HBCUs Use Federal Funding to Connect Students and Communities

In its 2024 report, “Historically Black, Digitally Forward: Co-Designing Digital Learning Infrastructure for HBCUs,” researchers at the nonprofit Complete College America note that “systemic underfunding has resulted in significant technology infrastructure deficits and a widening digital [divide, hindering] the ability of HBCUs to provide current and effective digital tools for education, especially AI.”

CCA President Yolanda Watson Spiva further explains:

“HBCUs are historically under-resourced institutions. I’m hoping that we can continue to have infusions of dollars through programs like the CMC, which will allow some of these institutions to either begin digital initiatives or continue things that they've already started.”

Fort Valley State University Brings Technology to the People

Fort Valley State University, located in Peach County, Ga., has a long history of sharing technology resources with the community. Its Mobile Information Technology Center, launched in 2017, is a 72-foot semitrailer with a technology classroom inside, serving a wide variety of locations, from K–12 schools to senior centers.

“We wanted to follow the model of the Jesup Wagon [a horse-drawn movable school designed by George Washington Carver in the 1900s] that would take university research-based information out to the communities,” says Terrence Wolfork, assistant administrator for communications, conferencing and technology at FVSU. 

With a nearly $3 million grant from the CMC, FVSU is expanding this outreach with its Communi-versity project, which extends broadband connectivity to students, faculty, staff and the community through an integrated set of technologies, including satellite, cellular and fiber. Training led by FVSU staff and student educators helps make these resources easier to understand and use.

Aerial view of FVSU campus. DJ Pearson/FVSU Marketing and Communication

“Our students are the Tech Navigators,” says Wolfork. “Working with seniors helps our students — especially if they are education majors — learn how to communicate technical concepts.”

Courtney Howard, FVSU’s NTIA project manager, grew up in the tri-county area surrounding the university and was brought on board to run the project. In addition to providing more Chromebooks and laptops to students, the project has added educational opportunities for seniors and provided Wi-Fi for a large public park.

“One of our biggest projects was making the park in Roberta County a free Wi-Fi zone,” says Howard. “It’s great not only for college students, but for students in general. Many times, K–6 students had to maximize their computer time at school because their Wi-Fi at home was too weak or slow. Now, we’ve doubled their bandwidth.”

RELATED: How university Wi-Fi networks better digital equity in surrounding communities.

Prairie View A&M University Increases Bandwidth and Access

At Prairie View A&M University, located in a rural area about 50 miles northwest of Houston, CIO Tony Moore describes the multiple components of the Air Panther NextGen Network project, a technology initiative funded by a $3 million CMC grant and named after the university’s mascot.

“The initial part of the project focused on increasing broadband capacity,” says Moore. “For our researchers, the connectivity to our data center was inadequate, and a portion of our campus wasn’t covered by wireless. We reconfigured fiber between research hubs and built out a robust network for inner-campus connectivity. We were able to increase our bandwidth from 10 to 100 gigabits.”

Once the campus infrastructure was in better shape, the second phase of the project involved significant community outreach as well as classroom improvements.

“We supplied 800 Chromebooks to the local high school, placing a Chromebook in every student’s hands. And here at the university, we’re creating more flexibility in classrooms as well as adding elements for experiential learning, like HyFlex classrooms and augmented and virtual reality capabilities,” Moore explains.

The CMC grant, along with previous federal funding, also allowed the university to add about 800 virtual machines, self-service kiosks, and the ability for students to check out Chromebooks at libraries and school buildings around campus.

Vendors and providers have also helped fill some gaps with regular visits to campus to provide learning opportunities.

“We have a large student workforce,” says Moore. “Students work in the software security center and the network operations center. That gives them hands-on skills in technology and project management, and they can even get certified before they graduate. It gives our students a lot of pride.”

Bennett College Upgrades Wi-Fi and Creates a Community Program

When Bennett College received its nearly $700,000 CMC grant in 2023, IT Director Mondrail Myrick earmarked the funds for campus Wi-Fi upgrades. However, he also used some of the grant for a unique, no-cost, one-year certificate program called E-CAMP, in which community members and Bennett students together study entrepreneurship, coding and artificial intelligence.

Bennett, an all-women undergraduate HBCU located in Greensboro, N.C., has already graduated its first cohort of students from the E-CAMP program.

Joan Williams, the E-CAMP program director and director of library services at Bennett, both managed and participated in the first year of the program.

“We started with about 25 in the coding class and 10 in the entrepreneurship class,” says Williams. “For the community, it was an opportunity upscale their skills and potentially move into a different arena.”

LEARN MORE: How community partnerships propel one college’s technology center.

Tioluwani Onadeji, a senior at Bennett majoring in computer science, was also in the first cohort of the E-CAMP program.

“It was an opportunity to get certified in Python,” says Onadeji. “We learned about how it was used for AI and cybersecurity.”

Because she was already familiar with computer languages, Onadeji helped other students during study sessions. She also learned from and networked with instructors from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the largest HBCU in the area, which partnered with Bennett for the E-CAMP program.

“The A&T professor kept asking me what graduate programs I had applied to, and was inspirational in moving me forward. Another student in the class told me about a Ph.D. program where I could apply for a full scholarship,” says Onadeji.

The second cohort started in the winter of 2024. Williams is hopeful for the future.

“I want the community to see Bennett as a resource that can help people,” she says, “whether they want to move into something different or strengthen their skills where they are.”