Grants from Business Leader Lyda Hill Help Launch New Program
The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) will announce Wednesday that grants from entrepreneur and philanthropist Lyda Hill have been awarded to establish a new UTeach program at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs this fall, making it the 22nd campus nationwide to implement the program. Originated at The University of Texas at Austin, UTeach is preparing a new generation of math and science teachers for the United States.
Ms. Hill is a major funder of the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas and has a lifelong interest in math and science. "Math and sciences are the answer to many of the problems we face as a country – we need to innovate to move our economy forward. We need new knowledge skills to improve medical care, transportation, clean water resources, and cyber-security," Ms. Hill said. "This UTeach program will help train math and science teachers who can inspire more students to tackle those problems."
The program and Ms. Hill's contributions will be celebrated with a reception and tours beginning at 4 p.m. Sept. 15 at the UCCS Science & Engineering Building, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs.
Dr. Pam Shockley Zalabak, Chancellor of UCCS, said Ms. Hill's support was instrumental in launching the teacher training program at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "She has provided a strong start for the program that we hope other supporters will build on."
NMSI is a non-profit organization focused on improving achievement in math and science in U.S. public schools. Enrollment in the UTeach program, which is supported by NMSI grants, has more than tripled in the last three years and is expected to reach more than 3,800 students in fall 2010.
"Demand for the UTeach program continues to grow around the country, and we are seeing immediate results," said Tom Luce, CEO of NMSI. "The rapid growth of UTeach confirms that more college students will seek careers as math and science teachers if you provide an approach that makes sense. We are confident UCCS is going to play a significant role in preparing and motivating the math and science teachers that are needed in Colorado. We look forward to watching their program grow in the years to come."
About UTeach: Originated at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997, the UTeach program enables students majoring in math, science, or computer science to receive full teaching certification without adding time or cost to their degrees. Some 82 percent of the UTeach graduate hires are still teaching after five years, compared with 65 percent nationally. About 45 percent of the UTeach graduates teach in high-needs schools. The national replication process is directed by NMSI in conjunction with the UTeach Institute.
It is estimated that the teachers from one graduating class alone in the first cohort of 13 UTeach universities will impact more than two million students during the course of their teaching careers.
The core elements of the UTeach program include:
- Active recruitment and incentives, such as offering the first two courses for free.
- A compact degree program that allows students to graduate in four years with both a degree and a teaching certification.
- A strong focus on acquiring deep content knowledge in math and science, in addition to research-based teaching strategies focusing on teaching and learning math and science.
- Early and intensive field teaching experience, beginning in the UTeach students' first semester.
- Personal attention and guidance from highly experienced master teachers, faculty and successful public school teachers.
About NMSI: The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education, and science to reverse the United States' troubling decline in math and science education. NMSI is an agent of change, focused on improving the U.S. public school system by replicating programs nationally that have documented success in math and science education. Major support for this ground-breaking national initiative has come from Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Expansion of the UTeach program is also supported by funding from the UTeach Institute, Texas Instruments Foundation, the Texas High School Project, the Greater Texas Foundation, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, the Tennessee Department of Education, Texas Education Agency, and other private contributions. With funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York as well as the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, NMSI is creating an alumni network for UTeach graduates.
About Lyda Hill: Lyda Hill is an entrepreneur in the for-profit and non-profit sector. She currently is the President of LH Holdings, a company involved in real estate, tourism and venture investments. She also sits on the M.D. Anderson Advisory Board and the Garden of the Gods Foundation. She created the Volunteer Connection to promote volunteering in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has been honored with the President's Volunteer Action Award at the White House. Her family has a longtime association with the Colorado Springs area – her parents, Al Hill Sr. and Margaret Hill, developed the Kissing Camels Estates and Golf Club, the Garden of the Gods Club, and the Seven Falls attraction in Cheyenne Canyon. Lyda Hill has continued that civic support, constructing the $3.5 million Visitor and Nature Center at Garden of the Gods in 1995 and supporting growth of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
About the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs: Founded in 1965 and located at the foot of Pikes Peak, UCCS has been one of the fastest growing campuses in Colorado. In the last decade, enrollment has increased 35 percent and is expected to reach approximately 9,000 students in fall 2010. UCCS offers 36 Bachelor's degrees, 19 Master's degrees and five doctoral programs. There are six academic colleges on campus: business, education, engineering and applied science, public affairs, letters, arts and sciences, nursing and health sciences. U.S. News and World Report has named UCCS a top Western public university and the undergraduate engineering program one of the nation's best
For more information, visit www.nationalmathandscience.org and http://www.uccs.edu/.
Universities implementing the UTeach program:
The University
of Texas at Austin (1997)
| Â | ||
First Cohort (2008) | University of Colorado at Boulder | |
| Florida State University | University of Florida | |
| Louisiana State University | University of Houston | |
| Northern Arizona | University University of Kansas | |
| Temple University | University of North Texas | |
| University of California, Berkley | University of Texas at Dallas | |
| University of California, Irvine | Western Kentucky University |
| Â | ||
Second Cohort (2010) | ||
| Cleveland State | University of Colorado at Colorado Springs | |
| Middle Tennessee State University | University of Memphis | |
| University of Texas at Arlington | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | |
| University of Texas at Tyler | University of Tennessee at Knoxville |
Contacts:
National Math and Science Initiative
Rena Pederson, 214-665-2523
Communications
Director
rpederson@nationalmathandscience.org
or
University
of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Tom Hutton, 719-255-3439
Executive
Director, University Advancement
thutton@uccs.edu
