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T hanks to a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), students demonstrating financial need who are interested in majoring in the sciences, engineering, or mathematics can now become involved in an exciting new scholarship program, the Glendale College NSF-funded Mathematics and Science Transfer Excellence and Retention (MASTER) scholarship, starting in the 2007–2008 academic year. The MASTER program will support up to 70 qualified students each year for the next four academic years.
Students who are accepted into the MASTER scholarship program are not only guaranteed transfer assistance to a four-year university with application fees paid, but are also offered a five week summer bridge/academic enrichment program, for which they will receive a top-of-the-line graphing calculator. Scholarship recipients will also receive up to $1500 per year (based on financial need) if they maintain a 2.5 grade point average and continue progressing in their major, taking at least 12 units per semester, nine of which are in their major. Students will be assigned a caring professor/mentor to help them with any problems they may encounter during their stay on our campus. While in the MASTER scholarship program, students will also be able to attend special MASTER Supplemental Instruction (SI) classes to provide additional help with their transfer-level science, engineering, and math classes. They will also have a special MASTER counselor (Greg Perkins or Kevin Meza), priority registration, and assistance with the development of a student education plan. MASTER scholars will automatically become members of the award-winning MASTER Math Club. Where possible, students can also join the prestigious GCC Science Academy. Imagine a scholarship program which provides money, support, and long-term commitment to a student’s educational needs and goals. The MASTER scholarship program is all of this, with the added prestige of being sponsored by the National Science Foundation. MASTER Scholarship Goals The Glendale Community College MASTER project will increase the number of students pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines at the associate degree level. Participants will receive financial assistance, mentoring, and support for successful transfer to a four-year university, in a learning community of like-minded scholars. Objectives will focus on providing scholarships to academically talented, financially disadvantaged students majoring in STEM; providing support to these scholars that will enable a minimum of 70 percent to persist until associate degree/transfer achievement; and providing transfer assistance to students in the program who complete requirements and desire enrollment in a four-year institution. The college will reach out to groups of talented students who would otherwise not be able to, or not choose to, enter into a STEM career. Such students typically come from underrepresented minorities and low-income families, and often are first generation college students. For these young men and women, college, and particularly a STEM career, represents a formidable barrier, but one that can be overcome with special financial help and learning assistance. Our college is particularly well positioned to conduct such a program and make it a success. As a community college, GCC is the entry point for precisely the kind of low-income and minority students that the program desires to reach. Further, the college already has considerable experience doing just the type of outreach required for the program. GCC has run for 13 years a very successful Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP) program in collaboration with California State University, Northridge; MASTER is modeled after the AMP program.
Our college already has an extensive support system to help students
succeed, especially those who do not have a strong support system of
their own, such as first generation college students and students from
lower economic strata. Our college’s counseling staff is one of the
largest in the state, as is our nationally recognized supplemental
instruction program, which provides collaborative learning workshops in
many science and math classes. GCC has a Math/Science Center for
computer work and drop-in tutoring, a state-of-the-art Science Center, a
regular tutoring program, and, because of the AMP experience, a
mentoring program and a summer bridge program focusing on math training
and general college preparation. In addition, our college has a strong
academic program, in the top 10 percent among California community
colleges, that transfers a large number of students to the University of
California and California State University systems and to private
universities such as the University of Southern California.
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An
Exciting New Scholarship