Per Montgomery College: Starting this year, a new Workforce Development and Continuing Education (WDCE) scholarship will assist 50 to 60 students with job training and certification expenses. In July, the Montgomery College Foundation announced the establishment of the Robert I. Schattner (RIS) Job Training and Certification Scholarship, a $500,000 gift to establish the scholarship.   

Award recipients are students pursuing eligible career path courses with the intention to obtain employment (and ready to work by June 30, 2024). They receive up to $4,000 to be used to cover training tuition, fees, and required books, plus career navigation, certification exam fees, and/or emergency assistance, if needed. 


Per Montgomery College: The Nominating Committee for the Montgomery College Board of Trustees (BOT) is accepting applications to serve a six-year term beginning July 1, 2024. Montgomery College is a public, open-admissions community college, with campuses in Rockville, Germantown, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Workforce Development & Continuing Education centers throughout the county. The College serves nearly 60,000 students yearly and offers a broad range of academic and training programs and support services with state-of-the-art technology through its 130 degree and certificate programs.

The Board of Trustees, as the fiduciary institutional governance body, has the essential responsibilities and obligations to:


With Americans struggling financially due to high inflation and a year of community college nearly three times less expensive than a year at a public four-year college, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s Best & Worst Community Colleges, with Montgomery College coming in #10 in the country out of over 650 schools included. Last year, Montgomery College was ranked 7th in the country.

Montgomery College was officially founded in 1946 as Montgomery Junior College. The earliest start date that can be contributed to Montgomery College is October 15, 1893, when the Bliss Electrical School began. Bliss was absorbed by the current college in 1950 and became the electrical program for the school. The college has three campuses; Germantown, Rockville (largest campus), and Takoma Park/Silver Spring.


Per Montgomery College: A new WDCE scholarship for financially-eligible job seekers, ready to get to work by June 30, 2024, is currently accepting applicants. The Montgomery College Foundation announced the establishment of the Robert I. Schattner Job Training and Certification Scholarship, a one-year opportunity for job training and certification. Scholarships are available for applicants pursuing eligible career path courses with the intention to obtain employment.

The Robert I. Schattner Job Training and Certification Scholarship will receive applications now through Wednesday, August 4, 2023. Information about the scholarship, eligibility requirements, a list of qualified courses, the application and more are now on the WDCE Career Path Scholarship webpage.


The Blair Witch Project was released on this day in 1999, 24 years ago– the first installment of the Blair Witch franchise.  Did you know The Blair Witch Project was primarily filmed right here in Montgomery County?

In the indie supernatural horror, three film students camp in the fictional Black Hills Forest of Burkittsville, Maryland in October of 1994 to film a documentary on the local legend of the Blair Witch. Mysteriously, the trio vanishes, leaving behind hours of footage to be discovered a year later by University of Maryland anthropology students. What the viewer witnesses is this purportedly real home video style footage.


The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that Montgomery College, Takoma/Silver Spring Campus, has entered into a resolution agreement to resolve a sexual harassment complaint. OCR’s investigation established that a College professor, who was not named, engaged in sexual harassment of female students during a class he taught by requiring the students to remove their shirts and wear only their bras – and then commenting on their bodies – ostensibly to demonstrate a medical assessment despite the fact that the assessment did not require the clothing removal, or the bodily commentary.

Within approximately three months of the initial report of the professor’s harassment, the College’s investigation confirmed that the professor’s conduct created a hostile environment on the basis of sex. The College terminated the professor’s employment and the College provided written notice of the outcome of its investigation to the student in the class who initially reported experiencing sexual harassment, and also offered supportive services to affected students. However, the College did not notify all affected students regarding the conclusion of its investigation, raising a concern that the College may not have taken necessary steps to ensure that a hostile environment did not persist for affected students.


Per Montgomery College: The Montgomery College Foundation announced the establishment of the Islamic Community Building Opportunities Scholarship. Four donors from the Islamic community have pledged $34,000 over five years to establish the scholarship. Any Montgomery College student who meets the criteria is eligible for the scholarship, regardless of religion or background.

This scholarship will support students of all backgrounds who:


Per Montgomery College (6.21.23): This afternoon, Montgomery College President Dr. Jermaine F. Williams and MC student Williams Ochoa participated in a moderated conversation organized by the office of the First Lady of the United States and held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Va. The event was part of President Biden’s Investing in America tour and featured Dr. Jill Biden, a longtime community college professor, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India. The conversation was moderated by NSF Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan.

In a statement this morning, the White House said: “During the tour, President Biden and leaders across the Administration will travel directly to communities benefitting from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This includes communities seeing new manufacturing and clean energy investments spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, new infrastructure projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, small businesses and families saving money on high-speed internet as a result of the American Rescue Plan, and more.”


Per Montgomery College: A team of Montgomery College (MC) students earned two awards from the 2023 NASA MINDS competition, held in May. The “MC UV” team was recognized with second place in the overall competition (complete design, build, and presentation), and a third-place award for their technical paper. The entire MC team is made up of dual enrollment students majoring in engineering. You can watch the team’s submission video here, which captures the project from start to finish.

NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovative New Designs for Space (NASA MINDS) is a multi-semester undergraduate level activity that supports the Artemis mission and the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) and Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD). Students’ skills, creativity and innovation are challenged as they are asked to design and build technologies needed for NASA’s Artemis mission, with the support of their faculty.


Normand Bayigamba and Luiz Mata Lopez are two of the high-achieving Montgomery College students selected to receive the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The highly competitive national scholarship aims for Cooke Scholars to complete their undergraduate educations with as little debt as possible. The award, which is last dollar funding after all institutional aid, can provide Bayigamba and Mata Lopez with as much as $55,000 a year to complete a bachelor’s degree.

Bayigamba, a graduate of Thomas S. Wootton High School, and Mata Lopez, a Col. Zadok Magruder High School graduate, both took part in the college’s commencement last month. Bayigamba earned an associate of arts degree in general studies, with a concentration in social sciences, administration and health. Mata Lopez earned an associate of arts degree in computer science.


Per Montgomery College: Montgomery College (MC) announced Dr. Michelle A. Campbell will be its next senior vice president for advancement and community engagement, following a national search. Campbell comes to the College, located in Montgomery County, Md., from Middlesex College in New Jersey, where she served as vice president for institutional advancement. She begins her new role at Montgomery College on June 5, 2023.

Campbell will serve on the College’s senior leadership team as a member of the President’s Cabinet. She will oversee the strategic vision of the College’s advancement team, which includes the Office of Development, the Montgomery College Foundation, the Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technology at Montgomery College (PIC MC) Foundation, the Alumni Association, Community Engagement, Grants and Sponsored Programs, and Special Events. Her oversight also includes the Office of Communications, which manages MC’s marketing, website, public relations, social media, publications, and Montgomery College Television.


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