Minority Intern Program On Campus Completes Anohter Successful Summer

BLACKSBURG, Va., July 31, 2001 -- Thirty-five minority and women students from colleges and universities across the Continental United States and Puerto Rico finished their summer research internships here Thursday (Aug. 1) as part of the university's Minority Academic Opportunities Program.

"This is a dynamic group of interns who have had a terrific summer here," said Dr. Randy Grayson, director of the program. "The caliber of the students continues to increase. I am very pleased with the young people participating this year. The interest and involvement of the faculty members participating in this program makes this an exciting experience for these students."

During the summer program the interns spent the last 10 weeks on the Virginia Tech campus, working 40 hours a week on original research projects supervised by faculty advisers. The research is on a subject of the students' choice within one of the university's six colleges that are part of the program.

The six colleges involved in the MAOP program are the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Natural Resources, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Human Resources and Education, the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

Deanna Conquest, a resident of Virginia's Eastern Shore and a senior at Delaware State University, worked with Dr. Craig Nessler, professor and head of the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science.

"This was my first internship and I really got a hands-on experience of what graduate school is like," she said. "I plan on attending graduate school when I finish at Delaware State."

The intensive program ended Aug. 1 with poster presentations by the students describing their research projects, and presentations by Dr. Myra Gordon, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Andy Swiger, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The evening was capped by a banquet.

The basic requirements for program participants are that students should be in the first generation of their families who will graduate from college; or they must be studying in fields under-represented by minorities or women; and they must demonstrate financial need.

The program works to increase the academic competitiveness of the students, resulting in their scores on the Graduate Record Examination improving by an average of 200 points.

"Many universities offer summer research programs," said Soyna Olivia Gomes of Queens, N.Y. and a junior at Penn State. "I chose Virginia Tech because MAOP included the GRE test prep course."

Jasmine Jones, of Atlantic City, N.J. and a junior at Norfolk State University, agreed that the GRE class was an important bonus, but she also saw the internship as an opportunity to meet other students who shared her goal of furthering her education.

"This is an excellent program that provides opportunity for minorities," she said. "I recommend it to all undergraduate students."

Grayson started the program to provide the tools minority students need to pursue advanced degrees.

"The interns are part of a mechanism to bring about change to get minorities into the mainstream of scientific and technological society," he said. "This program is flourishing because the faculty here take a very active interest, serving as advisers to these talented young people."