Tuesday, June 9, 2009

NSF awards Holy Cross $900K to promote STEM education

By Mass High Tech staff

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The National Science Foundation has awarded the College of the Holy Cross a $900,000 grant to attract undergraduates to teaching careers, particularly in much-needed school districts, in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The NSF funding will help create the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.

The scholarship program, fully called “Attracting Liberal Arts STEM Students to Teaching: A Noyce Phase I Proposal,” entails a maximum of two years of $19,000-per-year funding to undergraduates enrolled in the school’s Teacher Education Program, with plans to teach STEM, who agree to teach in “under-resourced school districts” for four years after graduating from Holy Cross. Over five years, the school will award 20 scholarships, with the initial five fundings to be awarded in the 2010-2011 school year.

Charles Weiss, director of grants and foundation giving at Holy Cross, said in a press release that the school hopes many of the scholarship students may stay and teach in Worcester following graduation.

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program will be overseen by Holy Cross faculty, including Danuta Bukatko, ‘58 Professor in Education; Beverley Bell, director of the Teacher Education Program; Daniel Bitran, associate professor of psychology and science coordinator; Catherine Roberts, associate professor of mathematics; and Janine Shertzer, professor of physics.