NSF Awards Landmark College $650,000 for STEM Scholarship and Support
by Solvegi Shmulsky
PUTNEY, Vt.--On August 30, 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Landmark College $650,000 over five years for “Access to Innovative Education: STEM Opportunities for Students with Learning Disabilities” (AIE-STEM). The program launches this September with five students, each of whom will receive up to $10,000 in scholarship support. The purpose of the grant is to remove financial barriers to STEM education for qualifying students with financial need. In addition, the grant will provide an array of supports geared toward student success.
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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders praised the grant program. Sanders said, “At a time when the skyrocketing cost of college has pushed higher education out of reach for many Vermonters, I am pleased Landmark College and the National Science Foundation have partnered to create an innovative program to help low-income students with learning disabilities pursue science and technology degrees. We need more efforts like these to make college more affordable to more people.”
“We are delighted to know that our growing STEM programs will be provided with additional scholarship support through this NSF grant,” said Dr. Peter Eden, Landmark College president. “We provide an incredibly robust education experience, with all-inclusive resources for all students,” he said. “However, access to this powerful model is a challenge for many families. This grant will directly assist families with the cost of a college education.”
“The program was designed for college learners who have dyslexia, ADHD, ASD, and other profiles,” said Dr. Michelle Bower, chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department. Bower co-directs the grant program with Abigail Littlefield, a professor in the Natural Science Department. “We are so excited to work with students for whom a program like ours may have been out of reach financially,” said Bower. “There’s talent out there, and we look forward to mentoring more students who will go on to make contributions to STEM.”
Eligible students must be enrolled in an associate of science (A.S.) or bachelor of science (B.S.) degree program at Landmark College. In addition to receiving scholarships, students will engage in programming designed to create faculty-student connections and in-field experience. They will participate in faculty mentoring, faculty-led academic research, internship preparation, and STEM-related guest speaker events.
For more information about AIE-STEM, contact Dr. Michelle Bower at Landmark College at 802-387-6854 or [email protected].