SALISBURY, N.C. — A $2.24 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation will go towards funding a new Livingston College STEM program called Livingwell@Livingstone. The school described it as the largest, single grant in the college's history.
The program aims to enhance persistence, retention, and graduation rates in underrepresented minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs.
According to the National Science Foundation, Black student enrollment in STEM fields is declining.
The proportion of bachelor’s degrees in science awarded to Black graduates remained flat at about 9% from 2001 to 2016. It declined from 5% to 4% in engineering, and from 7% to 4% in math.
In response, Livingstone College says they are offering grant-in-aid to any new student who chooses a STEM major. In a report from the college, this means a STEM student's education is free after federal financial aid is considered.
The college says Livingwell@Livingstone will create opportunities for students to explore the commercial potential of research and how it addresses community challenges. Opportunites begin in a student's freshman year.
"Using a convergent research design, the program advances the capability to meet current and future challenges of food production/accessibility, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence," Dawn McNair, Dean of the Division of Mathematics and Science, and the principal investigator of the project, said in a released statement.
The announcement comes after Livingstone College unveiled its new 16,000-square-foot planetarium.
The F. George Shipman Science Annex has space for multiple areas of STEM education including: laboratory and research spaces for microbiology, human anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, and general chemistry, with smaller laboratory spaces for specialized research as well as a tissue culture lab.
“This new space provides a state-of-the-art environment to support ‘Livingwell@Livingstone’ and opportunities to engage with the community,” McNair said.
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