Tag: Grants

USF News

USF Small Business Accelerator Boosts Will County Business Development

Congressman Bill Foster presents a $500,000 grant to USF College of Business & Health Administration Dean Dr. Shannon Brown and USF President Dr. Arvid C. Johnson.

[photo caption – U.S. Congressman Bill Foster (D-Ill.), center, formally presented USF College of Business & Health Administration Dean Dr. Shannon Brown, left, and USF President Dr. Arvid C. Johnson, right, a $500,000 U.S. Small Business Administration FY23 Congressional Community Project Grant in July 2023.]

[photo caption – JBJBusinessGroup, Inc. President Dr. Jerry Bell, Jr. (far right side of image), won a Department of Defense (DoD) Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) Pitch at the Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) Summit held in Detroit, Mich. in July 2024.]

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Joliet, Ill. – Since 2014, the University of St. Francis’s (USF) Business Incubator has supported economic growth in the Will County region by fostering new business development. In 2023, the USF College of Business & Health Administration successfully launched a Small Business Accelerator with a $500,000 U.S. Small Business Administration FY23 Congressional Community Project Grant supported by U.S. Congressman Bill Foster (D-Ill.) to contribute a next level of regional business support. The new project benefitted regional small businesses in underserved categories in an ongoing effort to build the region’s business landscape. The Accelerator provided its business members with equity-free funds and a variety of other benefits including training, mentorship, access to the business incubator, networking opportunities, and both curricular and co-curricular programming for founders to expand their business knowledge.

In total, the USF Small Business Accelerator was able to support eight businesses through the project grant, including JBJBusinessGroup, Inc. The small business joined the USF Business Incubator in 2019 in an effort to move their business model into a location and environment that would offer new access to resources. Over the next few years, JBJBusinessGroup, Inc. continued to slowly build and thrive – even during the COVID-pandemic – and in 2023, became one of the recipients of grant-funding from the USF Small Business Accelerator. Just one year later, through networking, training, mentorship, and a successful pitch to the right audience, their team is celebrating success. The company recently won a Department of Defense (DoD) Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) Pitch, which is a shark tank-style competition. The Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) Summit, held in Detroit, Mich. in July 2024, was sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) and provided a platform for building business-to-business relationships and offered smaller companies an opportunity to meet industry leaders in the field.

“The University of St. Francis College of Business & Health Administration is pleased to showcase JBJBusinessGroup, Inc.’s success and to have played a small part in their chance to participate in the MPP Summit in July. Our Business Incubator and Small Business Accelerator have provided numerous links for funding and connections for business members, and our university students, to open their networks and seek new learning” said Dr. Shannon Brown, Dean of the USF College of Business & Health Administration.

JBJBusinessGroup, Inc. not only participated in the pitch and was granted approval for a Mentor Protégé Agreement, but they also won the audience and judges’ vote for the best pitch.

“This is huge for my company, where the Department of Defense is going to invest about $1.8 million into resources to support my company over the next 3 years, to help me become a better supplier to the Department of Defense. As the father of a son in the army and an army veteran myself, I am thrilled to be able to continue supporting the war effort,” said JBJBusinessGroup, Inc. President Dr. Jerry Bell, Jr.

“Since joining the USF Business Incubator and Accelerator programs, I have gained access to mentors, and I have appreciated working with students to support my business. I’ve attended many federal contracting training events that have enhanced my ability to be more informed and have a better network for getting federal contracts. Additionally, being located in a HUBZone and being part of this program will accelerate my ability to hire and support the local workforce,” Bell added.

USF Business Incubator director and associate professor Dr. Bonnie Covelli has worked alongside the entrepreneurs and has seen first-hand the impact small businesses have within the Will County region.  

“USF is proud of our ten-year span serving regional small businesses through our entrepreneurial incubator and accelerator programs. Over the past year, the accelerator funding allowed us to infuse much needed short-term funds into the businesses. We are grateful for the opportunity to have helped move these businesses to their next stage of development,” Covelli said.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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IDHS Grant Leads to Two New CRSS Success Program Cohorts

USF College of Arts & Sciences logo

Joliet, Ill. – Thanks to another grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Certified Recovery Support Specialist (CRSS) Success program at the University of St. Francis (USF) will continue to provide full tuition and wrap-around supports for students who complete its high-quality, recovery support training and supervised practical experience.  

USF’s CRSS program, which launched in fall 2022 with an initial cohort of 19 students, will welcome two new cohorts this coming academic year (up to 20 students each in fall 2024 and spring 2025). The program trains individuals with lived experience of mental health or co-occurring mental health and substance use recovery to leverage their experience to support others facing these challenges. Tuition is free for accepted applicants through June 2025 through the support of over $1.14 million in state grant funding from the IDHS Division of Mental Health.

