The Birmingham Times
It’s been a banner past four weeks for Miles College.
On Monday, the school announced it will become a community center for Coding and Creativity as part of Apple’s Community Education Initiative and Tennessee State University’s HBCU C2 initiative designed to bring coding and creativity experiences to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their communities.
Last week, the institution announced that it’s receiving a grant from Alabama Power and its parent, Southern Company, to support the Miles College Empowerment Center for Digital Excellence in Careers and Education (M-Power Center). The gift is part of Southern Company and its subsidiaries’ $50 million HBCU Initiative, a multiyear funding strategy announced in January 2020 that provides HBCU students with scholarships, internships, leadership development and access to technology and innovation to support career readiness.
Two weeks ago Miles announced a $2 million collaboration with IBM to help students and faculty develop technology skills. The partnership will help train students and instructors in technologies such as AI, blockchain, data science, cybersecurity, cloud and quantum.
Miles’s announcement this week with Apple was made during in celebration of Computer Science Education Week and will help bring workforce development opportunities to students and the broader Fairfield community where the school is located.
“We truly appreciate Apple’s leadership in recognizing the pivotal role Miles College and HBCU students will play in the future of global technological advancement and innovation, particularly through supporting and fostering this first-of-its-kind coding partnership,” said Bobbie Knight, Miles College President. “Being aligned in a strategic partnership with the largest technology company in the world will undoubtedly prove an invaluable asset to our graduates as they go on to compete in the global competitive technology marketplace.”
Faculty leaders from Miles College will participate in Apple’s ongoing Community Education Initiative Learning Series to learn about coding and app development. As part of that ongoing professional development, educators will explore innovative ways to engage with learners using Apple’s comprehensive curriculum, which utilizes its easy-to-learn Swift programming language.
As part of its Community Education Initiative, Apple is supporting Miles College with equipment and professional development to help the college become the pre-eminent HBCU C2 community center to bring coding and creativity to Fairfield, Alabama.
In January, Charles Barkley, the NBA Hall of Famer, on Wednesday donated $1 million to Miles College, the single largest donation in the institution’s 122-year history.
For more information about the HBCU C2 initiative contact the Office of Academic Affairs at 205-929-1000.
