Benedictine University (Ill.) and the College of DuPage (Ill.) will use a three-year, $199,952 grant from the National Science Foundation to help introduce biocalculus to more two- and four-year students at the two institutions.

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $500,000 grant to the North Alabama/Southern Tennessee region for the Second Generation of the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, or WIRED, initiative. Calhoun Community College (Ala.) is the lead institution for the regional group. The group could eventually access $4.5 million in additional funds from the Labor Department.

The School of Public Health at Drexel University (Pa.) and the National Minority AIDS Council have received a $275,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. The grant will be used to develop emergency preparedness recommendations so communities can meet the medical needs of large numbers of temporarily relocated minorities after natural disasters. OMH has also awarded $250,000 to the National Council of La Raza to develop a toolkit to help emergency responders serve immigrant communities during disasters.

WellPoint Inc., the nation’s largest health benefits company, has donated $50,000 to the Lagrant Foundation to provide scholarships to minority undergraduates and graduate students majoring in advertising, marketing and public relations. The Lagrant Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of minorities in those professions.

The Comcast Foundation has awarded a $25,000 grant to the National Puerto Rican Coalition’s College to Career program. The seven-week series of hands-on seminars and training sessions hopes to increase the number of Puerto Ricans succeeding in the corporate work force.