An innovative collaboration between Jackson State University and a rural community college campus in Mississippi has resulted in a five-year, $1.75 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
The institutional transformation grant, announced earlier this month, was awarded to the Utica Campus of Hinds Community College “to develop educational bridges” between the Utica campus and Jackson State. Specifically, its goal is to recruit and prepare students for careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, according to Dr. Mae Catheryne Jackson, mathematics instructor and grant writer at HCC-Utica.
Jackson and Dr. George Barnes, vice president for administration at Hinds CC-Utica, will direct the program along with other faculty and administrators who have worked several years to develop the project. Jackson said the institution received a $75,000 planning grant in 2007, after an initial proposal for a larger grant was not accepted.
“It took quite a bit of perseverance and establishing relationships so that we could let them (NSF) know that we were really serious,” Jackson said. The improved and enhanced proposal was submitted in March, with the positive news being announced this month.
It is one of the largest NSF grants awarded to a community college in Mississippi, and Hinds CC-Utica was one of just six institutions receiving the grants out of 22 that applied nationwide.
Jackson said the program will target a cohort group of 25 students recruited from area high schools and train faculty in specific teaching strategies designed to keep the students focused and engaged.
“We see the need to move from traditional techniques to a more student-centered approach. Our pedagogical strategies involve process education and active student learning, developing activities that support concepts, as opposed to the lectures approach,” Jackson said.
