U.S. Department of Labor
Alternate Health Education Asynchronous Delivery (AHEAD) project

Calhoun Community College recently received $2,465,656 from the U.S. Department of Labor for the Alternate Health Education Asynchronous Delivery (AHEAD) project. This Project will focus on healthcare professionals including nursing, radiography, clinical laboratory technology and surgical technology.

Partners for the Project are the Alabama Workforce Investment Board, Alabama College System, Alabama Hospital Association, Health Group of Alabama, Central Alabama Community College, Southern Union Community College, Decatur City Schools, Lawrence County Schools, Huntsville City Schools, the University of Alabama-Birmingham North School of Medicine (North Alabama Health Education Consortium), Athens Limestone Hospital, Decatur General Hospital, East Alabama Medical Center, Huntsville Hospital, Lanier Health Services and Cardinal Health Laboratories.

Project AHEAD offers students training for new career opportunities in Nursing, Surgical Technology, Radiography and Clinical Laboratory Technology through the combined strengths and specialties of each participating community college and the strong support of the healthcare industry partners. Calhoun Community College serves as the lead institution for Project AHEAD.

Proposed Training and Capacity Building Activities:

1.) Facilities, equipment, and jobs exist for Radiography graduates, but there are not enough students to pay the instructor's salary so the equipment remains idle and students are turned away while good-paying jobs remain unfilled.

2.) More than 600 students apply for nursing programs, but instructors and classroom space are so limited that only 185 are accepted and 400+ are turned away while the nation faces a critical nursing shortage.

3.) Students desiring a career in healthcare are limited to nursing because there are no funds to start new programs.

These three scenarios are real-life examples of issues facing the community college partners in Project AHEAD. The Project will increase each partner college's capacity by offering an extended consortium of healthcare programs through shared resources and web-based instruction. Students across Alabama will benefit from flexible entry/exit points in numerous Allied Health Programs leading to professional certification or licensure. Project AHEAD will target students from rural and under-represented populations, displaced/incumbent workers, Veterans, and professionals returning to school for a second career or career ladder option. Shared resources among partners will result in a broader knowledge base for students and provide increased responsiveness to healthcare training needs. Visit the Project AHEAD website.