Wednesday,
December 11, 2002
Lincoln
University’s New NASA MASTAP Teaching Resource Center
To Assist Philadelphia-Area Teachers in Math, Science
and Technology Instruction; Minorities Entering Math,
Technology Fields To Increase
Lincoln
University, PA --- Lincoln University will open its NASA
(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) MASTAP
(Mathematics and Science Teacher Partnership Program)
Continuing Education Teaching Resource Center (CETRC)
at Lincoln
University’s
Center for Graduate and Continuing Education
on December 12. The event will begin at 5 p.m. on the
first floor of Lincoln
University’s
Center for Graduate and Continuing Education,
3020 Market Street in Philadelphia.
Dr.
Richard O’Daniel, director,
Lincoln
University
Center for Graduate and Continuing Education,
and Lincoln NASA MASTAP Principal Investigator; Dr. Grant
D. Venerable, vice president, Academic Affairs; and other
University faculty members will take part in special inaugural
ceremonies. Dillard Menchan, chief of Office of Equal
Opportunity Programs, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
will be the event’s keynote speaker. Menchan will
address the purpose, scope and future of NASA MASTAP programs.
The CETRC is part of a three-year grant Lincoln received
from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to train teachers
to utilize NASA’s educational materials and research
in their K-12 classrooms.
The
goal of the Lincoln NASA MASTAP is to address the critical
shortage of under-represented minority students entering
the fields of mathematics, science, engineering and technology.
The Lincoln NASA MASTAP is currently seeking students
to enroll in its Master of Education (M.Ed.) biology and
mathematics programs, which offer $6,000 per year in tuition
reimbursements for qualified students wishing to teach
science, technology, engineering and mathematics in grades
K-12. Ultimately, establishment of Lincoln’s CETRC
will train Philadelphia-area school teachers to use NASA
educational program resources for the continuous improvement
of mathematics, science, engineering and technology instruction
in K-12 schools. In addition, the CETRC will provide a
regional continuing education program that will improve
course literacy of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics teachers in the Philadelphia region by integrating
NASA educational materials with state and national standards
courses taught in K-12 classrooms.
“There’s
no greater educational or national security issue facing
America than to increase the number of under-represented
minorities prepared to enter the fields of math, science
and the related technologies,” said Dr. O’Daniel.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, named for rocket
research pioneer Dr. Robert H. Goddard, was established
in 1959. Since that time, the Goddard Space Flight Center
has played a major role in space and earth science. The
Goddard team is made up of some of the world’s premier
scientist and engineers devoted to research in science,
space science, technology and space communications. NASA’s
mission is to understand and protect the planet, to explore
the universe and search for life as well as inspire the
next generation of explorers as only NASA can.
Founded
in 1854, Lincoln University is a premier, Historically
Black University that combines the best elements of a
liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum
and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of students
living in a highly technological and global society. The
University is nationally recognized as a majorproducer
of African Americans with undergraduate degrees in the
physical sciences (biology, chemistry and physics); computer
and information sciences; and biological and life sciences.
In addition, Lincoln is ranked first in Pennsylvania in
the same categories.
From
April 2003 through May 2004, the University will celebrate
its sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary, with an array
of campus and external events, activities and announcements.
For more information about Lincoln University, please
visit us on the Web at www.lincoln.edu.
