$3 million grant will help Columbus State prepare more minorities for STEM careers
The National Science Foundation has awarded Columbus State University a $3 million grant to lead a regional effort to prepare more underrepresented minority undergraduate students for careers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
The grant will fund a scholar program for 140 STEM students during the next five years at six institutions in southwest Georgia. Along with CSU, the participating institutions are Columbus Technical College, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Georgia Southwestern State University, South Georgia Technical College and Valdosta State University.
“I’m very excited to provide these students the opportunity to experience the fun of research and to network with other minority researchers,” CSU associate professor of biology Monica Frazier said in Thursday’s news release from the university. “I had a great experience as an undergraduate doing research in a similar program, and I want to pass that experience forward to the next generation.”
The grant also creates the Southwestern Georgia STEM Pathways Alliance Program, the first local consortium in the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, which tries to increase the number of minority students earning degrees in the STEM fields. As part of the program, 28 underrepresented minority students per year will be selected for the LSAMP scholar program, beginning in the spring 2019 semester.
“CSU has always been strongly committed to promoting quality education to students in STEM,” Deborah Bordelon, the CSU provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in the news release. “This provides us the resources to reach out to talented students interested in the field who may not have otherwise seen a future in it. It provides a structured opportunity for them to see themselves as researchers and leaders.”
Students selected for the scholar program will receive a stipend, mentoring, research and internship opportunities, invitations to research conferences, and preparation for the Graduate Research Examination. Scholars will meet monthly with each other at their institutions and annually with other scholars in the consortium. They will learn to complete and present research as well as network in a professional environment. They also will be encouraged to attend national conferences and pursue additional research through the NSF.
“It is all about helping them see themselves as leaders and develop a passion for the STEM fields,” Bordelon said.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must be an underrepresented minority student enrolled at one of the partnering institutions, pursue a degree in an approved LSAMP STEM discipline, maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is at least 18 years old.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published September 6, 2018 at 5:12 PM.