BG News article of 2-10-04

Alliance Promotes Science, Math
The four year program has had excellent results, students returning do well, on deans list.

By Nicole Delisio
Reporter

February 10, 2004

The University has become a charter member of an alliance intended to improve the educational possibilities for minority students.
The Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance consists of 15 Ohio universities and state agencies and was formed by University faculty.
OSEA is intended to increase the number of minority students earning bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The alliance is one of 31 National Science Foundation alliances funded by Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP).
A grant ranging from $3.5 to $5 million will be given to the alliance by LSAMP for five years. One university program that will be aided by the grant is the Academic Investment in Math and Science (AIMS) program.
The AIMS program was engineered by President Sidney Ribeau in the spring of 2001 in response to the need for more women and minorities earning doctorates.
Women received 15 percent of earned doctorates in math-based engineering in 2000. African Americans and Hispanics comprise roughly 13 percent of the population. However, African Americans received only 2.8 percent of all doctorates in physical sciences in 2000. That same year, Hispanics received 3.4 percent of all doctorates in physical sciences.
According to Dr. Carter Gilmer, Director of AIMS, the LSAMP grant will be significant for AIMS scholars.
"Some of those funds will go toward supporting the AIMS five-week summer program where students take math and computer science mini-courses and science exposures presented by the BGSU faculty," Gilmer said. "This includes visiting places that do scientific activities or have scientific themes, students living in a residence hall and participating in college level classes that are not for academic credit. Our focus is for them to go to graduate school and eventually earn a Ph.D."
Another portion of the grant will cover program costs associated with summer research. The research costs include annual stipends given out to students and $500 for materials and supplies administered by faculty.
"It's a four-year program, and each summer we have a select group of students who get a stipend for doing research," Gilmer said. "At least two students will perform summer research and receive $3,000 stipend. We also have three to six undergraduate students doing research in the academic year to get a $900 stipend."
This summer will be the first time AIMS scholars will perform extended research at the University. Students will need to apply online, and can do their work at any of the 15 schools in the alliance.
The AIMS program is in it's third year -- 57.5 percent of AIMS members received a 3.0 GPA or better for fall 2003, and one-third of participants made the dean's list.
"The retention rate has improved," Gilmer said. "We're returning maybe 90-95 percent of our students after one year. Also, the students are taking classes together and doing better in their course work."
Along with a decent overall GPA, AIMS has a diverse membership comprised of 40 scholars. Of the 2003 cohort, six are men and 13 are women. The total membership includes students of African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian descent.