South Carolina State University News: Newly Awarded Grants Provide Exceptional Opportunities for Students

A nationally recognized, award-winning degree program at SC State University has recently received $1.25 million in federal funding to assist graduate students who are interested in working with clients with mental illness, substance abuse and addiction issues.

Dr. Bridget Hollis-Staten, ’96, associate professor of Rehabilitation Counseling, serves as principal investigator of the newly awarded “Rehabilitation Counseling Long Term Training Grant in Addictions Rehabilitation and Substance Abuse.” This grant will award $750,000 over the next five years to the Rehabilitation Counseling program. Additionally, Dr. Michelle Maultsby, associate professor of Rehabilitation Counseling, serves as principal investigator of the “Long Term Training Project Rehabilitation of Individuals who are Mentally Ill.” This grant will award $500,000 for the next five years to the program. The awarding of two new grants will allow students enrolled in the Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling degree program to receive free tuition, a $500 monthly stipend and professional development opportunities during the 2010-2011 academic year.

Dr. David Staten, ‘92, ‘94, associate professor of rehabilitation counseling, says these newly awarded grants and others provide huge benefits to students and the Rehabilitation Counseling program alike. “We are pleased to be able to attract and recruit the best and brightest students through these grants and others within our program,” says Staten. “We primarily like to provide opportunities locally and therefore recruit students from SC State University and Claflin University, but we receive students from across the state and other locations as well,” he notes.

In 2001, when Staten returned to his Alma Mater, he found the Rehabilitation Counseling program without any active grants to provide student support. Having benefited from grants while enrolled in the program himself, Staten quickly embraced the opportunity to assist students in similar ways. He and his wife, Dr. Hollis-Staten, who also obtained her Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling degree from SC State, became actively involved in obtaining grants for the program. In 2003, Hollis-Staten was awarded her first $750,000 grant for student scholarships, stipends and professional development opportunities. In 2005, the Staten team served as co-project directors on their second awarded long-term training grant, in which they received $750,000 to provide the same opportunities. Two years later, they submitted five grants, in which four were awarded. Collectively, the husband and wife team have been instrumental in obtaining close to $5.25 million in federally funded grants for the Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling program.

“The feedback we have received regarding the grants has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Staten. “Not only have students received scholarships, but after they graduate, they have been able to obtain jobs as counselors, working with state and federal agencies and working with veterans with disabilities. Many of our students have gone on to pursue PhD’s as well, to include enrolling in doctoral programs at the University of Iowa, Southern Illinois, Pennsylvania State, Florida State and many other universities.”

Staten’s doctoral opportunity came while he was enrolled in SC State’s Rehabilitation Counseling program and was awarded the Patricia Harris Roberts Fellowship, a national fellowship which enabled him to receive full tuition, an $833 monthly stipend to assist with college expenses and other valuable, life-changing opportunities.

“That particular fellowship allowed me to receive professional development opportunities, attend conferences and meet professors. Those resources ultimately assisted me in getting accepted into the Rehabilitation Counseling PhD program at the University of Iowa,” he says.

This is the same motivation exhibited through the Rehabilitation Counseling faculty when writing their grants, to ensure they include professional development opportunities for their students to travel so that they are exposed to leaders in the fields. “When it’s time to pursue PhD programs, a lot of our students are already established with faculty at various universities across the country,” mentions Staten.

In 2008, the Rehabilitation Counseling program was awarded federal funding from the U.S. Department of Postsecondary Education to implement the Disability Enhancement Project (DEP), which is designed to increase the awareness and support for faculty, staff and administrators as they meet the academic needs of students with disabilities. Dr. Maultsby and Dr. Dwight Varnum, who serve as co-directors of DEP, were instrumental in obtaining $957,635 for the three-year grant (2008-2011).

