Building on our Success: A proposal to enhance and improve minority student recruitment and retention in the Geosciences at the University of New Orleans

University Of New Orleans, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT BUILDING ON OUR SUCCESS: A PROPOSAL TO ENHANCE AND IMPROVE MINORITY STUDENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION IN THE GEOSCIENCES AT THE UNIVERISTY OF NEW ORLEANS For the past 27 years, the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of New Orleans (UNO) has managed a program for recruiting and graduating BS and MS African-American and Hispanic geoscientists. The primary tools for minority student recruitment have been a summer field trip for outstanding high school juniors and seniors, and scholarship support. This program emphasizes not only recruitment of outstanding high school students, but also the training and certification of local teachers through a Masters in Science Teaching (MAST) program. This award will expand and enhance the existing program of recruitment, retention, and graduation of minority students and teachers by taking actions that will also help to it become self-sustaining at the end of the period. Creating an advisory panel that consists mostly of former UNO minority-student graduates, now employed in local industry, academia, and government agencies is an important first step. The panel will assist in mentoring middle-high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and serve as a resource to faculty to better understand recruitment issues. The award will also expand a competitive, high school level summer program in environmental science open to local students in their freshman through senior years of high school. The outreach program will be expanded to include local middle schools where earth science is taught. A visiting scholars program will also be established.