UA Grant to Help Indians in Science
Posted on: Friday, 19 May 2006, 12:10 CDT
By Eric Swedlund, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
May 19--The University of Arizona has received a $1.4 million grant to continue an effort that has created the nation's largest nationally recognized program for American Indian graduate students in science and engineering.
The expansion of the partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will continue to target American Indian students, who have historically been the most underrepresented minority group in higher education, but particularly so in the sciences. It's the first program of its kind in the country.
"These students are tremendously capable and resilient," said Maria Teresa Velez, associate dean of the UA Graduate College. "What they need is good mentoring and good financial support to succeed."
Before the Sloan program, the UA had six American Indian students in graduate science programs. Using the first $1 million grant, the UA recruited 25 more students, 14 for master's degree programs and 11 for doctorates.
"What was successful about our first three years was we monitored it very closely and worked with both the students and their advisers," program coordinator Donna Treloar said. "That's how we were able to retain them so well."
The recruitment fell short of the target for master's students but beat the goal for doctoral students, Treloar said.
Over the next three years, the program anticipates 33 new students, with current scholars helpful in spreading the word to potential recruits.
The Sloan grant funds research stipends and recruiting efforts. Students who are admitted to the program receive tuition waivers, UA student health insurance and $32,000 for a master's degree program or $38,500 for a doctoral program. The students also receive academic, cultural and social support through the UA American Indian Graduate Center.
Most of the students currently in the program are researching areas that are particularly applicable to Indian reservations, including arid-lands studies, water issues and environmental engineering.
Velez said the students are pioneers, conducting graduate research in science areas where few or no American Indian students have been involved. Otakuye Conroy, an Oglala Sioux from Rapid City, S.D., was the first Ph.D. graduate of the program, receiving her degree in environmental engineering this spring.
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Source: The Arizona Daily Star
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