Ocean County College Gets 40K Grant For AI Lab

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Ocean County College was awarded a $40,000 grant from the American Association of Community Colleges, Dell Technologies and Intel as part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Incubator Network Initiative.

OCC was one of 15 colleges selected to receive the grant. It is the only New Jersey college to be selected.

The money will be used to build an AI incubator that will provide greater access to AI computing power, tools and resources to foster the skills needed for future jobs.

AI incubators can be a solution that drives talent growth for the local labor market as the demand for skilled AI workers grows in New Jersey, OCC President Dr. Jon H. Larson said.

“We are pleased to work with AACC, Dell Technologies and Intel, and we are extremely grateful to be the recipient of this grant award,” Larson said. “The grant will provide an exceptional opportunity for Ocean County College to develop an AI laboratory that supports and enhances our AI degree and certificate programs, both on campus and in a HyFlex learning environment. It will also allow the College to expand our partnerships with industry leaders and leverage their expertise to provide exciting new opportunities for our students.”

OCC partnered with Intel last year as part of the tech company’s expansion of its AI for Workforce Program, which provides AI content to community colleges in order to prepare current and future workers with key AI skills. In January 2022, AACC, Dell Technologies and Intel announced a joint commitment to grow the AI for Workforce program to 50 states by 2023.

“Today’s students will enter a technology workforce where every organization will focus in some capacity on applying AI to solving problems and creating value for organizations. Intel is excited to partner with the AACC and Dell Technologies to democratize AI technology and enable students to enter that workforce with AI experience,” said Carlos Contreras, Senior Director of AI and Digital Readiness at Intel.

Additionally, OCC joined the AI Incubator Network to connect with community colleges nationwide on strategic economic development opportunities, participate in discussions about learning pathways, strategize on student engagement in AI programs, and gather best practices from each other and industry leaders.

“AI has become an increasingly important focus for community colleges as providers of workforce education for multiple industries,” said Walter G. Bumphus, Ph.D., President and CEO, AACC. “Working together with peers and across sectors will enhance the ability of our colleges to advance and scale this curriculum across the nation to ensure that students earn the skills needed to fill these jobs and begin meaningful careers.”

Adrienne Garber, Senior Strategist, Higher Education at Dell Technologies, congratulated OCC and said she is looking forward to OCC’s contributions to the AI Incubator Network.

“Dell Technologies is committed to transforming 1 billion lives by 2030. By providing learning content for in-demand technology skills and creating artificial intelligence labs for teaching and learning at community and technical colleges across the U.S., we are moving closer to achieving that goal,” said Garber. “With collaborators like Ocean County College, we are creating opportunities for underrepresented populations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and the like to enter careers and fill job openings in much-needed technology fields.”

To learn more about Artificial Intelligence programs at Ocean County College, visit go.ocean.edu/AI.