Blue Ridge CTC Multi-Grant Application

This application form is to determine eligibility in the below opportunties.  
To learn more, click here. 

• ASCEND
• Blue Ridge Advances Opportunities Grant- WORC 5
• AIM - Apprenticeship in Motion

While completing the application, please contact us with any questions or for assistance.

Email: payingforcollege@blueridgectc.edu

 

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Economic Mobility Corporation (Mobility)
Ascend Evaluation Consent Form

Description of the study
Mobility is a nonprofit organization that develops and evaluates programs that help people obtain good jobs and increase their income. We are working with Blue Ridge Community and Technical College (BRCTC), West Virginia University at Parkersburg (WVUP), and the West Virginia Community and Technical College System (WVCTCS) to conduct a research study of the Ascend program. Arnold Ventures, a private philanthropic institution, is funding the study. The study’s goals are to learn whether Ascend helps people to obtain college degrees or other credentials and to increase their earnings. Mobility will write reports on the study’s findings that we will share with BRCTC, WVUP, WVCTCS, Arnold Ventures, and other colleges, foundations, and educational and workforce development agencies. The purpose of the reports will be to increase knowledge about how to help people complete postsecondary education and get good jobs.

Your participation in this study is voluntary
Participation in this study is voluntary. Only individuals who provide consent will be included in the study. If you choose not to participate in the study, you will not be eligible to receive the Ascend services but you may receive other services at BRCTC and at other agencies. If you agree to take part in the study and later decide you no longer want to participate, you may withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we will not use your data for the research study. You may be withdrawn from the study by the researchers without your consent

Explanation of participation in the study
If Ascend staff determine that you are eligible for the program and you agree to participate in the Ascend study, the following things will happen.

1. You will be assigned to one of two groups—either a group that will receive the Ascend services or a group that will not receive the Ascend services. A lottery-like process will be used to pick individuals who will receive the Ascend services.
   – You will have a 60 percent chance of being assigned to the group that receives the Ascend services.
   – You will have a 40 percent chance of being assigned to the group that does not receive the Ascend services. If you are assigned to this group, you may still receive other services offered by BRCTC or by agencies in the community.
   
   
2. We will review information about you that the Ascend staff will collect, including:
   – An intake form that will take about 5-10 minutes to complete and includes questions about your background (e.g., age, gender, race), education, household, and recent employment.
   – Program records on your receipt of Ascend services (e.g., advisor meetings, financial benefits, tutoring, and other supports), if you are selected to be in the Ascend group.
   
   
3. We will collect information from BRCTC about your major or program of study, the courses in which you enroll, dates enrolled, course completion, credits earned, degree and other credential completion, financial aid eligibility, and your receipt of college advising, tutoring, and career services.
   
   
4. We will collect information about your enrollment in college or other postsecondary education and any degrees or diplomas you earn from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), which holds data from public and private postsecondary educational institutions across the country.
   
   
5. We will collect information from WorkForce West Virginia, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR), and the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) about your earnings and receipt of unemployment benefits during the two years before through the three years after you enroll in the study. If funding is available to
   extend the study, we may collect data from WorkForce West Virginia, ODJFS, DLLR, and VEC about your earnings and unemployment benefits for up to 10 years after you enroll in the study.
   
   
6. We will collect from BRCTC your name, date of birth, and Social Security Number, which we will use only to obtain your records from NSC, WorkForce West Virginia, ODJFS, DLLR, and VEC.
   
   
7. If you are selected to be in the Ascend group, we may ask you to take part in a small group discussion about your experiences with the Ascend program that will last 90 minutes. You do not have to take part in a small group discussion or, if you do, answer any questions that make you uncomfortable.

 

Confidentiality
The information we collect about you will be kept private. We will take all reasonable steps to protect your identity. Your name or other information that could be used to identify you will not appear in any report or other public documents. We will keep all information we collect about you in secure files on computers in secure locations at all times. Only research team members working on the study will have access to your confidential information. We will only use your name, date of birth, and Social Security Number to obtain your records from NSC, WorkForce West Virginia, ODJFS, DLLR, and VEC. We will assign you a unique study ID number. Only this number will be stored in files containing your program, education, earnings, and unemployment data so that we can match data from different sources. The code list matching your study ID and your personal identifiers will be kept in a separate secure location. After we have finished collecting the study data, we will remove your name, date of birth, and Social Security Number from our files.

Risks
Although we will take every step to protect your privacy, there is a very small chance your information could be unintentionally revealed. We have established policies and procedures to prevent this from happening.

Benefits
We will use information we collect about you to help improve the services that BRCTC and other colleges provide to help people complete postsecondary credentials. You may benefit in the future from improvements made to these services as a result of the study, but this cannot be guaranteed.

Compensation
A small number of individuals who are assigned to the group that receives the Ascend services will be asked to take part in a small group discussion. If you take part in the small group discussion, you will receive a $25 gift card. No other compensation will be provided.

If you agree to be in the study and at any time have questions, you may contact:
Anne Roder, Vice President of Research, Economic Mobility Corporation, Toll-Free Telephone or Fax: 888-426-7170, Address: 50 Broadway, Suite 1604, New York, NY 10004, E-mail: aroder@economicmobilitycorp.org

This project has been reviewed and approved by Heartland Institutional Review Board (IRB). Questions concerning your rights as a participant in this research may be addressed to the Executive Director at Heartland IRB. Office Phone: (866) 618-4472; Fax: (866) 414-0517; or Email: director@heartlandirb.org

I have read this consent form, or it has been read to me, and I agree to participate in the Ascend study.

Thank you for completing this multi-grant application.  

Once your application has been fully reviewed by each grant, you will be contacted for further information. This typically will be completed within one week of your application being submitted.  

In the meantime, if you have any questions - please email: payingforcollege@blueridgectc.edu

 

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