6 The HBCU Advocate


Volume 2 Number 3 Fisk is the No. 1 Producer of Underrepresented Minority Master’s Degrees in Physics


Fisk University Receives Three-Year $1.4 M Grant


September/October 2018


Howard University and Google Expand Successful Computer Science Residency


Fisk University President Kevin D. Rome, Sr., Photo Courtesy of Fisk University COURTESY OF FISK UNIVERSITY


Nashville, Tenn., – Fisk University has been awarded three-year


$1.4 million Alliance a dollar


grant from the National Science Foundation, through the Louis Stokes


for Minority


Participation program, to support the establishment of a Louis Stokes Regional


Center participation and of


Excellence dedicated to the study and dissemination of broadening minority


Led by Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Dr. Arnold Burger, and in


partnership practices. coordination


with Vanderbilt University and the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the new center is a natural extension of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s to PhD Bridge Program (FVBP).


“Fisk University is committed


to elevating the research of societal problems and we are honored by the confidence shown in our university and our extraordinary faculty,” said President Kevin Rome. “Our LSAMP Center of Excellence will bring together some of the best minds and institutions dedicated to sustaining high quality education for the next generation of a strong and diverse STEM workforce.


In January 2018, the National


Science Foundation (NSF) issued a call for proposals to establish four Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence in Broadening Participation (LSRCE) to serve as regional outreach and knowledge- diffusion centers of excellence for Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and


non-alliance organizations. Fisk’s newly-established Regional Center of Excellence, under the direction of Co-founder and Co-director Arnold Burger Ph.D., Co-director Kelly Holley Bockelmann and Executive


Director Dr. Dina


Myers Stroud will support the center’s dedication to creating a comprehensive


toolkit detailing


the theory and underlying research, research the effectiveness of program activities and create tools for internal evaluation and data collection


for dissemination to


the higher education community. Dr. Dina Myers Stroud will serve as Project Director of the Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence led by Fisk University.


grateful for this honor which reinforces


Dr. Burger added, “We are the


critical work


that has been entrusted to us. It is another


national reputation for academic excellence


testimony of Fisk’s and leadership in


developing best practices in higher education and sharing them with our peers.”


In 2004, Fisk University


partnered with Vanderbilt University to establish the Fisk- Vanderbilt


Master’s to PhD


Bridge Program (PVBP) in an effort to increase the number of


underrepresented groups in


STEM. For 14 years, the program has served as a national model of broadening minority participation. Each year, an average of 12 master’s students complete their study and receive PhD degrees.


Become an HBCU Advocate partner: details at


TheHBCUAdvocate.com


Photo by Google BY ALONDA THOMAS


WASHINGTON -- The successful partnership between Howard University and Google, formerly known as Howard West, today officially expands to include


students


Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) along with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Now known as


Tech


Exchange, the program will cover the full academic year, supporting 65 rising juniors and seniors, and five faculty members from 11 institutions: Howard, Florida A&M University, California State University – Dominguez Hills, Morgan State University, New Mexico State University, Prairie View A&M University, North Carolina A&T State University, Dillard University, University of Texas – El Paso, University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez, and Spelman College.


The expansion comes after


a successful three-month pilot program with Howard University students was completed during the Summer of 2017 at Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters. The residency includes a dedicated workspace on Google’s Mountain View campus, a generous stipend to cover housing and other expenses, and full access to Google resources, from gyms to micro-kitchens to the eponymous Gbikes.


“The Tech Exchange program


has a lot of opportunity to increase the number of black and brown leaders in tech. I can already see a difference even in the first set of students who went through Howard West last summer,” says President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “As I interacted with them…the confidence that they gained from that experience was incredible! I think that, in and of itself, is going to be a huge calling card for these students in the future.


They’ve


learned how to lead and how to take risks that will put them in


from additional


leadership positions. This program is going to have a huge impact in terms of how we groom leaders, recognizing that getting them in the professional setting early, reducing their apprehensions, is going to be crucial.”


In the pilot, 26 students


participated in courses taught by Howard University faculty with the added bonus of a Google engineer as adjunct professor to simulate practical, real-world engineering subjects of


challenges. included Algorithms, Intro to Mobile Interview Class


Fundamentals Software


Engineering, Machine Learning, Technical


Prep and Applications.


Upon completion of the pilot program, 14 rising Juniors applied for internships and four received offers.


Stewart, Google VP of Global Part- nershipsand


Google Student PanelBonita Howard University


alumna, expressed her thrill for the program saying, “The results speak for themselves. 100% of the students enjoyed the Howard West pilot and found it worth their participation. These positive results cemented an opportunity for us to expand the program by creating


and Latinx CS students and more schools with a year round offering. Tech


evolution that we didn't ponder instead it was a validation to move even faster to expand.”


“The institutions sending


students to Google this year share our commitment to making computer science education accessible everyone,”


and available said


to Danielle


Brown, Google VP of Employee Engagement and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, in a blog post released by Google. “This internship goes beyond the books-students will get to know other Googlers from different HOWARD UNIVERSITY PAGE 11


space for more Black Exchange is a natural


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