Newsbriefs (winter 2008)
Clark receives $1.4 million grant for coastal zone research
A $1,442,930 grant from the National Science Foundation in support of research on suburbanization and its effects on coastal watershed areas, "Suburbanization, Water Use, Nitrogen Cycling and Eutrophication in the 21st Century: Interactions, Feedbacks and Uncertainties in a Massachusetts Coastal Zone, " is expected to provide novel insights into processes that are vital to the environment and inhabitants of rapidly growing coastal areas. This is the second-largest grant ever awarded to a Clark faculty research project.
Researchers will examine 26 Massachusetts towns of the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds. Suburbanizing watershed-estuary systems, such as those in the study area, represent a pressing national challenge for coastal zone managers and land owners. The researchers will break new ground by examining the human and environment systems in the study area as a coupled system rather than independent structures.
Clark researchers are geography professor Colin Polsky, who is principal investigator of the grant, and geography and IDCE professor Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr. Both Polsky and Pontius are conducting this research through Clark 's George Perkins Marsh Institute. Other co-principal investigators include Charles Hopkinson of the Marine Biological Laboratory and University of Georgia; and Wilfred Wollheim and Charles J. Vorosmarty, both of the University of New Hampshire.
"This is an outstanding opportunity for Clark to contribute to basic knowledge of coupled human-environment systems dynamics, " Polsky says. "That means understanding how people are affecting the environment, how they are responding to those effects now, and then projecting those dynamics into the future."
The research is an exemplar of Clark's interest in use-inspired research (see story page 8), promising to make findings available not only to scientists, but also to end users such as suburban communities that are experiencing rapid changes associated with suburban development. The results will be conveyed directly to relevant federal and state agencies; national, regional and local land-and-water planning organizations and advocacy groups; and elected officials.
"As we continue to try to manage growth smartly and efficiently, it is vital that local communities have access to the best research into the interplay between development and the environment. This is especially true along our sensitive coastal areas, " says Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), lauding the grant and Clark's work in sustainability science. "I'm proud that Clark has become such a nationally recognized leader in environmental research."
Learn more at www.clarku.edu/departments/hero
Clark scientists are partners in National Children's Study
Clark researchers will participate in the National Children's Study (NCS), the largest and most long-term study ever conducted on how environmental and genetic factors impact children 's health in the United States.
On Oct. 4, the NCS announced contracts with 22 new centers across the country, the result of a $69 million federal grant for fiscal year 2007, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Brown University, University of Massachusetts and Yale are three of the new centers in New England. UMass is leading a research team that includes scientists from Clark and Harvard. Nationally, the study will follow a representative sample of 100,000 children from before birth to age 21, seeking information to prevent and treat some of the nation 's most pressing health problems, including autism, asthma, birth defects, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Locally, the UMass-Clark-Harvard team will follow 1,000 children in Worcester County.
"Clark is thrilled to participate in the National Children's Study in partnership with UMass. To have Clark faculty contribute to national efforts aimed at solving important issues related to children 's health and development is precisely the sort of use-inspired research Clark strives for, " notes Nancy Budwig, associate provost and dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
On the NCS Clark team are IDCE professors Tim Downs (principal investigator), Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger and Rob Goble. They will sample the indoor and outdoor environments that children inhabit (and that their mothers inhabit while pregnant), with emphasis on exposure to toxic chemicals. They will use geographic information systems (GIS) to help select participants who live in places representative of Worcester County 's considerable demographic and environmental variability and provide mapping and spatial analysis of different factors that shape children 's environments, including brownfields, green space, toxics' releases, roads, health-care facilities and recreational resources.
"Retention of participants over such a long time frame is a major challenge," says Downs. To improve retention and thus the quality of their work, he says the team will work in partnership with residents to create a co-ownership of the research.
Congress directed the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development to lead a national longitudinal study of environmental influences on children 's health and development with other federal agencies in the Children's Health Act of 2000. It is from this directive that the National Children's Study was born.
To read more about the National Children's Study, visit www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov
President Bassett testifies before House Education and Labor Committee
President John Bassett testified before the House Education and Labor Committee at a hearing on college tuition costs on Nov. 1 in Washington, D.C. The committee called the hearing in advance of proposed legislation to extend the Higher Education Act. Some lawmakers from both parties are seeking to curtail rising tuition costs in private and public colleges. Congress, however, did pass in September the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provides a large increase in college aid.
The Higher Education Act, first enacted in 1965, authorizes most federal student-aid programs and includes regulations that apply to colleges and universities. It must be periodically reviewed or reauthorized.
