Power of SUNY

FLCC Earns $3.35M To Integrate Research Into Biology Courses

FLCC received a $3.35 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2011 to roll out a national model for incorporating research into community college biology courses. It is the first time an NSF grant of this level has been awarded to a community college.

The funding is from NSF’s Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) program, in which there are three levels of funding. The highest level, achieved only by FLCC this year, is extremely competitive because the projects must demonstrate that they will have impact on a national level.

In the first year of implementation, the project team, led by Hewlett, will select 16 community colleges from across the country to participate in an extensive program that begins with three-day workshops in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and the District of Columbia.

At the workshops, Hewlett and faculty from Tompkins-Cortland Community College, Jamestown Community College, and Delaware Technical and Community College will help them design, implement, and assess undergraduate research programs at their institutions. The Council for Undergraduate Research, a national organization with similar goals, will provide additional support.  The grant will then support these institutions (supplies, equipment, faculty and curriculum development, stipends for student research assistants) for the remaining three years as their plans take shape on their respective campuses. The Social and Economic Sciences Research Center at Washington State University will evaluate the project as it unfolds.