The Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion (IDI) grant is an opportunity for LLCC employees, departments and students/student clubs to receive support in addressing or celebrating inclusivity and diversity at LLCC. Categories to consider include training, teaching and learning, recruitment and retention, and environment and processes.
The application is open online through Wednesday, Dec. 4 and applicants will be notified prior to winter break. There is $5,000 available to be awarded in fall 2024 for activities in spring 2025.
If you have an idea or want to talk further about the grant, please contact Kristin Booher, director of student engagement, with any questions.
Applications are currently being accepted through today, Nov. 30, for LLCC’s IDI Grant program for 2023-24! The goal of the grant is to prompt, identify and support innovative proposals that incorporate inclusivity and enhance diversity at LLCC.
Members of the LLCC Black Student Union (BSU) welcomed approximately 60 District 186 seniors to BSU Fest Friday, April 21, 2023, on the Springfield campus.
The recruitment event covered two needs: to recruit more minority students to attend LLCC and to recruit students to join LLCC’s Black Student Union while attending the college. The overall event was geared toward helping students make sound financial decisions when deciding where to attend college. Students also learned that by attending LLCC their first two years, they can have a sense of belonging by joining BSU, a quality education at little or no out-of-pocket expense and still transfer to an HBCU as a junior to fulfill their educational dream. Community vendors, faculty and staff were invited to engage with the students and show the diverse environment that LLCC can build for its students to succeed.
This community-based service learning project was selected for LLCC Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion (IDI) Grant funding in 2022-23 and enabled a partnership between the LLCC Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Illinois to increase diversity of OTA student applications by increasing community awareness of the occupational therapy profession. The project, “Healthy Minds, Hearts and Hands,” brought engaging activities promoting fitness, emotional well-being and social language development for building student confidence and success at school. Additionally, the program offered traditional school-based occupational therapy strategies to help students who struggle with homework to build skills that will carry over into the classroom.
As a result of the project, the college gained two interested candidates for the OTA program cohort beginning in January 2024. Additionally, pre- and
Boys & Girls Clubs staff members overwhelmingly “strongly agreed” that the program was beneficial, and they would recommend it to other after-school sites. The LLCC first-semester OTA student reflections identified the strengths and challenges of working with such a large group of children and are looking forward to continuing to grow the program with additional strategies for organization, management and activity development.