A PIPELINE TO SUCCESS: RECRUITING MINORITY AND FEMALE STUDENTS IN GEOSCIENCES THROUGH A MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING ACADEMY FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Cooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP) of Fort Valley State University (FVSU) in Georgia is an innovative cooperative program between FVSU and private and governmental sectors of the nation's energy industry. The focus of CDEP is on the recruitment and placement of academically talented minorities and females into professional level careers in the energy industry. Since 1993, the CDEP has implemented the Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Academy (MSEA) with a goal to create a continuous pipeline of minority and female students, from eighth grade through Ph.D., majoring in geosciences or other areas.

MSEA targets students during their eighth grade year - one of the most critical periods of their educational development and growth. The students selected to participate in MSEA are academically conscientious and considered the cream-of-the-crop in their respective schools and required to maintain a minimum overall 3.00 GPA and must maintain a grade of "B" or above in mathematics and science courses. Recruited from across the country, during each summer (from rising 9th grader to rising 12th grader), the students are exposed to geological, scientific, mathematical and engineering concepts, and hands-on-laboratory experiments beyond what they are taught at their middle and high schools. MSEA's geoscience curriculum is concentrated on exposing students from 9th grade onwards to different concepts of earth processes which include field trips to the Grand Canyon and field trips in Georgia and Oklahoma; visitations to other dual degree universities, private oil and gas industries, and federal agencies. All these experiences are valuable in helping the students to excel in their educational pursuits and to create an awareness of geosciences as a career.

1993-2001, 359 students have participated in MSEA. The average entering class size over the entire nine year period is 39.89 students per year with an average graduating class size for this period is 51%. (MSEA was reduced to a 4 summer program in 1999). Out of the 81 students who have graduated from the program, approximately 50% have entered into one of CDEP's dual degree programs. Therefore, the program has proven to be an effective method of recruiting minority and female students to pursue majors in geosciences and other areas.