Bassett appeared at the hearing on behalf of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), which launched the University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN) in September. The network was created in response to a call for greater transparency in college costs. Bassett chaired the NAICU task force that implemented U-CAN.
Members of Congress focused their questions on why the price of college was going up faster than inflation. "At the simplest level, prices have gone up because our annual costs have gone up, and because we are providing more services than ever, " he said.
His testimony highlighted ways colleges are working to contain or reduce costs and cited collaborative efforts among institutions and associations. His testimony also pointed to other cost reductions made by colleges to balance budgets that impair quietly, such as larger class sizes, replacing professors with part-timers and graduate students, and reduced library purchases. He added that higher education remains labor-intensive with professors and students working together and that savings in other industries from new technologies are not as available to colleges without reducing quality.
Bassett and the other witnesses followed their prepared testimony by answering questions from members of the 23-person committee. The members were trying to understand what affects the "sticker price" of a college education and how that can be affected by market factors, accelerating costs, the goal of providing financial aid to those in need, and, in the public sector, funding from legislatures.
Before concluding his testimony on behalf of NAICU, Bassett addressed a misperception that exists in some public policy arenas today. "Time and again we have heard the argument that somehow the federal investment in student aid drives up college prices. Exhaustive research has conclusively shown that this is not the case. Instead, Pell Grants, for example, make it possible for colleges to limit tuition increases."
The webcast of the hearing, a transcript of Bassett's prepared testimony, more about the U-CAN initiative and other related information can be found at www.clarku.edu/offices/president.
Lasry Center for Bioscience gets the gold for being green
The Cathy '83 and Marc '81 Lasry Center for Bioscience received a Gold certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™.
The LEED certification is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. The Lasry Center for Bioscience is the first building in the city to receive the LEED Gold certification.
The 50,000 square-foot facility on Maywood Street was designed by Tsoi/Kobus and Associates of Cambridge, Mass., and built by New England general contractor Consigli Construction Co.
Grants & Awards
Departments
ADMISSIONS: Harold Wingood was awarded $5,000 from the Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars Program for outreach to UWC schools around the world. The University was named a partner in this program, which is intended to help internationalize the American undergraduate experience by supporting need-based scholarships for graduates of UWC schools who attend selected American colleges and universities.
BIOLOGY: David Hibbett and Co-PI Brandon Matheny have again been successful in receiving support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This new five-year $590,750 grant is for "Collaborative Research: AFTOL Resolving the Evolutionary History of the Fungi." Matthew Wund, a postdoctoral working with Susan Foster, was awarded $48,796 in supplemental support from the National Institutes of Health for research on "The Genetic Basis of Boldness in Stickleback Fish." Deb Robertson received $5,970 in supplemental funds from NSF for undergraduate summer research support on "Nitrogen Assimilation in Marine Algae: Evolution, Physiology and Educational Opportunities. " Manfred Binder and David Hibbett received $10,420 in supplemental funds from NSF for undergraduate summer research support on the project titled "Toward a Global Phylogeny of the Boletales."
CHEMISTRY: Luis Smith was awarded a $90,000 grant from the American Chemical Society for research on "Determining the Effect of Local Structure on Acidity in High Surface Area Oxides."
CLARK LABS: Ron Eastman received $21,562 in continuing support from Conservation International for research on "Building Carbon Baselines." (Also see George Perkins Marsh Institute)
GLOBAL STUDIES: Mimi Stephens received $20,000 in supplemental funding from Framingham State in support of the Global Studies Program.
GODDARD LIBRARY: Under the direction of Mott Linn, the Goddard Library was awarded $40,000 in funds from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners for "Digitizing Historical Resources in the Goddard Library."
MATH & COMPUTER SCIENCE: Li Han and Lee Rudolph were awarded a $270,250 grant from the NSF for research on "Practical Parametrization and Efficient Motion Planning of Linkage Systems."
PSYCHOLOGY: Denise Hines, new to the Psychology Department this fall, brought with her a new $411,275 grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on "Mental Health Status of Male Help Seekers for Partner Violence Victimization."
