AVC SHORT OF ITS ENDOWMENT GOALS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The Antelope Valley College Foundation is mounting a campaign to raise $80,000 by July to create an endowment that will draw in $300,000 in federal funding.

The foundation is $80,000 short of its goal of $300,000 for the endowment. Under the provisions of a 2000 Department of Education grant, the endowment will receive $300,000 in federal funding if the foundation can collect $300,000 itself.

``It's very critical and vital that we raise the money,'' said John Currado, president of the foundation's board. ``If we don't raise the money, we lose the $300,000.''

The endowment money will be invested for at least 20 years, with the interest income usable as ``educational venture capital'' to finance scholarships.

``This is a tremendous opportunity,'' said foundation board member Brent Banks, an AVC alumnus. ``This is an opportunity to double your investment.''

The foundation sent out letters to community leaders and college supporters asking them to help ``meet the match.'' The foundation will also hold gatherings of potential donors.

The endowment effort is part of a $2 million, five-year grant awarded to the college in 2000. The grant is believed to be the largest federal grant in the college's 75-year history.

The grant was awarded under a program aimed at aiding colleges with large Latino populations, although the services provided by the grant are not limited to Latinos.

AVC's student body is 25 percent Latino, and there's an even larger percentage of Latinos in the Antelope Valley population, officials say.

The grant money was spent on a variety of projects, including funding equipment for ``smart classrooms'' containing interactive computer and video equipment; a streaming video server enabling students to access video tutorials 24 hours a day; the strengthening of partnerships with grade schools and universities to bolster math education; expanding the hours of the college's learning center; and assisting with faculty technology training.

``We've gotten a lot of mileage out of (the grant),'' said Christos Valiotis, a physics instructor who serves as coordinator for the grant.

The college, in partnership with the California State University, Bakersfield, Antelope Valley campus, will pursue a similar grant in 2005. The new grant effort will be aimed at expanding a teacher-education program to the high school level and at programs that will draw in and assist students pursuing engineering studies.

Valiotis said he expects the partnership to apply for the grant in the spring. It will learn whether it will receive the grant next summer.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com