RSCC – UCOR renewed its investment in Roane State students this year with a $40,000 donation supporting a pair of technical programs: Environmental Health Technology (EHT) and Chemical Engineering Technology (CET).

Roane State Foundation will divide the gift evenly between the two programs. The funds will then be utilized to improve available resources and support students across the college’s 10-county service area who choose to pursue either program of study.

UCOR, an Amentum-led partnership with Honeywell, is the lead environmental contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 32,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation. Its 2,500 employees operate nuclear facilities and its 15-year, $8.3 billion contract is focused on the safe cleanup of former nuclear facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory – with many structures dating back 80 years to the World War II-era Manhattan Project.

UCOR has provided backing for Roane State’s CET program since its inception, offering guidance on program development and ongoing support through CET Advisory Board participation in addition to regular monetary donations. UCOR and Roane State’s collaborations earned state-wide recognition from the Tennessee Board of Regents as a 2023 winner of its “Statewide Outstanding Achievement Recognition Partnership Award.”

Many Roane State students have completed apprenticeships with the company in the last few years that have led to full-time employment, and UCOR also offers jobs to interns as well as additional program graduates. “UCOR is proud of our continued partnership with Roane State, as we now have a local workforce pipeline offering rewarding career opportunities to support our cleanup mission,” said UCOR Administrative Services Director Charles Malarkey.

“Previous donations have been used for a variety of purposes, including the purchase of new equipment for the CET lab and software to help students learn by doing,” said Laura Hofman, CET program director at Roane State. “These upgrades help us ensure our graduates are fully prepared for a career in chemical processing and operations.”

Following the success of the CET program collaboration, UCOR officials chose to expand the partnership with Roane State to include Environmental Health Technology (EHT).

“Thanks to this effort, EHT students have been able to train on UCOR equipment under the instruction of professionals,” Roane State Foundation Executive Director Scott Niermann said. “The funding also provides scholarships that ease financial strain and help our students be successful in the classroom.”

According to completion data from the college and Roane State Foundation, students who receive at least $1,000 in scholarships are more than twice as likely to graduate on time.

To learn more about Roane State programs, visit roanestate.edu/academicprograms. For info on Roane State Foundation scholarships, visit roanestate.edu/foundationscholarships.