Press "Enter" to skip to content

Obama’s First in the World Program recruiting student scholars

Clement Gibson

Editor-in-Chief

Sophomores at Jackson State are eligible to join First in the World (FITW) every Wednesday at 4 p.m. in John A. Peoples, room 204.

The purpose of the program is to find solutions and evidence for what works in post-secondary education.

From left to right: Pablo Williams Information and Data Manager, Constance Martin Program Coordinator, Dr. Paul Tchounwou CSET Associate Dean and Program Director, Kyle Young MDT student from spring 2018 and Dr. Wilbur Walters, Interim Dean CSET

FITW is looking for JSU sophomores from all academic majors to participate in the last year of the program.

Students will be a part of a multidisciplinary team project that includes faculty and staff for the academic school year.

Teams will be solving real-world problems while competing and preparing posters to present at research conferences and seminars.

Community service hours, awards and recognition as a First in the World scholar is available to all sophomores who apply.

Sophomores in good standing with a 2.0 or higher GPA are eligible to apply online at, “10.14.12.245/fitwp.”

The program focuses on sophomores because most student begin to figure out college, life, interests, dislikes and more after their first year.

This allows the second-year students to work with faculty, staff and colleagues for a year before interning and beginning to prepare for life after graduation.

Charity Greenfield, a senior computer engineering major from Jackson, Miss., was a part of the program as a sophomore.

She spoke about what she learned and credits Mrs. Constance Martin for playing an important role in her experience with FITW.

“I learned information across various topics pertaining to financial management, biological sciences, health and wellness and much more…Mrs. Martin played a significant role in my success in the program because she would always remind me about the sessions and she was always very supportive,” said Greenfield.

Although sophomores across all academic majors are welcome to apply, the former FITW scholar urges STEM students to be a part of the program.

She continued, “I would recommend this program to all sophomore STEM students because it allows them to get acquainted with a range of subjects that may not be taught to them on an extensive level and promotes collaborative skills amongst students. It also provides incentives such as food every session.”

Assistant professor Deidre L. Wheaton, Ph.D., leads the campus meetings along with assistant professor, Frances C. Dancer, Ph.D., and associate professor, Jacqueline Jackson, Ph.D.

“First in the World offers a chance to investigate a very real social problem— food deserts, food insecurity, and the resulting health challenges that emerge because of limited and inequitable access to health food options,” said Wheaton.

It was former President, Barack Obama and the Obama Administration’s agenda to support FITW to increase postsecondary access and completion.

According to “Ed.gov,” nearly 500 applications across 17 states, 19 public, private and nonprofit 4-year institutions and five public and private two-year institutions were submitted for the FITW grant competition.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded $75 million in grants to 24 minority-serving colleges and Universities in 2014.

Of those 24 colleges, JSU was selected and received funds for the program over the last five years— now in the final year.

For more information, contact program coordinator, Constance Martin— constance.n.martin@jsums.edu, or information and data manager, Pablo F. Williams— pablo.williams@jsums.edu.

 

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.