Research Centers
GEORGE PERKINS MARSH INSTITUTE: Colin Polsky and Gil Pontius were awarded a five-year $1,442,930 grant from the NSF for research on "CNH: Suburbanization, Water Use, Nitrogen Cycling, and Eutrophication in the 21st Century: Interactions, Feedbacks, and Uncertainties in a Massachusetts Coastal Zone. " Dale Hattis and Co-PI Rob Goble were awarded a new three-year $677,500 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for research on "Use of Biomarkers and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling in Risk Analysis for Developmental Effects of Chlorpyrifos. " Jennie Stephens was awarded a collaborative $133,294 grant from the NSF for research on "Diffusion of Emerging Energy Technologies within a State Context." Karen Frey, new to the Geography Department this fall, brings with her a new $59,441 collaborative research grant from the NSF for research on "The Polaris Project: Rising Stars in the Arctic". Ron Eastman and Co-PI John Rogan have been awarded $62,906 in supplemental funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for research on "Analysis and Interpretation of Hyperspectral Imagery for Mapping Distribution of Flaxinus Species and Emerald Ash Borer Host Trees. " Gil Pontius has been awarded $7,500 in supplemental funds from the Marine Biological Laboratory for his research on "Plum Island Ecosystems LTER."
Clark Labs director J. Ronald Eastman appointed Landry Chair
This fall, President John Bassett announced the appointment of geography professor J. Ronald Eastman to the Jan and Larry Landry University Professorship for a three-year term commencing September 1. The Landry University Professorship is made possible by a generous gift from Larry Landry ‘71, M.B.A. ‘75 and his wife Jan. Larry Landry is a member and past chair of the Clark University Board of Trustees.
Eastman has been at Clark University since 1981 and was promoted to full professor in 1994. He chaired the Graduate School of Geography from 1998 to 2002 and has been the director of Clark Labs since 1991. His field of specialization, in which he is a world leader, is Geographic Information Science (GIS) and Remote Sensing. In 2003 he was recognized by the Association of American Geographers with the Distinguished Service Award and in 2007 received the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science research award given for "outstanding research contributions to geographic information science." Eastman is also a highly regarded teacher and mentor for undergraduate and graduate students.
Eastman is best known as the developer of the IDRISI GIS software and director of Clark Labs. IDRISI was developed as a low-cost GIS software for the research and policy community around the world. Eastman wrote the original source code in the 1980s and then developed Clark Labs as a unit that draws annual software sales of over $1 million. Over subsequent years, Eastman developed new generations of IDRISI, releasing in 2006 the Andes Edition (version 15.0). The software has won numerous awards. Clark Labs is now known as much for the research findings originating from the unit as for the software itself. Among the path-breaking contributions that Eastman has made are a series of image time series analysis tools for the investigation of environmental trends and climate teleconnections such as el ni ño. More recently, Clark Labs researchers have turned to using GIS and remote sensing to address issues of biodiversity associated with climate change. This work has drawn the attention of and major grant funding from such foundations as Conservation International, the Moore Foundation, and the Google Foundation.
"Ron's work is truly of international renown and has been transformative not just within the academy but in the international policy community and in communities around the world from Malawi to Nepal, " says Bassett. "This appointment will help highlight the path-breaking scholarship and creative work carried out by faculty across the whole University."
Stephens awarded grant to study emerging energy technologies
Environmental scientist Jennie Stephens (IDCE) was awarded a $390,000 three-year National Science Foundation grant from the Science and Society program to support research on Diffusion of Emerging Energy Technologies within a State Context. This cross-disciplinary collaboration among Clark University, University of Minnesota and Texas A &M examines the interconnected, state-level, sociopolitical influences on diffusion and deployment of emerging energy technologies with potential to contribute to an energy system transformation for climate-change mitigation. The grant will be divided among the three collaborating institutions; Clark will receive $133,294.
Using a case-study approach, this research focuses on two very different emerging energy technologies: wind power and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Both have large potential to change the energy technology landscape and to dramatically reduce CO 2 emissions.
This research will provide insights that may accelerate the transition of our energy technology infrastructure. In addition to increasing understanding of state-level influence on technology diffusion, results of this research will enable energy professionals, state planners, policy analysts, nonprofits and businesses to develop more effective strategies for involving the public in energy policy formation and implementation related to deployment of wind energy and CCS technologies, as well as other emerging energy technologies.
Student Organizations: Major Events Committee
As the lights descend, MTV's Best New Artist of 2007, Gym Class Heroes, run onto the stage amid smoke and neon. Blasting a signature sound of hip-hop, rock and R&B, the band incites uproarious shouting and applause among the more than 1,500 Clark students and Worcester-area fans who have gathered excitedly to see one of today 's most popular musical acts perform.
The venue for this concert is none other than Clark's Kneller Athletic Center on September 25 and the student organization responsible for this sensational good time—the student-run Major Events Committee (MEC).
