UA McNair Scholar, Tonya Hutto, pictured in the first row on the far right with her cohort of schoalrs. ;

University of Alabama McNair Scholar Tonya Hutto has  been selected to present at Posters on the Hill.  She was mentored by Dr. Rebecca Howell, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, and is presenting her McNair research entitled “The Direct Effects of Race on the Adult Court Sentences of Waived Youth: A Replication and Extension.”

Since 1996, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has hosted an annual undergraduate poster session on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The event in intended to help members of Congress understand the importance of undergraduate research by talking directly with the students whom these programs impact.

Any student is eligible to submit an abstract of their research that represents any of CUR’s disciplinary divisions (Arts and Humanities, Health Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematics/Computer Science, and Physics/Astronomy).

Addition information about Posters on the Hill event can be found at the CUR website.

From left: Engineering Dean Tom Landers, Director of ECE Jim Sluss, Bradley Pirtle and Astronaut Charlie Duke.

Bradley Pirtle, a McNair Scholar and senior majoring in computer engineering major at the University of Oklahoma (OU) was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. He is a continuing scholar, competing his second year in the Ronald E. McNair Scholar Program at OU and will graduate in May 2012.  Pirtle’s current research interest is in artificial intelligence with a focus on data mining.  He also tutors students in Calculus and enjoys sharpening his culinary skills in his spare time.

The Astronaut Scholarship is the largest monetary award given in the United States to science and engineering undergraduate students based solely on merit. Twenty-six of these prestigious awards were dispersed this year through the ASF to outstanding college students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math. More than $3 million has been awarded in scholarships to date.  These high-achieving students exhibit strong drive and phenomenal performance in their field, as well as intellectual daring and a genuine desire to positively change the world around them, both in and out of the classroom.

After graduation, Bradley plans to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science, with the hope of being employed by a government agency or laboratory where his work will ultimately better humankind.

From left: Engineering Dean Tom Landers, Director of ECE Jim Sluss, Bradley Pirtle and Astronaut Charlie Duke.

- Original press release posted by University of Oklahoma College of Engineering on September 22, 2011.

This is the second consecutive year that a UALR student has been chosen for the competition.

The 16th annual “Posters on the Hill” session on April 23 and 24 is sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research on Capitol Hill. The event is designed to help members of Congress understand the importance of undergraduate research by talking directly with students. There will be two student presentation sessions, a luncheon panel and poster session for arts and humanities students, and an evening poster session and reception for science and social sciences students.

Brown, a graduate of Benton High School, will attend a luncheon with the Arkansas congressional delegation and will meet with key representatives of committees related to undergraduate research. Brown is majoring in English with a minor in secondary education and is in the final semester of his senior year.

He became interested in William Faulkner while taking a “Faulkner and Hemingway” seminar offered through the William G. Cooper Jr. Honors Program in English.

“After reading ‘The Sound and the Fury,’ I knew I wanted to work on that novel for my Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program project,” Brown said. “I like how this novel in particular keeps unfolding with each successive read, offering new insights into our American mythologies.”

He will be accompanied to Washington by his faculty sponsor and mentor, Dr. James Levernier, professor of English.

“Last year, an undergraduate in the history department was the first UALR student to receive this recognition and now an English major has won,” said Dr. Pat Pellicane, vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school. “I hope that this could become an annual occurrence.”

UALR students conducting an undergraduate research project are eligible to apply for the annual competition. Applications and more information can be found at the Council on Undergraduate Research website.

- Article originally posted by UALR on February 28, 2012 on the UALR website.

Last week, Pinnix presented “The Truth behind closed doors: A Qualitative and Quantitative investigation of Black heterosexual romantic relationships” at the Annual National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, National Association of Native American Studies and the International Association of Asian Studies Conference.

“The project made me very passionate about research. Academically, I definitely learned a lot, particularly about how to conduct research,” Pinnix says. “I also learned how much I enjoy doing research, and how little research has been done on blacks and other minority relationships.”

This is just the kind of statement that Sidney Childs, director of TRIO Programs which includes the McNair Scholars Program, loves to hear. “We see so much promise in our students when they begin their studies at BGSU. However, since our scholars are first-generation students or from populations underrepresented at the doctoral level, they often don’t see the same potential in themselves,” he says. “It is wonderful to see Adeya presenting at a national conference and to hear about her plans for further academic pursuits.”

Pinnix credits the McNair Scholars Program with setting her on a successful research path. She says, “Research is emphasized early in your studies. McNair Scholars attend an intensive 200-hour summer research institute and several national research conferences. We also participate in courses for GRE and graduate studies preparation. Additionally, faculty in both the psychology and women’s studies programs have been tremendously encouraging about pursuing research and developing appropriate methodologies.”

“Adeya is such an insightful and engaged young scholar,” says Susana Peña, School of Cultural and Critical Studies director. “As a teacher, it is wonderful to watch her develop new ideas and insights and I look forward to her future academic achievements and contributions.”

- Article originally posted on the Bowling Green State University website.

