Great Basin gets financial shot in the arm

Great Basin College announced this week that two campuses will receive $2 million as part of the Trade Adjustment Act Community College Career Training grant awards.

Officials said the much needed shot in the arm will benefit the Pahrump and Winnemucca campuses in the area of nursing and veteran services respectively.

Great Basin College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs Mike McFarlane said the grant will allow the school to increase the number of students in those areas.

“This will allow students without the ability to relocate or travel to complete the program in their home location, thus being more likely to remain there to provide needed health care services.”

The grant funds will also provide for a nursing instructor in both Pahrump and Winnemucca.

Great Basin College offers a two-year program approved by the Nevada State Board of Nursing, where students can earn an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing.

Vice President for Student Services Lynn Mahlberg said the funding will help instructors develop a strategy to deliver the nursing curriculum, as well as purchase equipment and additional learning materials for the two sites.

Additional support will be available for the programs in the delivery of Certified Nursing Assistant curriculum and practice lab simulation.

“Our nursing program will greatly benefit from this generous grant and it’s very successful. For several years we have maintained a 100 percent pass rate and students get jobs immediately. There’s also the benefit of being able to have a nursing instructor at each of those campuses because currently, students need to travel. Anytime you are able to train a nursing student in their hometown area, chances are, they will stay.”

Additionally, the funding will bolster veterans’ services, as the college is opening a Veteran Resource Center on the Elko campus this month.

“Through the State of Nevada Office of Veterans Services, we have a veteran service officer one day a week,” Mahlberg said. “This grant will provide the funding for a Veteran Resource Center Coordinator for three years to enhance and expand veteran services and resources throughout the Great Basin College service area.”

In a press release, Great Basin College President Mark Curtis said this week, he is grateful the college is on the radar of the federal government.

“We are appreciative of the ongoing confidence by the federal government placed in GBC and the Nevada Community College Consortium,” Curtis said.