MEC, a new student organization on campus this fall, was created to organize a campuswide event every fall semester as a counterpoint to Spree Day, Clark 's infamous "hooky" day that takes place each spring. Inspired by the success of Lupe Fiasco's 2006 Spree Day concert, MEC chair Taryn Terry '08 helped found the group because she wanted to see more events on campus that could match the excitement and student involvement.
With the support of Student Leadership and Programming director Mike McKenna, planning for the event began in the spring and continued through the summer, says Terry.
Students were surveyed to find out which artist they would most like to see perform at Clark. Choices included everything from the Ying Yang Twins to Coolio. Ultimately, Gym Class Heroes and the timing of their national campus tour fit the bill.
"If it becomes a tradition like Spree Day, it will create even more of a sense of community, " explains Terry, who hopes the success of the concert will ensure other such events on campus each year. Aside from big ticket sales, Terry also gauges its success by students ' involvement.
"It's about the student body. We had a lot of student help and it was really good to see the level student involvement, " says Terry, also noting the importance of surveying students and choosing programming based on their interests.
The committee marks a new chapter in the decades-long history of bringing famous musical performances to Clark. In the past, iconic performers like Jimi Hendrix, Poco, Linda Ronstadt and James Brown rocked campus. In recent years, the push for bringing big-named live concerts to campus has come as part of Spree Day 's concert series.
In the end, Gym Class Heroes and MEC thought the fall show received a lot of positive feedback, says Terry. "When everyone was in the crowd, I looked around and thought; we did this… what a sense of accomplishment."
— Amanda Guisbond '07
Clark sociologist authors book on in-law dynamics
People have kidded that Clark sociology professor Deborah Merrill is one brave woman. In the introduction of her new book, "Mothers-in-Law and Daughters-in-Law; Understanding the relationship and what makes them friends or foe " (Praeger Publishers), Merrill documents over a decade of research and interviews with 53 daughters-in-law and many of their mothers-in-law in an attempt to demystify this unique in-law relationship and provide advice to women who struggle in these roles.
The book offers insights into what mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships are truly like (as opposed to how they are portrayed in the media) and explains why and how in-law relationships differ from other family relationships.
"Popular culture presents a very negative portrait of mothers-in-law as interfering and domineering and of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships as being fraught with problems and tensions, particularly for the daughter-in-law," Merrill says.
Her research suggests that there is a broad range of relationships with many of the relationships being very good. However, her study does reveal that over half of all mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law experience some conflict and that it is often intense.
"While the number of very good relationships was higher than expected, the poor relationships were much worse than expected, " she notes.
Merrill explains where the difficulty in the in-law relationship is rooted (how daughters-in-law report feeling both "in" and "out" of their husbands' family and mothers-in-law report feeling left out of their sons' lives), and discloses how friendly pairs have made it past problems that surface between a man 's mother and his wife, and how they became friends. Dozens of pairs of women illustrate her points, from harmful ideas and actions to helpful approaches.
Merrill examines factors that can influence the in-law dynamic including a daughter-in-law 's relationships with her own mother, the husband/ son's role in the relationship, a woman's employment and even geographic mobility. In addition, Merrill—like no other researcher before her—investigates how a previous divorce, and whose divorce (the husband's, wife's, or parents-in-law's), affects current in-law relationships.
Merrill, whose previous book, "Caring for Elderly Parents: Juggling Work, Family and Caregiving in Middle and Working Class Families " (Auburn House, 1997), focuses on caregiving for the elderly, also goes so far as to suggest that in-law relationships should not be private —but public matters—because they affect marriage and may likely affect support of the elderly in the future.
"In-law relationships are about marriage and they are also about intergenerational ties, " says Merrill. "Family relationships are important, particularly for women, and we need to help one another to make them better. "
Miller to teach in Netherlands as Fulbright Distinguished Chair
Mark Miller, government and international relations professor and director of Clark 's Law and Society Program, received a Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award for 2007-2008.
Miller will teach at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands during the spring 2008 semester. There, he will hold the Thomas Jefferson Distinguished Chair, teaching in the American Studies Program, which is one of the largest American studies programs in Europe. He will teach a master 's level course called "The Supreme Court in American History" and a bachelor's level class titled "Government and Politics in the United States."
Each year, the highly prestigious Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, allows faculty from academic institutions in the United States to travel around the world to lecture and conduct research. The program specifically requires that candidates are senior scholars and have a significant publication and teaching record. The Distinguished Chairs program is part of the larger Fulbright Scholars exchange program that sends U.S. faculty and students abroad and brings international scholars and students to the United States.
