The communities of Roswell, Hagerman, Dexter, Lake Arthur, and Midway historically suffer from limited access to broadband Internet service. Without intentional efforts to increase access and a concerted effort to teach computer literacy, these communities may remain disadvantaged. Project C-3PO is a major initiative at ENMU-R that is focused on increasing opportunities for our underserved communities through computer training courses and mobile broadband deployments. Our institution is the recipient of the Connecting Minority Communities grant and the goal is to provide much needed assistance to qualified students, community members, and small businesses within the target area who are at least 18 y/o or older.

The Project C-3PO Pillars are

 

1. Education and training
2. Increasing computer technology awareness and access
3. Providing equipment and support

Our Partners

The project’s local partners include the Roswell Hispano Chamber of Commerce, Roswell Public Library, Roswell Chaves County Economic Development Corporation, WESST, Lake Arthur Municipal Schools, Hagerman Town Hall, Dexter Town Hall, and ENMU-R departments of IT Services, Adult Education, Student Services, Institutional Research, and the center for Community and Workforce Training.

Equipment

Hotspots will be utilized as broadband access points to allow participants to connect to a Wi-Fi network with a phone, tablet, laptop, etc.

Laptops will be available for check-out by participants to attend computer literacy courses.

Education

Computer literacy training will be offered in the areas of Introduction to Computers as well as introductory level courses in Microsoft’s software ecosystem to include Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Intuit’s QuickBooks. The courses will vary per location depending on identified skills gaps. Each course will be taught both in English and Spanish by skilled instructors in 1.5 hour class sessions. Class sizes are limited to 10 students per location.