In contrast to these broad investments in new initiatives, the Administration opted to recommend level-funding—that ultimately translates into a funding cut—for TRIO, GEAR UP, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and virtually every other higher education program. The lone bright spots
occurred among financial aid programs. The Pell Grant, for example, will increase by $85 to $5,635 in the 2013–2014 academic year; this increase results from the language in the reconciliation act noted above, which mandates that the Pell Grant increase in accordance with the Consumer Price Index. Meanwhile, the Administration proposes to boost Federal Work-Study funding by $150 million; this is part of a larger plan to double the size of the program over the next several years. Finally, the President’s proposal would prevent the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans from doubling and maintain the current interest rate of 3.4 percent. Due to the contentious nature of funding debates in Congress, experts agree that legislators are unlikely to adopt many of the proposals contained in the President’s budget. In fact, Members of Congress will likely put off passing any funding legislation until after the November elections. This gives TRIO advocates a significant amount of time to convince legislators of the need for increased funding. The public policy team at COE will continue to work closely with the TRIO community to successfully secure increased funds to support our students and programs in FY 2013.

- Article originally posted Council for Opportunity in Education March 2012 edition of Equity.

Click here for additional information about ongoing advocacy efforts.

When President Obama released his FY 2013 budget proposal to Congress, he proposed to level-fund the Federal TRIO Programs. Upon a closer review, however, of the line-by-line allocations for various TRIO programs, it became clear that this proposal disappointed in more ways than one. It seems that in anticipation of the pending loss of several Classic Upward Bound programs, the Department of Education opted to move $10 million from the McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement program to support the Upward Bound Math/Science program. A review of the draft application for the McNair program confirmed this change. In the application, the Department indicated that only $36.1 million is available for the FY 2012 competition—a $10 million reduction from the amount previously available for McNair. Further, the application indicated the intention to only fund 127 grant awards—a reduction of more than one-third of the current number of McNair grants. This shift in money can only be authorized by the Department of Education.

Given the dire needs of increased funding for all TRIO programs, the entire McNair community is urged to work diligently to convince legislators of the need to invest more into McNair specifically. By drawing upon program data about student success, the community can help turn the tide in favor of McNair and all of TRIO. COE will continue to work closely with the
entire McNair community—from program directors to faculty advisors to students and alumni—to ensure these funds are restored to the program.

At the Southeastern Association of Education Opportunity Personnel meeting in Jacksonville, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, Debra Saunders-White, announced that the regular Upward Bound competition would be reopened for two weeks—only for those institutions and agencies that indicated that they were applying for competitive priority points under Competitive Priority One: Serving Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools in their original application. This extension is due to confusion regarding which schools qualify as persistently lowest achieving schools, as well as the fact that inaccurate information regarding this question was provided by the Department of Education. When the notice of the extension was posted on the Department of Education website, a list of qualifying Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools was included. Only schools on this list qualify as persistently lowest achieving schools. Serving Tier 3 schools does not qualify an institution or agency for this competitive priority. COE expects that these announcements will further delay the upcoming competitions for UB, UBMS, VUB, and McNair. COE is also deeply concerned that discrepancies in applications appear to be overrepresented in applications from California, Puerto Rico, and Texas— signaling that this overrepresentation could disservice institutions and agencies applying to serve significant percentages of Latino students.

Because the Department and the Obama Administration continue to ignore the importance of the timings of each competition, the TRIO community will be addressing this issue with Congress when we hit Capitol Hill during the 2012 Policy Seminar. It is COE’s hope that by working with a number of legislators, the Department will be forced to address this issue and report on the status of competitions to Congress to ensure timelines are met.

- Article originally posted Council for Opportunity in Education March 2012 edition of Equity.

Click here for additional information about ongoing advocacy efforts.

Of course not. Yet this is the kind of approach that the Obama Administration has taken with education. In no other area has the president striven harder to make his mark as a reformer by signaling that he is unafraid to shake up the education establishment, challenge old assumptions and dramatically step up the federal government’s role as a catalyst for change. And if one area stands out as the hallmark of this approach, it’s the emphasis on competitive grant programs rather than on programs that target the nation’s least advantaged children.

Although the large majority of federal education dollars are still spent on formula-funded and other targeted programs, these programs have not captured the Administration’s imagination or attention. Rather, acting more like a private foundation than a national government, the Administration has shown that its passion and budget priorities lie with competitive grant programs. The best-known examples are the U.S. Department of Education’s various Race to the Top initiatives for K-12 education, the “First in the World” initiative for higher education programs and the competitions surrounding community colleges.

I certainly believe in the value of competition in getting the most out of people and have felt the thrill when my children, and now grandchildren, make the winning touchdown or bring home exceptional test results. But competition has its time and place, and what this Administration sees as a powerful lever to impose their ideas I view as a troubling trend that moves us away from the basic rule that the federal government’s investment in education should be precisely targeted on assuring that all children have the opportunity to receive a quality education.

In accepting the Democratic nomination back in 2008, then-candidate Obama noted, “America, now is not the time for small plans. Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy.”

I hope that moving forward, the President can recapture that sentiment and shift away from thinking about improving our education system as a competitive sport.

