Bloomfield College awarded third PBI grant for $250,000

October 1, 2010 -Bloomfield College was notified through the offices of Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) that it has been selected to receive $250,000 in grant funding under the Predominantly Black Institutions Program (PBI).

The basic intent of the program is to provide students with the literacy skills to access and evaluate information. These skills will help them to pursue scholarly and personal interests and to contribute to their learning community and society as a whole. The multi-phase program will include the formation of an Information Literacy Network which will contain reading, writing, oral and image-based communication skills, critical thinking, creative expression, technological competence, financial literacy and multicultural and global literacy. Done in steps, each of the competencies will be incorporated into the general education program and the specific majors offered by the college. Long-range goals of this funding include adding a state-of-the-art leaning commons center to the current library building. This will be a multi-functional area for teaching information literacy.

Bloomfield College has a large population of low-income and first-generation students. The college is seeking to increase retention and graduation rates of these students by giving them access to contemporary technology tools and immersing them in a culture of scholarship. The Information Literacy Network will be a program in which students can acquire the information literacy skills necessary for their persistence to graduation and full participation in careers.

Dr. Marion Terenzio, vice president for academic affairs, said of this new funding, “With the support of the PBI grant, we will develop a culture in information literacy that will enhance our students’ pursuit of scholarship, rewarding careers and productive citizenship. We are confident that the scope of impact of this program goes far beyond the students’ college experience by providing them with tools to make responsible and ethical decisions throughout their professional and personal lives. Knowledge is power, but informed knowledge is transformational.”

Previous PBI funding awarded to Bloomfield College has been used for student research in the sciences on campus, global research opportunities, upgrading the science and nursing labs, programs promoting math skills-building and male mentoring in education, and a newly renovated building dedicated to the education division.