Encouraging the Technological Sciences in Appalachia

Appalachian College Association, Walland TN

Investigators

Abstract

The Appalachian College Association (ACA), a consortium of 33 private liberal arts colleges in central Appalachia, was formed to maximize the efforts of these colleges by facilitating their ability to share resources. Central Appalachia needs computer scientists, engineers and mathematicians, but most of the colleges graduate only a small number of students in these areas. This projects provides forty scholarships a year for two years to qualified third or fourth year students from the Appalachian area attending one of 31 ACA schools. Awarding these scholarships through the ACA office allows small schools to take advantage of the National Science Foundation initiative even if they have only one or two students interested in these programs and allows the schools to provide a support structure for the students that may not be available on an individual campus. Scholarship recipients are invited to the fall meeting of ACA Academic Deans. Here they have the opportunity to interact with fellow students and to meet graduate school deans and industry leaders. The presence of the scholarships encourages more students to consider majoring in these areas and the support structure provided for the recipients supports their success in their academic programs while in college, and success in jobs or further education.