Support Staff: The grant will enable the addition of new faculty and support personnel to enrich the educational experience.
• Improve Learning Environments: Funds will be allocated to enhance learning spaces, creating an optimal environment for both teaching and learning.
• Professional Development Opportunities: Ongoing professional development will be provided for both faculty and students, ensuring continuous growth in teaching practices and educational strategies.
• Test Preparation Support: SWAU will provide extensive resources for certification test preparation and testing, ensuring that aspiring educators are well-equipped to succeed.

The grant proposal was developed in collaboration with SWAU’s dedicated education faculty and WRD Consulting Group. Dr. Cheryl The will serve as the project director and will lead the efforts to implement the grant objectives.

“The future is bright for SWAU’s Educator Preparation Program (EPP). The Augustus F. Hawkins grant provides resources that will allow innovation and program development. Our goal is to graduate fully certified professional teachers ready for diverse classrooms on day one. Scholarship opportunities will allow additional students to join our program,” Dr. Cheryl The.

For more information about the Augustus F. Hawkins Center for Excellence grant and SWAU’s Education Department initiatives, please contact Cheryl The @cthe@swau.edu.

The university offers a range of programs designed to equip students with the professional skills and dispositions needed in their chosen fields.