Workforce Resilience Grant Program (GEER II)
NUMBERED MEMO CC23-002
TO: Community College Presidents, Chief Academic Officers, Chief Business Officers, Chief Continuing Education Administrators, Chief Student Development Administrators, Financial Aid Directors
FROM: Barbara Boyce Interim Associate Vice President, Workforce and Continuing Education Programs
SUBJECT: Workforce Resilience Grant Program (GEER II)
DATE: January 11, 2023
At its meeting on October 21, 2022, the State Board of Community Colleges approved an allocation of $5,000,000 to continue the Workforce Resilience Grant Program. This scholarship program helps cover the cost of attendance for eligible, credential aligned programs in Workforce Continuing Education.
Background:
Under the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER Fund), the U.S. Department of Education awards grants to Governors to provide local educational agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher education (IHEs), and other education-related entities with emergency assistance due to COVID-19. Under the “Certification and Agreement for Funding under the Education Stabilization Fund Program Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund” (CFDA Numbers: 84.425C), the Governor of NC established the Workforce Resilience Grant for eligible NC Community College students.
Eligibility Criteria:
At a minimum, eligible students applying for this scholarship must:
• Be able to attest they are a resident of North Carolina, employed in North Carolina, or intend to be employed in North Carolina. The Residency Determination Service (RDS) process is not required.
• Be enrolling in Workforce Continuing Education (WCE) pathways/courses leading to an NC Workforce Credential identified as either Essential or Career level. These pathways may consist of a single WCE course or a series of courses. Here is the link to this list: https://nccareers.org/credentials.
Scholarship Award Requirements:
The intent of these funds is to remove access barriers to high-quality, in-demand, sustaining- wage careers for North Carolinians.
• Each college will determine grant award amounts based on student needs, local industry needs, number of eligible students, and cost of the course/pathway, up to either $750 per course or the total cost of the course fee(s) if the fee(s) exceeds $750.
• Funds may be used to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, supplies, credentialing tests, transportation, childcare, and any other components of the total cost of attendance for students.
• Funds may only support instruction provided directly by NC Community Colleges and may not be used to support students pursuing courses provided by third-party instructional providers.
Allocation Award:
Each college is eligible for an allocation determined by the college’s Budget Full-Time Equivalency (BFTE) weighted for each funding Tier, as presented in Table 1.
Fund Availability:
Funding is made available through August 30, 2023. Coding: Colleges must use the new Financial Aid coding. Colleges may not use the coding from the previous Workforce Resilience Scholarships.
Required Workflows:
Due to the complexities of administering these funds and the associated state reporting requirements, Colleges shall follow the workflows that will be provided in ServiceNow documentation utilizing the Colleague Financial Aid module. These required processes will ensure correct awarding, coding, and reporting of aid to students, and facilitate data matching at the state-level to comply with the legislation’s reporting requirements. These funds shall not be processed using sponsorship or third-party payer workflows sometimes used for WCE student support programs.
Technical Assistance Webinar:
A webinar will be held January 17, 2023, at 2:00. to provide further guidance for implanting this grant program. A recording will be made available after the meeting. Below is the link to the Teams Meeting:
