CDHS partners with the School of
Education to Win $749,994 Grant from the Department of Education to Broaden the
Participation of Students with Disabilities in STEM
September 26,
2014
Fayetteville State
University’s (FSU) Center for Defense and Homeland Security (CDHS), in
collaboration with the School of Education, developed a winning proposal in
response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Minority Science and Engineering
Improvement Program. This proposal was developed by former and current CDHS
Scholars, Dr. Kelly Charles and Dr. Marlina Duncan.
Project “Science,
Technology, Engineering, Advocacy and Mathematics (STEAM)” is designed to equip post-secondary and
college-level students with diagnosed disabilities (i.e. students identified as
disabled Veterans, wounded service members, and those from other
underrepresented gender and minority groups) with the necessary skills and
advocacy strategies required to compete favorably with non-disabled or
non-minority workers in STEM-related career fields or graduate programs,
including those related to defense and homeland security. Project STEAM will
provide an enhanced learning environment through better trained STEM faculty in
areas like differentiated instruction, transition support for students with
exceptional learning needs and their families, as well as mentoring and
learning community engagement for students who might be considered
non-competitive on a customary STEM career path.
This Minority Science
and Engineering Improvement Program STEAM grant will also facilitate
institutional transformation in terms of teaching capabilities, commensurate
with the mission statement of Fayetteville State University, which states that
“Committed to excellence in teaching, research, scholarship and service, the
university extends its services and programs to the community, including the
military and other educational institutions throughout North Carolina, the
nation, and the world.”
“Support of the STEAM
Project by the Department of Education will improve the quality of STEM
education, increase enrollment, retention, persistence, and graduation of
undergraduate,” said FSU Chancellor James Anderson. “With a stronger STEM
background, these students will be exceptionally well prepared for graduate
school and be highly competitive for graduate fellowships as well as become
major contributors to the Nation’s STEM workforce.”
“Project STEAM is
intended to address the CDHS’ focus area of STEM education and outreach which
has objectives that will inspire students, parents, teachers, and the public to
engage in STEM discovery and innovation; develop a future world-class STEM
workforce talent pool; facilitate curricular innovations that will increase the
number, quality and diversity of mathematics and science faculty, especially
among underserved populations; and provide support for military personnel with
STEM competencies who have a desire to transition into defense and homeland
security workforce,” said Dr. Curtis Charles, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor
for Institutional Transformation, and Executive Director, Center for Defense
and Homeland Security.
Dr. Leontye Lewis,
Dean of the School of Education also added that the STEAM grant provides a
great opportunity for individuals with special needs, with affiliation to the
military, and from underrepresented backgrounds to expand their opportunities
and develop a commitment to STEM. “This grant will afford FSU the opportunity
to apply instructional practices and resources that will support the needs of
these students and guide them to success in STEM,” she said.
The CDHS’s
22-interdisciplinary scholars facilitate curricular innovations, research and
partnerships in the areas of cybersecurity threats, national security
challenges, emergency management and STEM education and outreach in preparing
the next generation of STEM graduates and national security professionals. The
CDHS leverages its partnerships with the military commands, National
Laboratories, as well as, local and national defense businesses to expand the
level and diversity of research in areas impacting defense and security, and to
bring more external funding to the university in the form of contracts and
grants. Over the past two years, three CDHS scholars, and eight STEM students
have conducted summer research at MIT Lincoln Lab and Oakridge National Lab,
while CDHS scholars have collectively published more than 75 peer-review
journal articles in their disciplines.
The School of
Education at Fayetteville State University is one of the oldest and most
respected schools of education in this region. The School has maintained
continued accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
Education (NCATE) since 1954. The School of Education is committed to preparing
highly qualified teachers and other school personnel through the development,
administration, supervision, and evaluation of initial and advanced programs
offered and is home to three departments: Educational Leadership; Elementary
Education; and Middle Grades, Secondary, and Specialized Subjects. All teacher
education programs are approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education.
FSU is a constituent
institution of The University of North Carolina and the second-oldest public
institution of higher education in the state. FSU offers nearly 60 degrees at
the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. With nearly 5,000 students,
Fayetteville State University is among the most diverse institutions in the
nation.
For more information,
call (910) 672-1474.
My hope is that those involved in emergency management use this information to hone their outreach to those who need information and support most and that emergency plans are developed based on the actual needs of people living in their jurisdictions. Ultimately, I would like to see a higher level of community engagement on these issues by local government to better understand people's needs. Local government provides services that are meant to serve its constituents. Just as business do, local government better understand their markets so they can deliver relevant, meaningful products and services.
The interesting thing about Hurricane Katrina is that 33% of the population did not receive the message about evacuation or they did not receive enough information to take any action. This is not because they had a lack of preparedness, but because emergency managers did not consider the makeup of the population during their planning for how emergency information is disseminated to the community. There is also the reality of limited resources that prevented some from being able to do what was being asked of them. No amount of individual preparedness would have helped socially isolated people with disabilities, older adults, and those with medical illnesses who were reliant upon external services that were no longer available.
My point is that preparedness is a shared responsibility and our society is more complex than we oftentimes consider in emergency planning. Developing inclusive approaches and plans is not easy, but nothing worth achieving is.