University offers scholarships to STEM program students
By Megan Pillow
Staff Writer
TWU students who are majoring in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics have the opportunity to be awarded scholarships from the university’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program, recently received from the National Science Foundation.
The website explains that “The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 ‘to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense …’ With an annual budget of about $6.9 billion (fiscal year 2010), [they] are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.” Their goal is to insure that there “will always be plenty of skilled people available to work in new and emerging scientific, engineering and technological fields, and plenty of capable teachers to educate the next generation.”
According to TWU, each year the TWU S-STEM program gives scholarships to about 20 students who have achieved high academic status and are in financial need. These talented students receive scholarships in groups of $5,000 to $10,000 per year.
The current S-STEM program was expanded from the National Science Foundation’s Computational Science, Engineering and Mathematics program. TWU had two prior CSEMS awards and one prior S-STEM award, entitled “Scholarships For Undergraduates: Focus on Computational Biology.” The current grant is entitled “Quantitative and Analytical Sciences for Academic Reinforcement and Success”. All of these programs are competitive grants.
“We obtained the current funds by submitting a proposal in August of 2011,” Associate Professor in the Biology department Dr. DiAnna Hynds explained via email. “It was reviewed by a panel of experts recruited by the National Science Foundation. Fortunately, we received a very good review and we were informed of the award in August 2012. We have started awarding scholarships on this award in Spring 2013.”
Hynds said she that the scholarships will assist students in the S-STEM program to perform at their highest academic level and pursue their careers in STEM-related fields, and even bigger than that, she hopes that providing funding will bring excitement to the program and students would be interesting in pursuing advanced degrees and leadership roles.
“We hope to expand this momentum to increase awareness of STEM opportunities at TWU and to advance the education of all TWU students in STEM,” Hynds noted.
For more information on STEM programs, students can visit http://www.twu.edu/SSTEM/, call 940- 898-2359, or email sstem@lists.twu.edu. t
