SUMTER, S.C. (courtesy theitem.com) — Morris College has four ongoing projects that will be assisted by emergency relief funding recently awarded to the eight historically black colleges and universities in the state for technology upgrades.
A college spokesperson detailed campus project upgrades that will use Morris’ allocated share of the $2.4 million from Gov. Henry McMaster’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, distributed via the federal CARES Act.
Jacqueline Sturdivant, communications director for the college, said Morris President Leroy Staggers doesn’t know what the college’s exact parcel will be yet, but funding must be used to boost technology for distance learning.
In the spring, all colleges faced unexpected costs with setting up remote coursework, given campus closures associated with the spread of the coronavirus, but the state’s HBCUs faced unique challenges, McMaster has said.
Morris intends to use the funding for a complete network upgrade, increasing campus broadband services, purchasing laptops and Chromebooks for students and faculty and the purchase and implementation of a new online learning platform system, Sturdivant said.
That platform will replace an older system and allow for more virtual classes at Morris that are interactive and feature live and face-to-face learning.
“The funds won’t cover all four projects,” Sturdivant said, “but it will definitely help and assist us in completing those.”
Morris’ full-time student enrollment in the spring semester was about 525 students, she added.