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Three-Year Investment Aims to Improve Retention Rates and Increase STEM Field Participation
Morgan State University has announced the award of a three-year, $750,000 grant from Intel Corporation to support the University’s continued efforts to educate students in the engineering disciplines and prepare graduates to make immediate contributions to science-, technology-, engineering- and math- (STEM-) related fields. The Intel HBCU Grant Program, a component of the company’s Diversity in Technology initiative, is a proactive effort to reduce the underrepresentation of African-American students in STEM programs in college while helping to increase diversity in the technology industry by expanding the recruiting pipeline.
Morgan is one of six prominent HBCUs selected to be included as part of the $4.5 million Intel HBCU grant program. The other HBCU participants involved in the Intel program are Florida A&M University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University and Tuskegee University. Craig Scott, Ph.D., chair of Morgan’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will serve as the grant’s project director and lead contact.
“With the future success of our nation firmly rooted in the expansion of a workforce prepared in STEM, we are pleased to have this opportunity to partner with one of the foremost names in technology in meeting that need,” said Morgan President David Wilson. “This initiative, which is consistent with Morgan’s overall mission, furthers our status as a top producer of African Americans with engineering degrees and places the University in an even stronger position to introduce more students to the opportunities of the future…opportunities that require a background in STEM.”
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, black students accounted for only 11 percent of those with STEM majors and even less graduate with STEM-related degrees. To aid in elevating these numbers, the Intel HBCU Grant will be utilized to supply multiyear investments in computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering programs at the selected HBCUs. Of Intel’s total funding for the program, $3.9 million will be distributed to the HBCUs to fund two-year scholarships and other academic initiatives, while the remaining $600,000 will go to support tech workshops and activities hosted by Intel.
The program and funding will enable the University to attract and enroll students as part of a five-year bachelor’s to master’s degree track. Emphasis will be placed on curriculum, cohort scholarship programs, recruitment, peer mentoring and peer tutoring. Implementation of the grant began on July 1, 2017.
“We are pleased to be able to include Intel among our growing number of partners dedicated to seeing more diversity in the field of technology,” said Michael G. Spencer, Ph.D., dean of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering at Morgan. “This collaboration allows the University to advance its mission of developing talented engineers and scientists in historically underrepresented in STEM fields.”
Since 1984, Morgan’s School of Engineering has earned an outstanding reputation for academic excellence in the preparation of undergraduate and graduate students in electrical engineering, civil engineering, industrial engineering, and transportation and urban infrastructure. Enrollment for the school reached more than 1,200 students in 2016.
About Morgan
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is celebrating its 150th year of excellence in higher education this year. A Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution, Morgan offers more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland’s preeminent public urban research university, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
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