The Opportunity Program (TOP)

Adelphi University, Garden City NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project is providing scholarship support to eighteen worthy, but economically challenged incoming undergraduate students in chemistry, biology or physics. To ensure that the students succeed as science majors, the university is offering a comprehensive program of academic and social support in the form of tutoring, extensive faculty mentoring, peer support and the opportunity to participate in internships, research activities, and attend professional conferences. The goal is to develop a model for increasing the number of qualified graduates from underrepresented groups with science degrees and thus increase the pool of science professionals who will pursue careers in science and as professors of chemistry, biology, and physics, and teachers of science K-12. Students are recruited from the New York metropolitan area and are students who would not normally be able to attend Adelphi for economic reasons. The office of Pre-Professional Advising and Fellowships and the Center for Career Development is providing the students with extensive on going support and information as well as seminars and group and individual meetings in order to help the students fulfill their career goals.