SUPPORT FOR FACULTY
In 1998, the Foundation initiated the Community Forum program to support
the Catonsville faculty. Under the motto With Faculty, For Faculty,
the program received proposals from faculty members for review by a panel of
CCC Foundation Board members, faculty, and community leaders.
Grants were also awarded for "Learning First" projects. Included were
funds for new high-tech graphing calculators for the math department, a
student/faculty community service trip to South America to study social
and environmental issues, and two projects highlighted here.
Is group study with one microscope possible? Now it is.
Catonsville's Center for Biological Sciences now provides students with
a sophisticated new learning tool. The lab is equipped with a Nikon
Brightfield 5-headed microscope, one of only a few in Maryland. Funded
through the Foundation's Community Forum, it allows four students and
the instructor to observe the same image simultaneously
With the
use of a digital camera, the images can also be uploaded to the Web for
student access at home or work. 
The microscope adds to the lab's ability to perform DNA isolation,
protein isolation and tissue culture--and helps prepare students for
careers in genetics, biology, chemistry and molecular biology research
and development.
New hands-on instruction in anatomy.
A group of Catonsville students received a memorable lesson in the
construction of the human body. They participated in the dissection of a
human cadaver at the Anatomy Board of Maryland, another project funded
through the Community Forum.
"We usually don't have a lot of opportunities to actually see things
like this," commented a nursing student. "It's going to make a world of
difference." The group handled surgical equipment and explored the inner
workings of the arm, heart, lungs and brain of the cadaver. Students who
successfully complete the unique program are awarded honors status in
human anatomy and physiology.
