Sunday, December 19, 2010
Washington, DC – (Dec. 16, 2010) – Two veteran science professors at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore will join peers from 12 other historically black institutions in a special training program in 2011 designed specifically for female faculty members who teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Dr. Linda R. Johnson, an associate professor of biology, and Dr. Jeurel Singleton, an associate professor of entomology, have been selected to participate in Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future, according to the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
The project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities-Undergraduate Program. Faculty from the 13 participating institutions represent the two-year and four-year as well as public and private sectors. Its goal is to providing strategies for becoming strong academic and administrative leaders in academic disciplines collectively referred to by educators as “STEM” subjects.
The National Science Foundation grant covers travel, meals, registration and other expenses so Johnson, Singleton and their colleagues can participate in training seminars scheduled for March and July 2011.
“We are grateful to the National Science Foundation for giving AAC&U the opportunity to provide professional and STEM leadership development to women of color at HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions,” AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider said.
“We also are delighted that this initiative connects our STEM reform efforts led by Project Kaleidoscope with our work supporting women in higher education through our Program on the Status and Education of Women.”
Other participating institutions are:
- Bennett College – Greensboro, NC
- Central State University – Wilberforce, OH
- J.F. Drake State Technical College – Huntsville, AL
- Livingstone College – Salisbury, NC
- North Carolina A&T State University – Greensboro, NC
- North Carolina Central University – Durham, NC
- Spelman College – Atlanta, GA
- Tennessee State University – Nashville, TN
- University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
- University of the District of Columbia
- Wiley College – Marshall, TX
- Winston-Salem (NC) State University
Each institution nominated two female faculty members in STEM disciplines to participate in all phases of the project. Institutional leaders also identified three additional participants, primarily women of color, to engage in the second phase of the project-participating in AAC&U’s Engaging Departments Institute in July 2011.
“We expect the project to make great strides in advancing undergraduate STEM education and the professional and leadership development of women of color in STEM fields,” said Alma Clayton-Pedersen, AAC&U’s Senior Scholar and Project Director.
Additional HBCUs will be selected to participate in the program in 2011and again in 2012. Nearly 40 percent of the nation’s HBCUs are expected to participate in this initiative by the end of the grant cycle in 2013. The project is also open to non-HBCUs, but those institutions must fully support their teams in both phases of the project.
The project’s goals are:
- To provide professional and leadership development for women of color faculty in STEM disciplines, or in NSF natural and behavioral science disciplines; and
- Improve undergraduate STEM education at HBCUs and beyond.
Participants will be provided the opportunity and the fx