“Students who have successfully completed the CRSS Success Program at USF have been gainfully employed in the field of behavioral health in a variety of settings, including substance use treatment, community mental health, and other non-profit settings. Training experience both in the classroom and the field practicum prepares students to share their lived experience in a way that promotes hope and change in those they serve, advocates for diverse and marginalized populations, assists in increased access to care/treatment, and reduces stigma around mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders,” said Patricia Ferdon, MSW, LCSW, CCTP, CRSS Teaching Instructor and Internship Coordinator.

For more information on the program, including how to apply for fall registration, visit stfrancis.edu/crss or contact Marcia Van Natta, MHS, BA, CADC, CODP II, CRSS Project Director and Instructor at mvannatta@stfrancis.edu or 815-740-3779. Student applications for the fall 2024 cohort are due by Friday, August 2, 2024. Applications received after this date will be added to a wait list for the spring 2025 semester.

About the CRSS Program

The CRSS program, now in its third year, is housed within the USF Psychology department along with USF’s Substance Abuse Counseling (SAC) program. The SAC program, an addiction treatment program, received full accreditation from the Illinois Certification Board (ICB) in November 2015. In 2023, USF was awarded a $125,000 subgrant through ICB’s Certified Alcohol and other Drug Counselor (CADC) Workforce Expansion Program to provide tuition and wraparound supports to students in the SAC program working towards CADC certification. USF’s CADC program is modeled after its successful CRSS Success program; both of these grants provide financial support to USF students as they work towards CRSS or CADC certification.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Alamo-Costello Earns Grant to Fund Photography Project

Michael "Chester" Alamo-Costello with his students from SUSE in China.

Joliet, Ill. – Michael “Chester” Alamo-Costello, MFA, professor of art and design at the University of St. Francis (USF), has received a $6,000 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs to photograph in Southwest China over the next year. The grant will cover travel and project costs while Alamo-Costello is in China.

“The plan is to photograph faculty, students and staff at Sichuan University of Science and Engineering (SUSE) in the same format as that procured at USF since 2000, while also working with individuals at SUSE on writings on their teaching philosophies and practices,” Alamo-Costello said.

“I have worked with faculty and staff at USF in a similar format in recent time. Initially, I intended to create a USF portrait book. Now, my focus has shifted to contrast the photographs and writings from the two institutions to illustrate their differences and similarities. I’ve discussed putting this into book form with SUSE/USF personnel in the future. There are feelings that this approach will offer a deeper understanding of education approaches in the 21st century,” he added.

For a glimpse of Alamo-Costello’s work as part of this project, visit alamo-costello.com/documents-visual-archeology/sichuanchina.

About the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

According to its website, the mission of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is “to enrich Chicago’s artistic vitality and cultural vibrancy. To support this overarching mission, the Cultural Grants Program’s goal is simple: to serve as a catalyst to foster a robust, healthy arts community where artists, nonprofit arts and culture organizations and creative industries thrive. Designed to reach artists, creatives, and nonprofit arts and culture organizations across Chicago, DCASE Cultural Grants provide operating funds and project support for nonprofits and project specific funding for individual artists.”

For more information on DCASE, visit www.chicagoculturalgrants.org.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF Small Business Accelerator to Host Free Screening of Show Her The Money on March 18

Show Her The Money Film Screening

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) College of Business and Health Administration’s Small Business Accelerator will host a free screening of the film Show Her The Money on Monday, March 18, 2024. The screening will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will take place in the USF Moser Performing Arts Center (500 Wilcox Street, Joliet, IL 60435).

Show Her The Money addresses how women are getting less than 2% of venture capital funding and demystifies what venture capital is. Join USF for a screening of the film, followed by a conversation with the film’s award-winning director Ky Dickens, who will discuss what is changing to help women overcome funding challenges.

“This is the first screening of this film in Illinois. We hope to attract a diverse, regional audience to this event, including female entrepreneurs of all ages and those interested in investing in female entrepreneurs,” said Shannon Brown, Ph.D., dean of the USF College of Business and Health Administration.

Seating is limited. Please reserve your free ticket and access other event information at https://kinema.com/events/show-her-the-money-hskmgg. Parking is free and complimentary food, beverages, and popcorn will be available. If you have additional questions, please contact Kari Jimenez in the USF College of Business and Health Administration at KJimenez@stfrancis.edu or 815-740-3395.

This event is funded in part through a Grant with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.

