In this issue:

Multicontextuality: 
A New Perspective on Minority Underrepresentation in SEM Academic Fields

Multicontextuality Unpacked

An Interview with Dr. Sheila E. Brown

A Comparative study of the Impact of Differing Forms of Financial Aid on the Persistence of Minority and Majority Doctoral Students

A Profile of an MGE Institution: Georgia Tech

From the editors

About Our Icon

Managing Editor:Yolanda S. George
Editor: 
Virginia Van Horne
Art Director:
Ann Williams
 

Making Strides is a free, quarterly (April, July, October, and January) research newsletter published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Directorate for Education and Human Resources Program. Its purpose is to share information about minority graduate education (MGE) in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering. It is available in print and electronic format. Inquiries, information related to MGE, and all correspondence should be sent to the editor. 

The MGE program, “Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science”  (FACES), is a collaborative effort between the Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College and Spelman College. FACES represents a blending of commitment of the resources of these three institutions and the National Science Foundation to focus specifically on increasing the production of African Americans who earn engineering and science doctoral degrees. This program was initiated and is managed by African- American faculty who are committed to this goal and recognize that success breeds success. At steady state, the FACES program will produce ten additional African-American doctoral recipients per year, thereby doubling Georgia Tech’s output.

The FACES program is comprised of several components, each of which addresses a critical step along the path to an academic career. Undergraduate students who have completed their junior year are provided summer and academic year research experiences as a means of promoting their interest in research and graduate school attendance. This year, 22 students from schools around the country participated in the summer undergraduate research program. These students, as well as other worthy candidates, will be encouraged to enroll in graduate programs using a series of recruitment efforts at national events such as the National Society of Black Engineers Annual Convention, campus visits and tours, and a lecture/workshop series on the merit of graduate school and careers in academia.
Admitted graduate students are partially supported on doctoral fellowships throughout their matriculation through graduate school. This support is provided by means of a stipend that increases in value as the student meets the critical milestones along the way toward the Ph.D. degree. The first ten FACES fellows were admitted into various engineering and science programs this fall. Funds are also available to support travel by the FACES Fellows to technical meetings for research presentations.

Finally, senior doctoral candidates at Georgia Tech can compete for $20,000 career initiation grants which they may use as start-up funds to assist them in establishing their research programs in their initial academic appointments. Three such grants were awarded this year. The recipients (and the institutions at which they will be teaching) are Dr. Comas Haynes (Florida A&M University), Dr. Mark Lewis (University of Michigan), and Dr. Joseph Owino (University of Tennessee, Chattanooga).
Institutionalization of the FACES program will be facilitated by the establishment of endowed faculty chair positions at each of the participating institutions. These chairs, which will be filled on a rotating basis with a five-year term, will serve as directors of the FACES management team and will be responsible for supervision of FACES activities, planning new initiatives, program evaluation, and student tracking. The chaired positions will provide the long-term leadership necessary to continue oversight of FACES after the initial five-year period of NSF funding ends.

FACES is managed by a steering committee consisting of Professors Reginald DesRoches, Augus-tine Esogbue, Gary S. May, Stephen M. Ruffin, Mark J.T. Smith, Jeffrey L. Streator, and S. Gordon Moore, Jr., all at Georgia Tech and Professors Etta Falconer of Spelman and Arthur Jones of Morehouse. This committee reports directly to Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough.

For more information:

FACES
c/o OMED: Educational Services
Georgia Institute of Technology
681 Cherry Street
Atlanta, GA 30332-0600
Tel: 404-894-3959
Fax: 404-894-1608
Email: faces@omed.gatech.edu
URL: http://www.omed.gatech.edu/programs/faces