The initiative will provide 120 scholarships of $3,623 over a four-year period in Computer Science, Environmental Resources Engineering (ERE), and Mathematics. Scholarships will be targeted to academically talented and financially needy Native American and first-generation HSU students who meet the high school GPA requirement of 2.75. However, all students who meet the financial need and GPA requirements will be eligible for the scholarship.
Thirty students will participate each year in an enhanced academic program, including leadership training, professional development, and support services. Recipients may enroll in an interdisciplinary service learning seminar, using collaborative problem solving with local Native American communities. They will also participate in a Scholars' Interest Group, a freshman cohort program that includes common course taking, advising, and other activities.
Dr. Beth Eschenbach, ERE Professor, said, "We now need to get started right away on recruiting our 30 Scientific Leadership Scholars for the Fall 2007 semester. Our first effort will be to develop recruiting materials for the program. We have already started to organize around this task."
HSU's proposal was one of 372 submitted and 110 designated for the undergraduate awards. In addition to the ERE Department, faculty from the Mathematics, Computer Science, and Sociology Departments worked on the proposal, in collaboration with the Indian Natural Resource, Science, and Engineering Program (INRSEP), which is the only one of its kind in the California State University system. Staff support came from Financial Aid, the Office of Enrollment Management, the Educational Opportunity Program, the Career Center, the ERE Department and the College of Natural Resources and Sciences, among others.
"By Spring 2011," Dr. Eschenbach said, "we will increase the number of Computer Science, ERE, and Math graduates, and the ratio of women, Native American, and other minority graduates in these programs."
Each of the disciplines incorporates Humboldt State's university-wide emphasis on experiential learning and produces some of the highest per capita success rates among comprehensive universities for alumni earning science and engineering doctorates. "Our ERE program is nationally unique, focusing on environmental restoration, mathematical modeling, and renewable energy resources engineering," Professor Eschenbach noted. "Program students win national competitions."
Likewise, more than 90% of INRSEP students graduate with a career-related job or enter graduate school. The program was established in 1974.
For more information about the Scientific Leadership Scholars Program, contact Dr. Eschenbach at 707/826-4348 or eae1@humboldt.edu .