Miller's current research interests include the interactions between Congress and the courts; constitutional law issues involving the powers of Congress; and comparisons of judicial politics in North America and Western Europe. He is currently working on a book titled, "The View of the Courts from the Hill: Interactions between Congress and the Federal Judiciary. " At Clark, he has been named Outstanding Teacher of the Year and received the Oliver and Dorothy Hayden Junior Faculty Fellowship Award for excellence in teaching and research as well as the Seymour N. Logan Faculty Fellowship for excellence in teaching and research.
Letter to the Editor
It was nice to see the story on Walter Wright in the fall 2007 issue of Clarknews. I was an undergraduate student in Walter 's first year of teaching and indeed, in his second and third. I wasn't a philosophy student but a geographer, and yet I can say without equivocation that Walter 's teaching had more effect on my work over the years than that of any other instructor I knew.
There are few great teachers for whom teaching is a radical activity that places one 's professional career solely on the hope of an informed future for others. Walter was always that type of teacher and remains so to this day. Over the years, the lessons that seemed so, well, philosophical, became, in the nexus of crisis and experience, practical and immediate. It has been my privilege to return to Clark and lecture in philosophy for Walter several times. Each time I relearn how hard it is to do what he, from the start, has done effortlessly.
I have always admired Walter's ability to work administratively as well as in the classroom. My suspicion is that he treats colleagues no differently from students, listening intently and carefully urging them forward.
Certainly, Clark is fortunate to have him in his new position but, personally, I regret his movement from the classroom into the higher echelons of University thinking. He is to me irreplaceable as a teacher of undergraduate philosophy but, alas, is probably similarly precious in the role of administrator.
While the story was not on his teaching, it is something that deserves even more recognition than his other contributions to Clark life, I believe. As both a gerontologist and ethicist, I owe much of what I have become in those fields to Walter 's intuitive grasp of how to convey hard ideas to a semiradical, intense, sometimes-confused student of the 1960s.
Tom Koch '71
Clark professor, composer receives ASCAPlus Award
Visual and performing arts professor Matthew Malsky was honored recently with an ASCAPlus Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. These special awards, which have been given each year since 1960, reward writers whose works have a unique prestige value for which adequate compensation would not otherwise be received, and to compensate those writers whose works are performed substantially in media not surveyed by ASCAP.
Malsky has garnered an ASCAPlus award annually since 1990, when he received an ASCAP Foundation Grant to Young Composers (and joined ASCAP as a writer-member). This year his award is in recognition of the following activities:
- A commission for a new composition from the Arcadian Winds for woodwind quintet. The work will premiere in Boston this season, and be included in a touring program in 2008-09.
- A new composition for toy piano with live computer processing titled "heterogeneous," premiered on Oct. 26 in Bremen, Germany.
- An electro-acoustic composition "Awful Vegetables" was released on a compact disc titled "Clairaudience" from the BohnMedia label.
- A new composition for solo viola, "The Discontents of Orpheus: a commuter's lament for unaccompanied husband." This work will be recorded this spring by Clark faculty Peter Sulski.
- Malsky was appointed associate director of publications with the Electronic Music Foundation.
Established in 1914, ASCAP is a leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing a repertory of more than 8 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 250,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members. ASCAP also represents the repertories created by the international affiliates of 70 foreign performing rights organizations.
Professor's new book examines presidential leadership
Through both his scholarship and presidential service, Woodrow Wilson pushed major changes in government to address the effects of modern economic and social forces on the United States. "Democracy and Administration: Woodrow Wilson's Ideas and the Challenges of Public Management," by government and international relations professor Brian Cook, synthesizes the former scholar, university president, and world leader 's political thought and governing actions, presenting Wilson's ideas as a coherent whole that stresses the challenges and imperatives of balancing policy leadership with popular rule.
Building on his interpretive synthesis, Cook links Wilson's tenets to current efforts to improve public management, showing how some of Wilson 's most prominent ideas and initiatives presaged major developments in theory and practice prominent today. "Democracy and Administration," which is part of the Johns Hopkins Studies in Governance and Public Management, calls on scholars and practitioners to take Wilson 's institutional design and regime-level orientation into account as part of the ambitious enterprise to develop a new science of democratic governance.
"Cook demonstrates Wilson's significance to the most current issues in the theory and practice of public administration, and recently developing topics such as ‘new public management' and ‘governance.' A genuinely significant contribution and important reading for all scholars in public administration and related fields and for thoughtful practitioners, " notes Hal G. Rainey, Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia.
