NSF PR 99-57 - September 29, 1999
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NSF Awards to HBCU Institutions to Stimulate Diversity
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced
that 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs) will receive more than $42 million over five
years to promote diversity and increased participation
of underrepresented groups in science, mathematics,
engineering and technology. The 1999 awards were announced
at a White House-sponsored annual conference on HBCUs
in Washington, D.C.
NSF's newest five-year cooperative agreements with
these institutions represent an expansion beyond the
traditional three- year agreements of previous years.
NSF's $8-million undergraduate program in 1999 is
about 25 percent higher than the previous year. The
larger annual expenditures, increased numbers of participating
undergraduate institutions and longer- running awards
are designed to improve the quality of programs and
to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority
students enrolling in, and completing, bachelors'
degrees.
"This comes at a time when the nation is examining
economic security issues as well as the role and scope
of technology in developing a more diverse workforce
in science, engineering and technology," said Roosevelt
Calbert, Ph.D., who directs NSF's education-related
human resource development programs. "We know that
talents from many diverse sources are needed to guarantee
the preservation of our world leadership in these
fields."
Calbert explained that the money from these cooperative
agreements goes primarily toward curricular reform
and improvements,faculty development, research experiences
for undergraduates and instrumentation.
The 14 new awards, worth about $3 million apiece, are
going to Albany State (Ga.), Alcorn State (Miss.),
Jackson State (Miss.) and North Carolina A & T
Universities, also to Florida A & M, Prairie View
A & M (Tex.), Hampton (Va.), Howard (D.C.), Tuskegee
(Ala.) and Clark Atlanta (Ga.) Universities, the University
of the Virgin Islands, as well as Bennett College
(N.C.), and Miles and Oakwood Colleges in Alabama.
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