Tuskegee University News 10/27/2016 Tuskegee University awarded $1 Million in STEM scholarships from NSF grant The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a Consortium led by Tuskegee University a grant of $5 Million under the Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, to prepare STEM professionals of the future. The project is called “Making to Advance Knowledge, Excellence and Recognition in STEM (MAKERS).” $1 Million of the grant funds are dedicated for scholarships for STEM undergraduates at Tuskegee. Through its proposed activities, the project has a strong potential to make significant impact on recruitment and retention at the University. The Tuskegee led MAKERS S-STEM Consortium includes 1) six Alabama institutions of higher education: Tuskegee University, Alabama A&M University, Auburn University, Auburn University Montgomery, Lawson State Community College, Southern Union State Community College; 2) Oakland University in Michigan; along with two National Labs located in Brookhaven, NY and Oakridge, TN. Dr. Mohammed A. Qazi, Professor of Mathematics at Tuskegee serves as the Executive Director of the Consortium and lead Principal Investigator of the grant. The focus of the MAKERS Consortium is to recruit low-income academically talented undergraduate STEM majors (MAKERS Scholars) at the six Alabama institutions and immerse them in innovative curricular and co-curricular activities designed to prepare them for STEM graduate school and the workforce. Oakland University will investigate the outcomes of these activities on the success, retention, transfer, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM of participating students. The role of the two National Labs (Oakridge and Brookhaven) is to host select Scholars for summer research internships experiences. “I am very pleased to state that we have some colleagues such as Dr. Mohammed Amer Qazi who not only fulfill their share of teaching and other responsibilities, but also burn the midnight oil to write proposals and win large competitive grants which help us enhance our research, teaching and outreach infrastructure,” said Dr. Shaik Jeelani, Vice President for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies. At Tuskegee, the 5-year S-STEM effort will recruit and prepare approximately 30 individual STEM majors who will be supported by scholarships for a maximum of 4 years each. During this period, approximately 150 individual students will be prepared across the Consortium and participate in program activities. Dr. Qazi states, “All six participating Alabama MAKERS institutions will work in parallel to immerse participants in the activities proposed in the grant, contributing to significant broader impacts on STEM preparation of at-risk students.” “The commitment to the project from a diverse mix of institutions including HBCUs, TWIs, Community Colleges and National Laboratories that have come together to form the Consortium is very impressive. Collective grant efforts have the strong potential to produce improved outcomes on retention, transfer, graduation and workforce placement rates for at-risk populations,” said Qazi. The STEM disciplines supported by the S-STEM program are: 1) Biological sciences (except medicine and other clinical fields); 2) Physical sciences (including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and materials science); 3) Mathematical sciences; 4) Computer and information sciences; 5) Geosciences; 6) Engineering; and, 7) Technology areas associated with the preceding disciplines. Additionally, Dr. Michael Curry (Department of Chemistry) and Dr. Shaik Zainuddin (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) are Co-Principal Investigators on the project at Tuskegee. They will work closely with Dr. Qazi to implement all MAKERS activities on campus. The team will work with investigators at the other five Alabama campuses and Oakland University to produce impacts on a broad scale. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org sphoenix@hbculibraries.org Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/