The National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) recently concluded its Accounting Career Awareness Program at Harris-Stowe State University, during which 25 local minority high school students resided on campus for a week to increase their understanding of accounting and business career opportunities.
From July 24-29, students attended accounting classes, while working on personal development and college preparation. Students were trained in resume writing, business etiquette, public speaking, networking, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Additionally, they toured local companies and Certified Public Accountant firms.
Now that the program is completed, NABA will maintain ongoing contact with participants through its mentorship and alumni programs and continue to monitor participants’ academic progress. Student sponsors included Deloitte, Monsanto, Rubin Brown, KMPG, Ernst & Young and Sigma Aldrich, to name a few.
Harris-Stowe State University, located in midtown St. Louis, is a four-year institution that offers 14 degree programs in the areas of Accounting, Business Administration, Biology, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Health Care Management, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Information Sciences and Computer Technology, Mathematics, Middle School Education, Professional Interdisciplinary Studies, Secondary Education and Urban Education.
SIUE to partner on STEM study
The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has selected Southern Illinois University Edwardsville among five universities across the nation as a research partner to participate in collecting information about how students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are prepared through master’s programs.
SIUE will join Loyola University in Chicago, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and Wright State University in collecting vital data about students seeking master’s degrees in STEM disciplines. The awardees will collect data on completion and attrition in STEM master’s degree programs; administer surveys to students, graduates and those who do not complete degrees, and conduct student focus groups. Additionally, awardees will survey graduate program directors.
Data collected will allow stakeholders to better understand reasons for enrollment, factors that contribute to student success and promising practices to improve completion. Insight gained from these activities can help ensure that U.S. graduate schools are preparing the necessary talent at the master’s level in STEM fields to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Research Partners in the CGS project on Completion and Attrition in STEM Master’s Programs will receive $30,000 to participate. CGS, an organization of more than 500 institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Canada, engages in graduate education, research and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. Among U.S. institutions, CGS members award 93 percent of doctoral degrees and 76 percent of master’s degrees. The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which is accomplished through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research and the development and dissemination of best practices.
“A master’s degree in a STEM field often offers a clear pathway to professional employment and career success. In this economy, more than ever, we need to better understand the factors affecting completion and attrition at the master’s level,” said Debra Stewart, CGS president.
“This will be the first study of its kind in the United States and we are delighted to work with these innovative graduate schools on this unique project. The results of this study will be information essential to graduate deans as they foster student achievement in graduate education.”
Additional institutions will be invited to join in the research effort as unfunded Project Partners. The study’s findings will be released in a monograph in 2013. A decision will be made on whether an in-depth follow-up project on master’s completion and attrition is necessary. It is envisioned that a follow-up project would engage a much larger number of CGS member institutions to provide completion and attrition data, conduct surveys of entering students, graduates, and non-completers, and implement interventions that are designed to improve outcomes in master’s programs.
