GRANTS The FSU Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Scholars Program) has been refunded by the U.S. Department of Education. The award amount is $1.1 million over the next five years beginning Oct 1, 2012-Sept 30, 2017. The goal of the McNair Scholars Program is to increase graduate degree awards for first generation, low-income,
and/or underrepresented minority college students. Potomac Region of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) has awarded $500 to the Geography Program at Fayetteville State University. North Carolina comes under this region and by hosting the ISPRS SC Summer School in July at FSU, we enhanced the sanding of the region at the national level. The funds were awarded in recognition for this effort and will be used to promote the Geography program and sponsor program related activities. Need for Grants, con’t from p1 In our continued efforts of improving capacity in grant writing, the College has initiated several strategies, including, sponsoring grant writing workshops for faculty and staff and establishing a grant writing resource center. Due to low enrollment, the grant writing workshops scheduled for fall semester have been postponed and will be held sometime in February next year. The solicitation for participation will be announced in January and I would like to plead with faculty to actively participate in these important workshops if you would like to boost your knowledge and skills in grant writing. The grant writing resource center is located in room 329 Lyons Science Annex (3rd floor) and the center will be open to faculty during the hours of 1:00pm – 4:00pm Mondays and Wednesdays. The grant writing resource center has a computer and over 20 grant writing books. Please, visit the center whenever you have chance. Do not hesitate to contact Dr. Daniel Okunbor at x2104 for information regarding grant writing and for An Initiative for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Awareness at FSU Contributed By Ernest Brown, Jr., Graduate Student
Would you know how to respond to a friend, loved one, or student in distress or is suicidal? For most, the answer to this serious question is “no.” This is where our team of 5 faculty (Drs. Laura Coyle, Samantha Daniel, Pius Nyutu, Kim Tran, and Mei-Chuan Wang) and 4 graduate students in the Counseling Psychology program (Ernest Brown, Jr., Elise Fleming, Nadia Haughton, and Joanne Youngblood) comes into play on the campus of FSU. In collaboration with Student Affairs and University College, our goal is to increase the overall awareness of suicide and suicide prevention among faculty, staff, and students through outreach programming. This initiative is funded by a grant from the Morehouse School of Medicine’s HBCU Center for Behavioral Excellence. As part of the grant, Dr. Daniel and the students attended the Lonnie E. Mitchell Behavioral Health Policy Academy in Houston, Texas. The conference provided the team with the opportunity to meet and listen to other professionals within the behavioral health field, consult with other students from HBCU’s across the country promoting similar initiatives, and receive and transfer ideas about what is and isn’t working well across HBCU campuses to increase mental health awareness. Following the success of the initial grant, Dr. Nyutu (Psychology), Dr. Rhodie (Center for Personal Development), Dr. Corbin (Social Work) and Ernest Brown (Psychology Master’s Student) have received an additional grant from the Morehouse School of Medicine for 2012-2013. The focus of this grant is to continue to promote suicide prevention and increase awareness of eating disorders and alcohol abuse. The grant will also support screening for mental health issues among students and to establish an Active Minds chapter on campus.To request further information on how to promote mental health awareness, refer individuals appropriately, or request programs to be presented in your classes or departments, please contact Dr. Nyutu at pnyutu@uncfsu.edu. Should you need immediate assistance regarding suicide or referring students for services, please contact the Center for Personal Development at (910) 672-1222/1203, Campus Police at (910) 672-1911, or call 911. 4