South Carolina State University News: Newly Awarded Grants Provide Exceptional Opportunities for Students

Southern University at New Orleans News: SUNO to get share of major Coca-Cola Foundation Grant

December 22, 2010

SUNO to get share of major Coca-Cola Foundation Grant

New Orleans, La. – Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) Foundation has been awarded $25,000 from The Coca-Cola Foundation (the Foundation), the philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company. The funds are part of a $4 million grant distributed to 38 organizations across the United States and Canada in keeping with the Foundation's commitment to build sustainable communities throughout North America, including the District of Columbia and one Canadian province. The total scope of the grants includes water conservation, community recycling, active healthy living and education. The Southern University at New Orleans Foundation is the fundraising arm of SUNO.


The grant will provide First Generation College Scholarships to twenty students who are enrolled as fulltime students at SUNO. To be eligible, students must have completed at least one semester at the University to be eligible. The First Generation Scholarship Program provides scholarship support to fulltime students who are the first in their immediate family to attend college, maintain a 3.0 grade point average and demonstrate financial need. The Coca-Cola Foundation has contributed more than $23 million in First Generation Scholarship support since 1993.

"The Coca-Cola Company should be commended for its support of education and its support of young people," said Dr. Emmett Bashful, Chairman of the Board of the SUNO Foundation. Bashful is also Chancellor Emeritus and the first Chancellor of SUNO. "These funds are important to helping SUNO maintain a commitment to its mission of providing access

to a college education to students," said Dr. Victor Ukpolo, Chancellor of SUNO. "The University wants to do whatever it can to ensure that first generation college students from everywhere have access to the affordable quality opportunity SUNO presents to help students advance their lives."

"At the Foundation, our goal is to make a positive impact by promoting and creating sustainable communities around the world," said Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president, Global Community Connections, The Coca-Cola Company and chair of The Coca-Cola Foundation. "The funding provided to these 38 organizations will support community programs that align to our giving priorities across the U.S. and Canada."


www.SUNO.edu

An Equal Educational Opportunity Institution

Southern University at New Orleans is a four-year public institution founded in 1956. Located in the Gentilly area, the University is an accredited liberal arts teaching institution which serves more than 3,100 students. SUNO, known for its highly engaged faculty and personal academic support, offers undergraduate degrees in seventeen academic programs and graduate degrees in four academic programs. The University accepts students under the Louisiana Board of Regents regional admission criteria, and is a member of the Southern University System. As a part of reaffirmation of its accreditation, SUNO’s Quality Enhancement Plan focuses on strengthening student online learning by getting "E-Focused!"

More information about Southern University at New Orleans and its Quality Enhancement Plan is available at SUNO.edu.

About The Coca-Cola Foundation

Since its inception, The Coca-Cola Foundation has donated more than $355 million to community projects and initiatives across the globe. For more information about The Coca-Cola Foundation, please go to http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/foundation_coke.html

Southern University at New Orleans News: SUNO to get share of major Coca-Cola Foundation Grant

Dillard University Faculty Institute Agenda Jan 4&5 2011

WELCOME BACK! DU OAA

Dillard University Faculty Institute Agenda Jan 4&5 2011

Inside Higher Ed: Job Freefall, Job Recovery

January 3, 2011
There has never been a single academic job market: variation among disciplines, institutions and regions has always mattered.

The reality of radically differing job markets may be especially clear as 2011 begins with disciplinary associations gathering for job interviews at annual meetings and releasing data on the number of available positions. During the 2009-10 academic year, the number of positions listed with the American Historical Association dropped by 29.4 percent, according to a study the group will release today. That follows a 23.8 percent drop the year before. Last year, the association announced that the number of listings it received -- 806 -- was the smallest in a decade; this year's total of 569 marks the smallest number in 25 years.

But in data also being released this week, the American Economic Association is announcing that its job listings in 2010 recovered from a 21 percent decline in 2008. Further, the number of academic jobs exceeded the number in 2008. (Economics job listings include positions in the finance and consulting industries, in addition to academic slots.)

Association job listings don't have every open position, and many jobs at community colleges or adjunct positions aren't included. But the association listings tend to be a reliable barometer on the job markets in the respective disciplines -- especially for the tenure-track or other full-time positions most sought by new Ph.D.s.

