Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Georgia Gwinnett College is one of two University System of Georgia institutions getting a $150,000 grant designed to close gaps for traditionally underrepresented student groups.

It's part of a $1 million grant supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support innovative college completion efforts.

Georgia is one of 10 states to get the Completion Innovation Challenge grant out of 33 that applied.

With Georgia Gwinnett College's portion, it aims to pilot remediation programs, according to John Muth, dean of the School of Transitional Studies.

"The overall goal is to transform remedial education by helping students shorten the time it takes them to complete their remedial education so they can move forward with college-level courses," Muth stated.

He added that GGC's program is unique "in that students may take remedial courses at the same time they are taking some selected college-level courses, enabling them to improve and apply their skills more quickly."

The college's program aims to use diagnostic software and electronic writing analysis to study assess students in remedial math and/or English.

While the college currently uses teaching for remedial math, the grant will fund development of similar courses in English.

Acting Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Lois Richardson said she is "confident that this grant will enable us to further develop our program, yield excellent results for our students and produce a quality model for our fellow University System of Georgia institutions, as well as other colleges beyond Georgia."

For more information about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, visit www.gatesfoundation.org.