UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 5, Page 1
October 3, 1991
Upward Bound focuses on mathematics, sciences

     The University of Delaware has received a $176,631 Upward
Bound Math/Science Priority grant from the U.S. Department of
Education to encourage college study in math and science for
disadvantaged high school sophomores and juniors, President David
P. Roselle announced today.
     "The program has as its long-range goal the expansion of
career opportunities for an increased number of students who are
traditionally under-represented in colleges and universities,"
Roselle said.
     "The basic idea of the program," he said, "is to get the
students excited about mathematics and sciences and to get them
thinking about all that they can accomplish."
     The grant will enable 40 disadvantaged students to live on the
Newark campus for six weeks next summer and participate in a
comprehensive math/science program consisting of classes,
counseling, tutorial assistance and mentoring.
     "The University has been working diligently to increase the
number of its pre-college programs," Roselle said, noting that
these efforts in the last three years have yielded support for
several programs in the colleges as well as more than $733,000 for
three programs in the Academic Advancement Office specifically
designed to serve under-represented students.
     In addition to Upward Bound, the Academic Advancement Office
programs, both of which include tutorial and academic support
activities, counseling and career exploration, are:

     *    The John Henry Taylor Scholars Program, funded by a
          three-year grant from the William Penn Foundation in
          Philadelphia, which encourages African-American and
          Hispanic students to pursue degrees in mathematics and
          science; and
     *    the Student Support Services Program, funded by the U.S.
          Department of Education and the University, which assists
          under-represented students who can benefit from academic
          support and counseling activities designed to enhance
          their chances for academic success and graduation from
          the University.

     To qualify for the University's new Upward Bound program,
students must meet three established eligibility requirements: they
must be potential first-generation college students, must be from
families with limited incomes and must demonstrate academic
potential, according to Lin Gordon Alessi, director of the
University's Academic Advancement Office, who will direct the
program.
     "Upward Bound will give the students a helping hand getting
ready for college and prepare them for programs that are
competitive.  We want to expose these students to a University
atmosphere and show them that it is something that's possible for
them," Alessi said.
     The program, she explained, will work to enhance participants'
math/science literacy skills; their admission to colleges and
universities in math/science/computer and engineering majors or
into related majors requiring substantial math/science/computer
preparation; and their attainment of graduate degrees in fields
related to mathematics, science and engineering.
     Short-term goals of the program, Alessi said, are raising the
students' awareness that careers in the math/science/computer
science fields are exciting, rewarding and achievable; increasing
confidence in the students' abilities to choose realistic career
paths and life work; expanding student horizons by providing them
with hands-on research opportunities in actual laboratories and
field settings; and familiarizing them with the environment,
resources and requirements of an institution of higher education
through on-campus activities and interactions.
     Alessi said the hands-on opportunities for the students may
include a trip on a University research vessel, in addition to
participation in ongoing laboratory studies with Delaware
researchers.
     Each day, the program also will have an exercise hour,
recreation time, supervised team sports, mandatory study time,
evening snacks and special cultural outings and events.
     Participants will live on campus from Mondays through Fridays
and return home on weekends.
     For the Delaware program, students who seem particularly
gifted in math and the sciences would be recruited from area high
schools, community centers and from established Upward Bound with
a less intensive math/science concentration.
     In addition to Alessi, the project will have a program
coordinator chosen from among the University's faculty, a secretary
and a counselor for the months of July and August.
     Graduate and undergraduate students from the math, science,
computer and engineering disciplines will serve as tutors and
residential counselors.
     The program also will use faculty mentors from math and
science departments, who will talk about career opportunities and
help participants get involved in various academic projects.
     "These mentors will work with the students in close and
informal situations so that we can break down some of the
stereotypes the students may have about 'professors and
scientists,'" Alessi said.
     In December, Alessi said, her office will be submitting a
grant proposal for a full, three-year Upward Bound Program.  She
said the University is eligible to apply for a three-year program
because it is a four-year institution in a geographic area with a
demonstrated need and because the University has not had such a
federally funded program for several years.
     The University did run its own version of the Upward Bound
program for several years, known as College Bound, and the new
grant has made it possible to transfer the support for this program
to a scholarship fund earmarked for minority students.
     The three-year Upward Bound program would include academic
support and mentoring for under-represented and educationally
disadvantaged high school students who have the potential to attend
college.  It would seek to acquaint them with a college campus and
show them that college is a viable alternative for them.
     In addition to year-round tutoring at their home high school
under the program, there would be a summer residency program at the
University, meetings throughout the year and supplemental cultural
events.  If that program is funded, it will make use of much of the
curriculum developed for next summer's math/science program, Alessi
said.
                                        - Beth Thomas