UC Partnership Selected for Prestigious New Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship Program

The University of Cincinnati is again recognized and awarded as a state leader in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, as UC becomes one of four institutions selected for the state’s new Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship Program. The announcement by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland took place March 2 at the Ohio STEM conference in Columbus.

The announcement means that UC will be awarded $500,000 to provide $30,000 stipends to qualifying UC science/math education students who will agree to dedicate three years of their careers in high-need urban schools. UC is providing $500,000 in matching funds. The program will also support UC’s teacher education programs as they transform the future of teaching in these high-demand fields and recruit future talented teachers.

The news follows a January visit from representatives of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation to UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH). The foundation visited 11 institutions across Ohio before selecting four institutions for the new fellowship program – UC, the University of Akron, John Carroll University and The Ohio State University.

Selected teaching fellows will already hold a baccalaureate degree in math, science or engineering and will demonstrate that they are high achievers, academically and professionally. The fellows will complete an intensive, field-based master’s degree in UC’s teacher education program and licensure under the mentorship of STEM faculty in CECH as well as UC’s McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and UC’s College of Engineering. Their experience will also include immersion in UC’s STEM partnerships with Cincinnati Public Schools –  namely the Hughes STEM high school that opened last fall, the newest link in a K-16 pipeline to ensure the academic success of every student in the Cincinnati USA region and to strengthen the future Ohio workforce.

The Hughes Center is a state-of-the-art STEM high school with hands-on learning, a professional practice and demonstration laboratory staffed by UC faculty with expertise in STEM education, and pathways to higher education and STEM careers through high school/college enrollment programs, co-ops and internships. The STEM school is considered one of CPS’ high schools of choice.

“The fellows’ professional goals do not stop at becoming a teacher, but must extend to becoming recognized leaders in the profession of teaching,” says Lawrence J. Johnson, dean of CECH. “We look forward to this partnership that brings together the expertise of multiple UC colleges, school-based learning experiences in urban settings, exceptional mentor teachers in the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) and clinical experiences with industry partners, university research laboratories and other science education organizations as we undertake this new leadership role in American education,” says Johnson.

“CPS and UC share a commitment to provide the urban students of our city with the 21st century skills they need to successfully compete in the global economy – which means high-level math and science proficiency,” adds CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan. “The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation will not only complement our current STEM high school initiatives, but make them more successful and sustainable by equipping our students with the content knowledge, skills and problem-solving ability they need to excel.”

“Supporting the STEM disciplines is vitally important to the economic well-being and future prosperity of our state. We applaud the state and these private foundations for focusing attention and funding on this critical educational need,” said UC President Gregory H. Williams.

The first cohort of 20 students selected for the UC fellowships will begin the program in 2011. Recruitment for the Ohio STEM fellows will be conducted nationally by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, in partnership with the Ohio Board of Regents and the four Ohio STEM Fellows universities. Recruitment gets underway during winter and spring 2011.

The Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship was introduced in Indiana in 2007. Six universities in Michigan were recently selected to participate in the program along with the four in Ohio. The fellowships are supported by private philanthropies and state funding. The Ohio fellowships were announced as part of the state’s Choose Ohio First scholarship program. The Ohio program is supported through Choose Ohio First scholarship funds, as well as with funding from five Ohio foundations.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, named in honor of our country’s 28th president, supports excellence in teaching, citizen-scholarship and educational innovation. Woodrow Wilson, a political scientist, is the only American president to have earned a PhD and was a respected scholar, a popular teacher and, during his presidency at Princeton University (1902-1910), an educational reformer who sought to make higher education more inclusive.

The Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship program was lauded as part of President Barack Obama’s expansion of the administration’s Educate to Innovate campaign, announced last month. At that same event, UC was among 41 public research universities – in a letter to President Obama that was signed by the university presidents, including UC President Gregory H. Williams – pledging to address the national shortage of math and science teachers.

UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services has been dedicated to excellence in teaching for 104 years. The college prepares students to work in diverse communities, provides continual professional development and fosters education leadership at the local, state, national and international levels. UC was also recently highlighted as a national model in teacher education by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) – the national organization that ensures quality in teacher education.

Governor's Office News Release