Cook is also the director of Clark's Master of Public Administration program. His research and teaching include developing a joint U.S.-United Kingdom national security crisis simulation with Professor Kristen Williams, tracing changes in the concept of political leadership in American political development, and investigating how policy ideas reshape political alliances. Cook also is director of the House Decision Desk for ABC News national election-night broadcasts.
Shepard wins American Stars of Teaching award
Kate Shepard M.A.Ed. ‘02, a University Park Campus School (UPCS) teacher and clinical faculty member within Clark 's Jacob Hiatt Center for Urban Education, was presented the American Stars of Teaching award for the state of Massachusetts on Oct. 18. American Stars, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, recognizes and honors superior teachers who raise student achievement, use innovative classroom strategies and make a difference in their students' lives.
"Few people are as important to the future of our children and this nation as are our hard-working teachers. American Stars of Teaching challenge, help, support, prod and go the extra mile to help their students learn and take pride in their achievements, " says U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. "These ‘stars' represent the thousands of teachers in our nation's schools who are committed to the growth of each and every student and are willing to spend the time, effort and energy necessary to make sure that none are left behind."
The American Stars of Teaching project is a component of the department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, which was developed by teachers for teachers. Its goal is to engage some of the nation 's best teachers and practitioners in sharing strategies for raising student achievement and informing teachers of the latest successful research-based practices.
Teachers across all grade levels and disciplines were honored this fall as 2007 American Stars of Teaching. One teacher was recognized from every state and the District of Columbia.
Clark partners in international scholars program
Clark University was named a partner in the Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars Program, a program intended to help internationalize the American undergraduate experience by supporting need-based scholarships for graduates of the worldwide United World College schools who enroll at selected American colleges and universities.
"Clark University and the Davis United World Colleges Scholars Program share many of the same values, " says President John Bassett. "Both embrace diversity, promote cultural literacy and international understanding, and encourage students to be active citizens. Each provides students with opportunities to experience hands-on learning and to develop leadership skills. Both attract talented students eager to be engaged in learning and contributing to society."
UWC schools are now in the United States, Bosnia, Canada, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Swaziland, the United Kingdom and Venezuela. Since the founding of the first UWC in 1962, these schools have provided opportunities to students from some 175 countries, representing all regions of the world. Students are selected in their home countries by indigenous voluntary committees, and receive scholarships to attend the partnering colleges.
To assist these schools in meeting the financial needs of their scholars, Davis philanthropy contributes up to $10,000 of need-based aid for each scholar, every year of a four-year undergraduate degree program. All these additional schools also are awarded a $5,000 grant each year to support their admission outreach.
As a result of its inclusion in the Davis UWC Scholars Program, Clark has been invited to participate in the Davis Projects for Peace initiative, which will give all Clark undergraduates the opportunity to design grassroots "projects for peace." The idea is to encourage today's motivated youth to create and try out their ideas for building peace in the 21st century. The selected submissions will be funded at $10,000 each and implemented during the summer of 2008.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students," says Harold Wingood, associate provost and dean of admissions and financial aid. "The program hopes to fund at least one Projects for Peace award at each of the 85 UWC Scholars Program partners. Given the character of the Clark student body, I would not be surprised if we received more than one."
Other institutions added as partners for 2007-08 include MIT, Bard, Stanford, University of Chicago, and the University of Oklahoma.
Clark and UPCS featured in Boston Globe
In November, the University Park Campus School was visited by Peter Schworm, a lead writer for The Boston Globe, who had heard through word-of-mouth about the school 's successes. Schworm's investigation and positive impressions resulted in a front-page Thankgiving Day (Nov. 22) article titled "Town-gown triumph - In poorest part of Worcester, Clark helps put children on path to college." Here's an excerpt:
"University Park, which Clark helped found a decade ago and oversees in a partnership with the city, has earned national recognition for its striking success in overcoming the achievement gap between urban and suburban schools, among the most persistent and pervasive problems in American education.
"With a relentless culture of high standards and tough love, and intensive personal instruction, the school has outpaced all expectations. In the past six years, it has boasted the highest cumulative MCAS scores among the state 's non-exam urban schools.
"‘It's an extraordinary success story,' said Paul Reville, a Harvard University education policy researcher who is chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education. ‘These are students who have not traditionally done well in the public school system, and here they are all going on to college. There 's a steady stream of people wanting to see how the school has done what it's done.'"
Read the entire article at www.clarku.edu/triumph.
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