CCPI-STEM has selected six community college educators for its fellowship program. The fellowship is one of several initiatives of the Community College Presidents’ Initiative in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (CCPI-STEM) that aim to strengthen community college faculty and administrators and nurture their leadership skills in order to grow and diversify the STEM technician workforce.

All the individuals in this first cohort of CCPI-STEM Fellows are pursuing graduate degrees and conducting research related to STEM education and workforce development at community colleges. The Fellows are

• Bethany Sansing-Helton, Lead Equity Fellow, Instructor, and Co-Chair, Math Department, Madison Area Technical College (Wisconsin);
• Buffy Quinn, Assistant Dean, Natural and Applied Sciences, Onondaga Community College (New York);
• DeDe Griffith, Vice President, Workforce Development, Temple College (Texas);
• Emily Halvorson-Otts, Dean, Sciences, Pima Community College (Arizona);
• Eugene Mahmoud, Professor, Physics, Mount San Antonio College (California); and       
• Michael Silva, Professor, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences, Solano Community College (California). 

The CCPI-STEM Fellows program is funded by an Advanced Technological Education grant from the National Science Foundation and provides an honorarium of $5,000 annually for two years to each of the selected individuals. Support in the second year is contingent on Fellows making satisfactory progress during the first year.

In addition to their graduate studies and research, the Fellows are expected to participate in professional development and mentoring activities to prepare them for future STEM leadership roles in community colleges.

The CCPI-STEM Fellows program is open to individuals who are pursuing or beginning to pursue graduate degrees and conducting research related to STEM education and workforce development in community colleges. In 2022, CCPI-STEM received 29 applications; eight finalists were interviewed.

The criteria used to evaluate the applicants were educational background, STEM-related experience, leadership potential, STEM leadership potential, STEM community engagement, prior research experience, and the focus of their proposed research.

The next deadline for fellowship applications is September 15, 2023. For more information contact Dr. Ashok Agrawal.

Brief biographies for the CCPI-STEM Fellows and more detailed information about the fellowship program are available at https://www.ccpi-stem.org/ccpi-stem-fellows-program/