POCA

A Partnership in Observational and Computational Astronomy

Year 4 Summary

Year 4 project contributions to human resource development include increasing diversity in the student population in astronomy as well as continuing to strengthen faculty development at SC State.

SC State and Clemson together recruited two underrepresented minorities into the graduate astronomy program at Clemson during Year 4. This included one Hispanic female and one black male. This added to the two African-American students (one female, one male) recruited by Clemson during Year 3.

Clemson mentored one black undergraduate student from SC State during the summer of 2011.

SC State mentored 5 undergraduates during the summer of 2011. This included 1 white male, 1 black male, 1 Hispanic male, 1 Hispanic female and 1 African-American female.

A total of three SC State faculty members (Cash, Smith, Walter) received support in Year 4. They continued their professional development and skills through travel, training and having funds to upgrade their research and educational resources. Additionally, Cash, Smith and Walter received summer salaries and release time during the academic year. This was critical to the success of the project since SC State is not a research institution and faculty members typically teach four or five courses per semester for a total of eight or nine courses within the academic year.