About Show Her the Money

Show Her The Money is a story that has never been told. Featuring rock-star female investors who invest in diverse women entrepreneurs with innovations that will change the world, Show Her The Money reminds us that money is power and women need it to achieve true equality. Show Her The Money was directed by Ky Dickens and produced by Ky Dickens and Catherine Gray with Executive Producers Catherine Gray, Dawn Lafreeda, Sharon Gless, Diana Greshtchuk and Wendy Ryan. For more information on the film, visit showherthemoneymovie.com.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Show Her The Money Screening Poster
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USF Earns Hispanic-Serving Institution Designation and Grant Worth Close to $3M

Joliet, Ill. – Earlier this year, the University of St. Francis (USF) earned the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation by the U.S. Department of Education for having an undergraduate full-time equivalent student population that is comprised of at least 25 percent Hispanic students. With that designation, USF was able to apply for and has since been awarded Title V Developing HSIs (DHSI) funding in the form of a grant worth close to $3M over 5 years. The grant will now largely fund a DHSI project titled “Going from Si se Puede to Si se Pudo,” (translated to English as “Going from ‘We Can Do It’ to ‘We Did Do It’ “) designed to support capacity enhancements and innovative strategies to significantly increase retention and graduation rates for all students, and especially those who are Hispanic, from low-income households, or otherwise underserved.

Specifically, 90% of DHSI program costs (totaling $2,996,731) are financed with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education, while 10% of DHSI program costs (totaling $340,000) are financed by USF.

The overarching DHSI goal of the project is to transform how the institution engages with current and future students to improve retention over the five-year project period. The project will serve USF’s more than 1,200 undergraduate students, 30% of whom are Hispanic, 40% of whom are Pell-eligible/ low-income, and 64% of whom are first-generation college students.

USF is now in the infancy stages of working to achieve the project goal by spring of 2028 through efforts focused on three institutional objectives, including: increasing retention of full-time, first year (FTFY) students to 80% by redesigning instructional support programming; increasing Latinx students’ 6-year graduation rate to 60%; and increasing the 6-year graduation rate for all students to 66%.

The University plans to achieve the objectives through the following activities that have been designed to strengthen academic programs, improve institutional management, and increase fiscal stability:

  • Strengthen the first-year experience program to support all incoming students from orientation through sophomore retention by hiring a retention specialist, redesigning the required Foundations 1 first-year seminar, implementing an annual two-day faculty training institute for seminar instructors, offering free summer remedial math courses, and providing peer mentoring for incoming students;
  • Increase support for Latinx undergraduates by hiring a community outreach and relations coordinator to build partnerships, adding a bilingual academic coach and bilingual academic advisor, holding bilingual parent and family outreach events, expanding the availability of bilingual, culturally responsive campus ministry programming, offering a Spanish Language for Professionals course for faculty and staff, and translating admissions and financial aid materials into Spanish;
  • Integrate multicultural/culturally responsive curricula across academic areas by providing professional development and faculty support for course revisions, and developing new courses on Hispanic cultural, historic, literary, and political issues; and providing a co-curricular tracking app for the USF campus community to engage in HSI-affirming events and activities;
  • Expand developmental on-campus employment opportunities for low-income undergraduates and support them with an endowment; and
  • Create an on-campus commuter lounge.

“The Title V DHSI award will allow USF to implement programs that will benefit all students, from revising the first-year seminar to enhancing cultural understanding in the curriculum. The goal is to increase retention and completion, so that more students have access to a USF degree,” said Beth Roth, USF Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Leach College of Nursing Receives Grant Funding, Including $1.35M through ANEW

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) Leach College of Nursing (LCON) was recently notified it was approved for another Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant will award the university approximately $1.35M over four years to help increase access to quality health and behavioral health care for underserved and rural areas in Illinois—especially in Will, Grundy and Cook counties.

The project will build upon USF’s previous ANEW grant and will support the training and graduation of Family Nurse Practitioners and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners who will practice in underserved areas.

“The continuing ANEW project is designed to sustainably train a workforce capable of addressing urgent health and behavioral health needs. Our FNP and PMHNP curricula are designed using national standards for best practices in online instruction, and USF has strong relationships with local sites for experiential training. Also, USF has created an alternative model, which is to establish strong working relationships with partners to improve health and behavioral healthcare access in the service area in Illinois and Wisconsin. Continuing the project will allow USF to develop a pipeline of preceptors to better serve our FNP and PMHNP students and the public,” said USF LCON dean Yeijin Yeom, Ph.D., RN, CNE.

Additionally, LCON was awarded a $100,000 Nursing School Grant through the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The grant will be used to address equity gaps in enrollment and course completion for USF Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and BSN Completion students, of which approximately half are African American, Latinx, low-income, first-generation, from rural communities, and/or working adults. With the grant funding, LCON will purchase equipment, including a medication dispensing system and simulation cart, and increase 24 additional hours per week of simulation labs for BSN students in order to accommodate working students. They will also offer remediation on evenings and weekends to reinforce preparation our students for clinical practice. LCON expects an increase of the retention rate of students. As a result, highly competent and well-prepared students maximize their employment opportunities while benefitting patients in Illinois.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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