The\u00a0new webpage\u00a0Funding Opportunities for Students\u00a0is a central location where students can find the many sources of CC student grants. The college has also created a few new grant opportunities and streamlined the funding application processes.<\/p>\n
In a message to campus announcing the new webpage, President Jill Tiefenthaler says students often approach her to share their great ideas for research projects, cultural events, internships, community engagements, and travel abroad experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey ask me about where they can find campus funding for these initiatives,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith these changes, we can make high-impact educational experiences available and accessible to even more students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily Chan, associate dean of academic programs and strategic initiatives, says that at CC, all students have the independence to pursue and complete projects unique to their interests and courses of study. But Chan points out that sometimes students know how to advocate for themselves and their projects and find funding, and sometimes they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting these funding opportunities out there and making them more accessible helps all students see the full canvas of their opportunities,\u201d Chan says. \u201cWith the creation and promotion of this central gateway page, they will know how to obtain resources to make their projects happen, regardless
\nof family means.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an important skill for students to learn how to implement their own initiatives. So instead of relying on word of mouth, we wanted to make this resource accessible to everybody. We want students to become intentional, to think about, \u2018These are my resources. How do I plan my four years to make the most of them? How do I want to stage my four years, with funding opportunities for study abroad, internships, outdoor education experiences, etc?\u2019 and map it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frances Heiss \u201915<\/b>, a Southwest studies major, used funding opportunities at CC to help her complete her senior capstone project on Navajo textiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had never woven anything prior to Jeanne Steiner\u2019s Fiber Arts class, which I took the first block of my senior year. I was in the process of reshaping my thesis\u2014wishing to include some sort of multimedia in addition to a paper\u2014when I learned how to weave,\u201d she says. Heiss decided to focus her thesis on weaving \u2014 specifically Navajo weaving. From there, the different components of her thesis, including environmental history, a discussion of frontier commerce, museum studies and immersion in culture through weaving samples and traveling to a weaving community in New Mexico, all fell into place.<\/p>\n
Steiner put her in contact with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, where Heiss learned about the proper handling and examination of Navajo textiles. She applied for and received two grants at CC, the Keller Family Venture Grant and the Joel T. Benezet grant in Southwest Studies, which enabled her to complete her research.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith these grants, I was able to travel to La Tierra Wools in Los Ojos, New Mexico, a more than 100-year-old weaving community center that has its own flock of Navajo churro sheep. While at La Tierra Wools, I purchased naturally dyed wool, with which I completed my weaving replications. In addition, while there I experienced an active weaving community center and showroom, where I was able to interact with other weavers and experience a weaving community,\u201d Heiss says.<\/p>\n
Back at Colorado College, she wove replications of Navajo textiles in the Fiber Arts Studio in Worner Center and handled the Navajo textiles that are owned by Colorado College and housed at the Fine Arts Center. \u201cMy final capstone project is a compilation of all these aspects, including\u00a0 <\/span>a research paper and five textiles,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Morgan Mulhern \u201917<\/b> began her 2016 semester at CC in a Latin America study abroad program with a grant to study the food of southern Peru over Winter Break before the Spring Semester started. \u201cI traveled from Lima down the coast to Arequipa, Puno, and Cusco. I visited restaurants of Acurio Gaston along the way. His restaurants serve to integrate, celebrate, and explore various fields surrounding the culture and creation of food,\u201d says Mulhern.<\/span><\/p>\n To make his travel with the CC men\u2019s soccer team even more memorable, Soren Frykholm \u201917<\/b> applied for and received a grant to create a documentary exploring the effect of travel on team companionship. \u201cI had the camera rolling as much as I could,\u201d says Frykholm. \u201cI really wanted to get at, \u2018What is the importance of world travel\u2019 and \u2018What is the purpose of this trip?\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Many of the funding opportunities available to students are made possible by alumni, parents, and other friends of <\/span>the college. Chan says she hopes more people will be encouraged to give to make additional opportunities possible.<\/p>\n
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