- Originally posted in the Huffington Post  by Dr. Arnold Mitchem on March 7, 2012.

Arnold L. Mitchem, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) since its founding in 1986, has been a voice for low-income, first-generation students and individuals with disabilities his entire career. COE supports and advocates for federally funded TRIO Programs, which are the largest discretionary program in the U.S. Department of Education and now serve more than 872,000 students at 1,200 colleges and universities.

Please encourage your McNair scholars to save the date. Also, we would like to provide some specific details for you to note as you plan your summer, and consider our conference.

Conference Theme: “McNair: Preparing, Promoting and Producing Research Scholars“

Highlights include:

-Conference registration cost: $340 (early registration-Deadline: 5-25-12) $350 (general registration-Deadline: 6-25-12)  Click here to view conference registration.

-Conference hotel rate: $123.00 + tax (rate deadline: May 18, 2012; please get your room today!!)

Phone: 1-877-667-7210 or 1-404-221-6300, mention SAEOPP 2012 McNair Scholars Room Block or Click here for additional information about the conference hotel.

- Keynote and Award Banquet Speakers: Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, III (President, University of Maryland, Baltimore Country

- Various Professional Development Workshops/Plenaries: TBA

- Cash prizes for best oral and poster presentations

- Opportunities to visit local college campuses and their graduate programs (Georgia State University, Emory University, Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Clark Atlanta University)

- Graduate Recruiter Luncheon and Fair (Last year 50 Graduate Institutions-some of the schools that attended were: Columbia University, MIT, UGA, Emory, Stanford U, Michigan State, Ohio State University, University of Michigan, UNC-Chapel Hill, LSU, U Pitt, Texas A & M, UC Santa Barbara, Penn State)

- Over 500 Student Participants

We hope to see you this summer in the ATL!!

Clarkson University undergraduate Maria Lang has received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Maria C. Lang, a senior mechanical engineering major from El Paso, Texas, received the fellowship. She is a member of Clarkson’s Honors Program and a Ronald E. McNair Scholar.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are the most prestigious awards available to students beginning their graduate studies in engineering and the sciences. The ranks of NSF Fellows include individuals who have made transformative breakthroughs in research and have become leaders in their chosen careers, including several Nobel Laureates.

Lang entered Clarkson as one of the first cohort of the S-STEM program funded by NSF in 2007. She was admitted into the Honors Program after her freshman year due to her outstanding performance.

Lang was inspired by late astronaut McNair and a former McNair scholar to dream of becoming an astronaut. She participated in the NASA Academy in 2010, working in the propulsion branch at Goddard Space Flight Center with Rich Luquette and Paul Mason.

Her honors thesis is on the computational fluid dynamics of nano-aerosols, supervised by Prof. Suresh Dhaniyala. After graduation, Lang will pursue her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she will investigate electric propulsion/plasma dynamics with Prof. Iain Boyd. She is also a recipient of the Rackham Merit Fellowship there at the Rackham Graduate School.

“Maria has been an outstanding scholar and role model for her fellow McNair Scholars,” said Tammy McGregor-Twiss, assistant director of Clarkson’s McNair Program. “Her strong work ethic, drive and passion have led her to aspire, advance and achieve at every step of her undergraduate career. From obtaining two McNair research opportunities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, to participation in numerous professional conferences, tutoring and honors research, Maria is very deserving of this fellowship.”

“Maria exemplifies the all-around excellence of an Honors student,” said Jon D. Goss, director of Clarkson’s Honors Program. “Not only is she a brilliant student doing cutting-edge research, but she also tutors math and physics at Clarkson, and is extensively involved in outreach to promote sciences and engineering in K-12 education in the region. On top of that, she is an accomplished pianist and she imagines the prospect of playing in the first piano quartet in space when she succeeds in becoming an astronaut.”

The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program is intended to help ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States. It provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees.

Clarkson’s Honors Program is an intensive four-year curriculum for exceptionally talented students. The University admits only 30 new students to the Honors Program each year.

As one of the eight federally funded TRIO programs of the U.S. Department of Education, the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program prepares first generation & low-income and/or underrepresented students for doctoral studies. The McNair program hosted at Clarkson University is one of 200 across the United States.

- Original unedited article posted by Clarkson University News and Digital Content Services on April 7, 2011.

The GRF is one of the most prestigious awards that a graduate student can receive. The GRF includes an annual stipend of $30,000, tuition funding, and discretionary funds for research and travel, and opportunities for international research.

Under the direction of faculty mentor, Martin Feldman PhD, Cantu gained extensive experience as an undergraduate researcher, including an internship with the prestigious NanoJapan Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University in Sendai Japan. She also presented her research at a number of conferences, including the International Conference on Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication.

Cantu explained her reaction to the announcement, “I felt like I won the lottery. It really was a boost of confidence.” When asked about the application process Cantu stated, “It was a lot of work. The workshops and one-on-one help from the McNair Program were so important in preparing me to complete the application.” Cantu is currently a PhD student at the University of Utah.

- Original article posted on LSU website.