The Western Nebraska Community College Foundation has been awarded a $369,000 federal grant to increase safety measures on the campuses in Scottsbluff, Alliance, and Sidney.
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program for States has the goal of making operations safer through the purchase of physical security enhancements and by staff training.
The grant is funded by FEMA and its parent, the Dept of Homeland Security, and administered through NEMA, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.
WNCC Administrative Management Director Nancy Hall says the money gives the college the opportunity to enhance safety at a time of “limited resources and multiple competing critical needs.”
Hall says it provides funding for “safety features, equipment, training, and exercises that may otherwise be delayed.”
Specific enhancements planned include new electronic door access control systems, vehicle barriers at building entrances, increased perimeter security, and training and training exercises from the National Incident Management System.
As a non-profit 501-c-3 organization, the WNCC Foundation was eligible for the grant while the college itself was not.