College of Science

About The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program

The National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Scholarship Program has awarded a $1.2M grant to Benedictine University for the College of Science project, Expanding and Strengthening the Secondary STEM Teacher Training Program.    

Dr. Allison K. Wilson (Biological Sciences) is the PI of the project; Dr. Andrew G. Wig (Physics), Dr. Niina J. Ronkainen (Chemistry), Dr. Thomas G. Wangler (Mathematics) are the co-PIs.  

The duration of funding is for 5 years (January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2017). The grant will provide $900K toward scholarships for up to 110 Benedictine University undergraduates and Alternative Certification professionals who intend to be secondary STEM teachers chiefly in the fields of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry.

   This collaborative project, leveraging the collective strengths of all three departments in the College of Science and with participation from the School of Education, will significantly enhance Benedictine University’s ability to address an area of great national need by helping train future secondary STEM teachers.

(This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE-1240091. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.)

High Needs School Districts

What qualifies as a high needs school district?

*high needs defined as:
• a high percentage of individuals from families with incomes below the poverty line; or
• a high percentage of secondary school teachers not teaching in the content area in which they were trained to teach; or
• a high teacher turnover rate.

Note that 23 schools that Benedictine University frequently uses as student placement sites are currently considered high needs.