U.S. Rep. Fred Upton will be on the campus of Glen Oaks Community College at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 9 to announce a $900,000 grant to implement a safe, effective, and cost-efficient distance learning model for all Glen Oaks students with an emphasis on high-school dual-enrolled students. The event will be held in the Dresser Business Development Auditorium.

The grant project features the installation of videoconferencing technology to allow instructors to broadcast synchronous live instruction from their classrooms. 

“Currently, our dual-enrolled students must either commute to campus or take offerings hosted in their local districts,” Glen Oaks President Dr. David H. Devier said. “This restricts their options since school transportation isn’t always available depending on the district and the high schools are limited in what they can offer at their sites.”

At Glen Oaks, the project will upgrade four campus classrooms with the installation of infrastructure and videoconferencing technology. The project calls for the activation of previously installed fiber internet cable from the college to the ISD in order to provide feed to the high schools throughout the county.

For area high schools, the project includes outfitting up to two classrooms in each of the 11 local school districts with the basic videoconferencing capabilities for students to participate in synchronous dual enrollment courses. 

“In the end, the project allows us to upgrade aging infrastructure at the college to ensure reliable delivery of distance learning instruction,” Devier said. “Plans are to start bidding on the project this fall with the work beginning in early 2023. We plan to offer the first set of synchronous dual enrollment courses in fall semester 2023.”