Chatfield College Receives $85,000 Technology Grant

Chatfield College has received an anonymous donation of $85,000 to purchase 100 laptops for new students who are interested in online coursework or a career in technology. Students who do not currently have access to a laptop or desktop computer will be eligible to apply. After graduating from Chatfield, students participating in this new program will be able to keep the laptop to further their education in the information technology field.

In January, Chatfield launched a new platform to offer online courses to its students, funded by a generous grant from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation.  Branded “Chatfield e-campus”, online classes were embraced with great enthusiasm by Chatfield students. Now, the need to help them, and future students, has become a priority. Chatfield currently makes laptops and desktops available to students and provides technical support at both campuses. Those resources, however, remain on campus so they can achieve maximum utilization.

A survey of Chatfield students now enrolled in online classes revealed that 17% planned to use a mobile smartphone for most class activities because they do not have access to a desktop or laptop computer at home.  One advantage of online classes for Chatfield’s population of students – mostly first-generation college students and adult learners – is the flexibility they provide, especially for students with children at home. Furthermore, when a non-scientific survey asked Chatfield’s general student body about the resources available at home, 42% said they did not have access to a laptop or desktop computer. With this grant, future students will be able to take online courses more effectively and conveniently.

“Chatfield College has been blessed to have been the beneficiary of the love and generosity of an amazing anonymous donor for almost ten years.  During that time, this incredible family has supported many of our technology needs and initiatives, now totaling more than a half-million dollars. Because of them, and this most recent grant, one hundred students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to take online courses or pursue a career in the technology field, simply because their individual circumstances do not include convenient access to a desktop or laptop, will be given that chance,” explained President John P. Tafaro, who worked through the family’s third-party advisors to request this grant.

Applications for this new Technology Scholarship, which includes the use and eventual ownership of an outstanding laptop, are available online at www.chatfield.edu/techscholarship.  Preference will be given to students who enroll in the summer semester, beginning on June 4^th.

Chatfield College is a private, faith-based, liberal arts college offering the Associate of Arts degree in Brown County and Cincinnati, and is an open enrollment college. The Brown County campus is located at 20918 State Route 251; St. Martin, OH 45118; the Cincinnati campus is located in historic Over-the-Rhine at 1544 Central Parkway; Cincinnati, OH 45202. For more information, visit the website, at www.chatfield.edu, call (513) 875-3344 or e-mail admissions@chatfield.edu.