Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) has received a $3 million U.S. Department of Education grant to enhance graduate education in the STEM areas — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — and in allied health fields.
The funding will provide $500,000 in support for each of the next six years.
Dr. Fidelis Ikem
“The dearth of minorities, especially African-Americans, in the STEM areas and allied health fields is well documented with African-Americans comprising fewer than 5 percent of those who hold master’s degrees in biology, as an example,” said Dr. Fidelis M. Ikem, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the university’s chief research officer, who serves as principal investigator for the program.
“We will use these funds on a variety of activities to increase the university’s ability to produce master’s degree graduates in nursing, physical therapy, computer science and information technology, rehabilitation counseling, occupational therapy, mathematics education and science education from the under-represented groups. The ability to enhance and strengthen our programs will support our efforts to contribute to the national goal of increasing the number of African-American and low-income students who pursue and earn their master’s degrees in one of these disciplines.”
The grant will support additional scholarships, tutoring, student and faculty attendance at professional conferences and faculty development, as well as establish an endowment to ensure continued support when the grant has expired.
“Winston-Salem State has a strong track record of producing underrepresented minority graduates with master’s degrees in these areas,” Ikem added. ”For the 2008-2009 year, these programs produced 93 graduates with master’s degrees and nearly 60 percent of them were African-Americans.”
The university also recently received a $700,000 grant for the undergraduate program that could amount to nearly $1.75 million over five years. The funds will be used to implement a new program designed to increase the number of science and mathematics majors who graduate from WSSU. That grant was from the National Science Foundation.
