Clark College Innovation Fund
Fostering a culture of creativity and advancement, this fund:
Provides essential resources for pioneering projects.
Pioneering programs and projects go above and beyond what traditional, state-funded education supports. These programs provide unique ways to engage students’ creativity and deepen their learning.
The Clark College Innovation Fund sets us apart from other institutions, enabling unique programs, research, and resources. Donations to the Innovation Fund will help make Clark College and our graduates some of the best in the nation!
Supports student-faculty research expeditions.
The Clark College Innovation Fund supports initiatives that enable students and faculty to deepen their education through research. Like our four-year college counterparts, Clark College understands the benefits hands-on learning can provide for our two-year college graduates. By enhancing our stellar curriculum offerings with cutting-edge experiential learning opportunities, we help to ensure that our students earn better grades, are more likely to graduate, and are better equipped for their careers post-graduation.
Develops cutting-edge curricula in high-demand fields.
Clark College is working to connect education with industry by providing world-class instruction and preparing students accordingly for the fastest-growing careers in advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, renewable energy, and health sciences. Boschma Farms Advanced Manufacturing Center is an excellent example of Clark College and Industry partners working together. Stay tuned for more updates as we begin implementing programs thanks to generous donations to the Innovation Fund!
See examples below of how Clark College Foundation is already supporting innovation on and off the Clark College campus!
Searching for new antibiotics in the Mount St. Helens Ice Caves
One example of an innovative research program supported by Clark College was the research conducted by Dr. Roberto Anitori, a Clark microbiology professor in the Mount St. Helens Ice Caves. During these expeditions to the ice caves, students collected soil samples to search for new antibiotics in two Clark College Antibiotics Research classes (BIOL 105, BIOL 106). This research is crucial in addressing the growing issue of antibiotic resistance, a global health crisis that demands innovative solutions. Our work contributes to scientific knowledge and provides students with unique, hands-on learning experiences rarely available at two-year institutions like Clark College.
Improving visual-spatial reasoning with a new Sound Garden
Music stimulates all the senses and unleashes creativity and joy in young minds. For years, it has been thought to have a “Mozart effect” that improves students’ math, language, and literacy abilities. Music also enriches children’s lives by providing a way to decompress and experience a sense of wonder, joy, and love in a safe environment. The new Sound Garden at the Clark College Early Learning Childcare Center provides preschool children with a wonder-filled, meaningful, and engaging learning experience in nature that can enhance their performance in the classroom and beyond!
Classroom lessons buzz to life with a new Bee Campus
Clark College was certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program on April 20, 2023, joining 165 other college campuses and 179 cities united to make their landscape attractive to pollinators. Clark’s Bee Campus program goes beyond environmental stewardship. It provides our students with hands-on learning opportunities that bring classroom lessons to life. Faculty, staff, and students have worked together to study and create pollinator habitats with native plants.
As a certified Bee Campus, Clark College will educate students and community members about the region’s native pollinators via biology labs, community science research contributions, environmental science service learning, Continuing Ed seminars, and Bee Units offered to nearby elementary schools.