A storied school situated near the center of a city named after royalty was just bestowed a boon fit for a queen. Federal funds have been handed to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte as part of a scholastic advancement package administered by the Department of Homeland Security.
Seven other awardees across the country are also in receipt of similar allocations adding up to nearly nine million dollars. Money in that perennial pot is meant for minority-serving institutions that choose to collaborate with government-sponsored research groups on preeminent projects.
Johnson C. Smith University stands out from that crowd due to its close relationship with the Coastal Resilience Center. This historically black college hosts professors like Ahmed Faik and Suryadip Chakraborty who have schooled scores of students on the rigors of shoreline disaster recovery.
Those faculty members are presently preparing plans for a new curriculum concentrated on cybersecurity in the context of emergency management. Dollars from their latest grant will go directly toward that end along with a new computer lab intended serve the greater area according to Chakraborty.
Other educational organizations connected to the Coastal Resilience Center include New York City College of Technology and the University of Texas at El Paso. Protection of flood-prone communities through these partnerships is projected to continue for years as funding remains constant.