More minority students at Texas A&M University have been given the chance to explore opportunities that benefit them thanks to a grant offered by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME).
With the intention to create a larger proportion of African American, American Indian and Hispanic students in STEM careers, the NACME Scholars Program issues $4 million between partner institutions and individual awards annually. In 2014, the College of Engineering received a block grant for over $600,000 in scholarships to support 14 NACME scholars.
“We are beyond thrilled to have had NACME select us to carry on this block grant to present opportunities to our minority students and we have shown that it has worked, based on our retention and the GPAs of our students,” said Dr. Sonia Garcia, senior director of Access and Inclusion.
The grant offers $3,000 annually to a recipient until graduation, and since its inception the program has maintained 100% retention. Several students in the first cohort have graduated and gone on to pursue a graduate degree or work in industry. The scholarship continues to support a new cohort each year, and recipients have continuously maintained a high GPA. During the last academic year, the cumulative GPA was 3.3.
Coming into college, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of going to an enormous career fair with hundreds of companies and thousands of representatives. However, having a chance to interact with these professionals in a smaller setting helped me gain confidence in myself and my speaking abilities.
“The NACME scholarship program has benefitted me by enabling me to pay for my college education with less time spent as a student worker,” civil engineering graduate Jose Emanuel Quiros said. “As an undergraduate, I was thus able to spend more time on my studies and getting involved with organizations on campus.”
Not only is this scholarship program able to help students’ financial needs, but it gives them the chance to make connections that, in turn, expand their professional networks. Representatives from the program’s corporate sponsors meet with NACME scholars giving the students a chance to network and improve their soft skills.
“Coming into college, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of going to an enormous career fair with hundreds of companies and thousands of representatives.” Quiros said. “However, having a chance to interact with these professionals in a smaller setting helped me gain confidence in myself and my speaking abilities.”
As a result of this partnership with industry, many NACME scholars have also found internships within these companies.
“NACME helped me acquire internships at BP as a subsea operations engineer and Microsoft electromechanical sourcing engineer by fostering a community that allowed me to network and build relationships with practicing engineers,” senior mechanical engineering student Maricarmen del Toro said.
This scholarship program pushes students to branch out, further cement their passions in engineering and ultimately gives students a window to expand their abilities.
“Receiving financial support from NACME has helped me identify early in my college career the need to diversify my set of skills, polish those I had already acquired and continuously challenge myself to reach new heights,” del Toro said. “I cannot express enough my gratitude toward NACME and everyone else that has made this possible.”
Kim Foli Ikpo contributed to this article.