CoSMiC* Scholars Program
The CoSMiC* Scholars Program at Towson University:
Computing, Sciences, and Mathematics in College Star
Funded by U. S. Government’s National Science Foundation, under the program S-STEM entitled:
Scholarships - in -Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
A Summary
This program, called the CoSMiC * Scholars Program (Computing, Sciences, and Mathematics in College Star), provides up to four years of scholarships to full-time citizen/permanent resident students who have financial need and who are majoring in one of these fields: Computing Sciences (graduate and undergraduate programs, including Computer Science, Information Systems, and Information Technology); Mathematics (graduate and undergraduate programs); Forensic Chemistry (graduate program); and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics (MB3) undergraduate program). The grant was awarded to Towson University under the S-STEM program Scholarships – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) for four years. The grant began in Fall Semester 2007, and will end at the end of academic year 2010-2011. Dr. Joyce Currie Little, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, is Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Martha Siegel, Department of Mathematics, and Dr. Gail Gasparich, Department of Biological Sciences are Co-PIs.
The CoSMiC * Scholars program offers up to $5000 per academic year to full-time undergraduate students and up to $10,000 for full-time graduate students, limited only by their own individual financial eligibility. A program of specialized activities is offered to the students in the program, such as: lessons on careers planning in a class setting, panel sessions with graduates now in industry, informal meetings with faculty, field trips to related industry and government locations, and an annual lecture series. The monitoring of student progress is required, with a review of academic records of students for continuation at the end of each semester, and with a monitoring of the continuing eligibility of all the requirements. The Selection and Evaluation/Retention Committee reviews applications at each application cycle (typically once a year, until the last and final year), ranks them, and gives recommendations. They also review the continuation of students at the end of each academic year when requested to do so by the PI’s. The members of this Committee also assist in publicizing the program.
Oversight by the University is done by the College Dean with involved Department and/or Program Chairs. The program has served and funded up to 35 students per semester over the life of the program; Twenty-one students remain in the program at the start of Spring Semester 2010, with those remaining eligible in the last year of the grant to receiving some funding in that final year. No new admissions are being taken for the Fall 2010 academic year.
The External Advisory Committee consists of: Bernie Dellone, BD Corporation; Eli N. Donkar, Social Security Administration; Charles (Chip) Doeller, Raytheon Corporation; Bill Hawkins, University of the District of Columbia; Sylvia Sorkin, Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC); and Emil Volcheck, National Security Agency. They typically meet once each year to review the progress of the work, give recommendations for improvement, and serve as a link with the industrial and governmental complex.
Questions mat be addressed to the appropriate faculty member for these majors:
The Jess and Mildred Fisher
College of Science and Mathematics
Smith Hall, Room 312 (campus map)
Phone: 410-704-2121
Fax: 410-704-2604
E-mail: fcsm@towson.edu
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