Each year, the Nicholls Research Council gives technology fee grants out to various departments at Nicholls State University.
These grants were given this year to several departments, including the math and psychology departments.
According to Cynthia Vavasseur, associate professor of education, equipment funded from the grants can be seen in several classrooms on campus. “Two Promethean boards and three smart boards were installed in several classrooms used by psychology, teacher education, and health & P.E. students,” said Vavasseur. “ITS grants, combined with the Dean’s Board of Regents funds have transformed many classrooms.”
If it were not for several people in Ellender Library, however, it would not have been possible to receive the grants.
Anthony Fonseca, assistant librarian and council chair for the Nicholls Research Council, Melissa Goldsmith, a reference librarian and Neil Guilbeau, archives librarian, are the people at the university who are in charge of applying for certain grants. There are four different types of grants used for universities: technology, infrastructure, programs and research. The technology fee grants received by Nicholls are combined with student technology fees to provide updated technology throughout campus.
Applying for a grant is no piece of cake though, according to Goldsmith.
“You don’t work by yourself when applying for a grant. The process of applying for one has to start with an idea. That idea is then shared with others and revised accordingly,” Goldsmith said.
Fonseca agreed with Goldsmith, saying, “Grants are complicated, some have 32 parts. Technology grants do not have as many parts compared to others, but they sill can get complicated.”
When it comes to funds from technology grants, technology is defined as anything that can be plugged in. Computers, headphones, keyboards and other electronic instruments are all examples.
Technology grants require “cost sharing” of at least 50 percent. This means that the university has to commit to 50 percent of the funding of the project, either in money, services, equipment or supplies. For example, the National Endowment for Humanity and National Endowment for the Arts are both grant funding programs that require cost sharing. Nicholls also offers a technology match of 10 percent of the project for most of the grants that involve technology. This portion of funding is provided by the student technology fees.