A Bleak Outlook in History

The report on the history job outlook -- prepared by Robert B. Townsend, assistant director of research and publications at the AHA -- not only provides the bad news about job openings, but offers context that suggests that the situation is even more dire.

In 2009, the number of new history doctorates awarded rose to its highest level in nine years -- 989, up from 969 the year before. Given that many of those who earned doctorates in the past few years have failed to find the tenure-track positions they want, and those going on the market for the first time are increasing in number, that means the competition for the openings that exist is likely to be even tougher. Budget cuts have eliminated positions, according to department chairs interviewed for a related study also being released today. Departments are eliminating some courses, increasing class size in others, and turning to part-timers to teach -- rather than hiring people into full-time positions.

Further exacerbating the situation, the report says, is that "the number of faculty [in history] approaching retirement age in the next 10 years is reaching the lowest level in 30 years." Currently, the proportion of full-time faculty in history departments who earned their doctoral degrees at least 20 years ago -- the demographic group that is considered even to be approaching retirement -- totals only 40 percent. "[E]ven if there were no hiring freezes to factor into the equation, it is clear that over the next 10 to 15 years the discipline will not be generating as many jobs from retiring faculty as it has in the recent past," the report says.

Across history specializations, the largest percentage decreases in available positions were in fields in which there have historically been relatively few positions to start with. African history job openings fell 62 percent this year, the largest drop among fields, from 42 openings to 16. Latin American history also took a large fall -- down by 43 percent. The largest fields -- as has been the case for years -- were European and U.S. history, which fell by 34 and 28 percent, respectively.

Even the field of Middle Eastern history, which has seen strong gains in recent years amid growing student interest, saw the number of openings drop to 30 from 38. One consolation is that this field and world history were the only two specialties to have more listings this year than they had a decade ago.

In the AHA survey of department chairs, public institutions generally fared much worse than did private colleges on a range of issues, including hiring -- and not just of faculty members, but also of support staff members on whom many departments depend.

The report on the job market was frank in suggesting that departments need to rethink their policies on the size of their graduate programs. "Most history doctoral students are being trained for an academic job market that is now beset by crises," the report says. "Departments should begin to carefully reflect on the type of training they are providing their students and the number of students they are admitting to their programs."

In an interview, Townsend said that he was not sure what advice he could offer to a new Ph.D. struggling on the job market right now. He said that such people need to think about "how long it is reasonable to linger on in part-time and postdoc positions."

There is no doubt, Townsend said, that many talented new Ph.D.s are still hunting for long-term positions, but he said that there is very real time pressure involved. "Typically, our advice is that after about three years, your odds of getting on to the tenure track go down significantly," he said. What remains to be seen, he said, is whether attitudes about such historians will change in light of the exceptionally poor job market faced by those going on the market now.

Economic Recovery

For economists, last year's 21 percent drop in positions was a sign of just how bad the academic job market had become. While humanities disciplines were expecting a bad job market last year, some thought social science fields like economics wouldn't see a large dip. Economics is a popular and growing major on many campuses; economics Ph.D.s can be hired by a range of departments, including business schools; and economics has a long history of sending many of its new Ph.D.s to positions outside of academe. But the numbers last year were bad for all kinds of economics positions.

This year, the jobs bounced back. The total number of listings with the AEA rose to 2,842 in 2010, up from 2,285 in 2009, and only 43 jobs shy of the 2008 total. Because many of the 2008 openings that were listed were for searches that were subsequently called off, the AEA report -- prepared by John J. Siegfried, secretary-treasurer of the association -- says that it believes job openings are now above 2008 levels.

New academic jobs increased to 1,884 in 2010, up from 1,512 in 2009, and now exceed 2008 totals by 24. The vast majority of the academic jobs are at universities with graduate programs.

The top area of specialization in job listings, by far, was mathematical and quantitative methods, followed by microeconomics, macroeconomics and financial economics, international economics, and macroeconomics and monetary economics.

Scott Jaschik

Inside Higher Ed: Job Freefall, Job Recovery