Newswise — Today, Cornell University’s Senior Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, Barbara Knuth will join President Obama, the First Lady, and Vice President Biden along with hundreds of college presidents and other higher education leaders to announce new actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college. The White House College Opportunity Day of Action supports the President’s commitment to partner with colleges and universities, business leaders, and nonprofits to help our nation reach its goal of leading the world in college attainment. Cornell University’s goals:Cornell University commits to achieve academic equity across all demographic groups, so that students from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields complete STEM degrees at similar rates to the overall majority of STEM students.
Cornell will adapt eight undergraduate introductory courses in Physics and Biology to employ high-impact teaching and learning methods, and will disseminate the results through the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) network of 22 universities. Through CIRTL, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars partner with faculty to explore and practice evidence-based pedagogical innovations for diverse learning communities.
Cornell expects to expand this effort to additional departments in the coming years. As part of its goal, Cornell University aims to significantly increase performance and retention among low-income and underrepresented students in biology and physics.
This strategy builds on the success of ongoing efforts. Cornell’s Biology Scholars program and OADI Research Scholars programs as well as Federal McNair programs are increasing the pipelines of underrepresented students as STEM professionals.
For the past year, faculty in physics and biology have been working on the curricular revisions and new course designs, supported by the Center for Teaching Excellence and CIRTL, and the first of the new courses are coming on line Fall 2014. Further, Cornell and New York 4-H propose to collaborate to double the number of high-achieving, low-income, first generation rural youth in higher education. Through the “New Pathways to Full Participation” (PFP) —Cornell will reach out to 180,000 4-H youth with age-appropriate messages and activities to keep them on track for collegiate participation. “Cornell’s commitment to college access includes partnering with groups who help prepare students for college, and promote undergraduate achievement and completion,” said Senior Vice Provost and Dean Barbara Knuth. “And for broader impact we are preparing a future professoriate committed to evidence-based teaching and learning innovations which will enhance academic outcomes especially for students in STEM disciplines.” Today’s participants were asked to commit to new action in one of four areas: building networks of colleges around promoting completion, creating K-16 partnerships around college readiness, investing in high school counselors as part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative, and increasing the number of college graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The President will announce new steps about how his administration is helping to support these actions, including $10 million to promote college completion and a $30 million AmeriCorps program that will improve low-income students’ access to college. Today’s event is the second College Opportunity Day of Action, and will include a progress report on the commitments made at the first day of action on Jan. 14, 2014. In addition to these new steps, the Obama Administration has increased Pell scholarships by $1,000 a year, created the new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college, limited student loan payments to 10 percent of income, and laid out an ambitious agenda to reduce college costs and promote innovation and competition. For interviews contact:Kathleen Corcoran202.434.8036 (O)571.276.2631 (M)[email protected]
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