SPC Receives $1.25M Grant to Enrich Education Quality Through Experiential Learning Opportunities

St. Philip’s College has been awarded a four-year, $1.25 million National Science Foundation grant to fund Project: SURE (Scaffolding Undergraduate Research Experiences), which aims to enhance the quality of education, increase student retention, and enhance graduation and transfer rates of STEM majors.

“STEM education determines our nation's capacity to innovate. If we are to strengthen our economy, we must reinforce our STEM education. Project SURE supports the continuous efforts made by our faculty to get our STEM students where they want to go and to bolster our region's future in STEM fields,” said Dr. Adena Williams Loston, St. Philip’s College President.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-35) and his staff were invaluable partners in bringing the award to St. Philip’s College.  

Through this program model, students will: engage in empirical learning; participate in applied learning by tackling issues of local, national, and global importance; take part in faculty-led research projects; complete local industry internships; participate in summer research experiences and/or complete federal summer internships; and transfer to universities, with emphasis placed on universities with active research programs.

“St. Philip’s College was eligible for the grant because of our federally designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) undergraduate status. The SURE model centers on the scaffolding of STEM student learning and skill development through experiential learning. Building on existing SPC programs and structures, Project SURE will target innovation in instruction, internship and research experiences, and will guide students to transfer universities,” said Randall Dawson, Vice President for Academic Success.

On behalf of St. Philip's College, thank you to Project SURE Principal Investigator (PI), Kathy White, and Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI), Marie-Michelle (Michou) Saint Hubert, Ph.D., for their assistance in securing the funds to enrich the education of our students through the opportunities that will be offered through the project.

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