Computer Science and Mathematics Scholarship Program

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This project is to continue the CSEMS Scholarship Program (Award # 0094876) at the College for low-income, academically talented students enrolled full-time in one of the degree programs offered by the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. There are thirty awards per year in the amount of $3,125 each. If successful during the first year of the award, students may apply for a second year of funding. The eligibility criteria for scholarship recipients are the criteria listed in the NSF CSEMS Program Solicitation. The selection process includes indicators of academic merit and likely professional success. An Administrative Committee consisting of the PI, the two Co-PIs, the Acting Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Acting Vice President for Student Affairs is responsible for soliciting applications for the scholarship from qualified students, selecting the thirty recipients, monitoring the recipients during the award period, and conducting an ongoing survey of recipients. In these various activities, the committee is assisted by the student support structure at the College. This includes the Dolciani Mathematics Learning Center, Instructional Computing Services, the Office of Student Services, and the Office of Career Counseling and Placement. With this assistance the committee gives particular attention to the involvement and retention of women and minorities in the scholarship program. Under the administration and supervision of the PI, an optional scholarship activity is established for the award recipients. There are several activities available for the students: a research project mentored by a full-time faculty member in the Department of Computer Science or the Department of Mathematics and Statistics; an internship in a corporation, government agency or non-profit organization; or, an internship assisting Hunter faculty members with data analysis projects in departments such as Economics, Geography, Political Science, and Psychology. This scholarship program is expected to continue attracting academically sound students to the Computer Science and Mathematics majors at Hunter College. The scholarships are promoting full-time enrollment and is contributing to student retention. Therefore, scholarships are contributing to an increase in the number of women and minorities in Computer Science and Mathematics. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity stems from the expectation, after the experience at Hunter in the current CSEMS program, that most of the recipients will opt to participate in a scholarship activity. If the activity is research with a full-time faculty member, the student acquires valuable experience in observing a researcher's methods of operation, as well as in learning additional concepts of the discipline beyond the classroom. The PI has administered a previous successful CSEMS program at Hunter, and therefore has the experience to manage this scholarship program. As for the broader impacts of the proposed activity, award recipients will, for the most part, engage in a scholarship activity. Monthly seminars and project abstracts are part of the scholarship activity. Students will therefore have the opportunity to talk and write about their disciplines, which are invaluable tools for their further professional work. They will have the experience of interacting with peers in their disciplines. As indicated in the proposal, CSEMS recipients succeed in publishing the results of their projects in well-established peer-reviewed journals, thus helping to disseminate scientific knowledge.