At NCSU, the enrollment of science, technology, engineering, and math by underrepresented minority graduate students increased by 67% from 1994 to 2003.

NEWS
For Immediate Release

PARI selected for partnership in NC OPT-ED

Rosman, NC (March 26, 2007) – The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) has been selected as a collaborative partner in the North Carolina Alliance to Create Opportunity through Education (NC OPT-ED), an alliance of statewide institutions committed to diversifying the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce.

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, NC OPT-ED combines the resources of NC Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T), North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) to recruit, mentor and graduate underrepresented students in the STEM disciplines. Partners in a formal NC OPT-ED network include the NC Math Science Education Network (NC-MSEN), the NC Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), the Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) and the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program, all with support from the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation.

“The decision to include PARI as a partner was unanimous among our members,” said Larry Campbell, NC OPT-ED program manager and alliance coordinator, “and we are very excited about the potential this partnership presents to our alliance and the students we represent. PARI has demonstrated an unusual ability to excite young minds through hands-on science education and our alliance is already at work to develop innovative programs that will utilize this unique facility to inspire a new generation of young scientists.”

PARI President Don Cline noted that PARI is already working with a NC OPT-ED partner, the NC Math Science Education Network, to conduct teacher workshops throughout the state. “These teacher workshops,” said Cline, “are designed to enable teachers in grades 8-12 to use one of our radio telescopes in their classrooms. The teachers learn to use the instrument, then connect to PARI via the Internet and supervise their students as they use the  telescope in various lab experiments designed to demonstrate important principles in physics.” Cline added that the new partnership with NC OPT-ED “will give us the opportunity to greatly expand this kind of innovative learning in a very structured way to benefit students in colleges and universities throughout the state.”

About PARI

The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is a not-for-profit public foundation established in 1998. Located in the Pisgah Forest 30 miles southwest of Asheville, NC, the PARI campus is a dark sky location for astronomy and was selected in 1962 by NASA as the site for one of the first U.S. satellite tracking facilities. Today, the 200 acre campus houses radio and optical telescopes, earth science instruments, 30 buildings, a fulltime staff and all the infrastructure necessary to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and research. PARI offers educational programs at all levels, from K-12 through post-graduate. The institute is affiliated with the 16-campus University of North Carolina system through PARSEC, a UNC Center hosted at PARI, and is a member of the NC Grassroots Museum Collaborative. For more information about PARI and its programs, visit www.pari.edu.

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Photo: NC OPT-ED (jpg)
Photo caption: The invitation for PARI to join NC OPT-ED was presented at a recent NC OPT-ED steering committee meeting in Chapel Hill. Shown here (left to right) are: John Avant, PARI communications director, Dr. Henry Frierson, Director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Research Education Support Program and NC OPT-ED Principal Investigator, Don Cline, PARI President, Dr. Kenneth Murray, NC A&T Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and NC OPT-ED Principal Investigator, and Dr. Dave Clavier, PARI Vice President. Missing in the photo is Dr. David Shafer, Assistant Dean, Graduate School, NCSU and NC OPT-ED Principal Investigator.

Contact:
David Clavier 828-966-4097 (dclavier@pari.edu)
John Avant 919-676-4115 (javant@pari.edu)
Larry Campbell 919-843-6903 (lecamp@email.unc.edu)