New Jersey Accessing Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) program passed through the New Jersey Senate, and is expected to pass through the New Jersey Assembly within the upcoming months. ACES is a scale-up of a program that is designed to increase the participation of underserved and underrepresented minority students in both degrees and careers that are aligned with New Jersey’s innovation economy.
After the kick-off on Stevens’ campus in the Fall of 2018, impressive data has been gathered and put into a document about the ACES program that was published by the Office of the President. The university has been able to engage 10 schools and a number of corporations and foundations as partners in the program. ACES has resulted in a 60% increase in both underserved and underrepresented minority (URM) students participating in Pre-College STEM summer programs and a 46% increase in the freshman cohort. Currently, the core elements of the Stevens ACES program are being pushed to be adopted at New Jersey institutions of higher education, so “that it can be funded equally by higher education partners, New Jersey corporations, and the State of New Jersey.” With hopes of achieving this goal, the program is planned to produce “200 high school students and 100 college graduates” per year of underserved and underrepresented minorities that are in the STEM fields. This goal is currently set to be accomplished in four years.
But who is behind the big push for ACES here on Stevens’ campus? One main name is Beth McGrath, Vice President for Government and Community Relations. Alongside her are colleagues Thania Benios, the Director of Public Relations, and others in the Division of Communications and Marketing. When asked what gave the idea to implement ACES on campus, McGrath gave credit to alumnus Nate Davis. “Mr. Davis is passionate about Stevens expanding its efforts and programming to make a Stevens education accessible to underserved but academically talented youth,” McGrath said, “In May 2017, Mr. Davis facilitated a discussion on this topic, then helped to engage other alumni and some of his corporate contacts in supporting the effort.”
Currently, the legislation for ACES has completed the process of being passed by the Senate Higher Education Committee, the Senate Budget Committee, and the full New Jersey State Senate with an impressive and “positive bi-partisan vote of 37-0,” commented McGrath. The next step is to get the program’s goals cleared with the “Assembly Appropriations Committee, be put to a vote before the full Assembly, and then finally be signed by the Governor,” McGrath explained. It might seem like a long process, but the final results will be worth the wait. Alongside this lengthy list, a budget resolution will also need to be passed by both houses and signed by the Governor.
When McGrath was asked about the future she views for ACES and where she saw it going in 10 years, she simply replied, “over time, we hope to increase the number of scholarships that are offered to the pre-college program for academically talented URM and underserved youth to 20% of all pre-college students.” The team would also love to see a double in the number of scholarships that ACES could offer to its students.
Finally, throughout this process, the feelings of advocating for these goals can be a mixture of overwhelming, frustrating, and exciting. The team is “working aggressively,” McGrath ensures, to include both corporate and foundation partners, as well as individual alumni to continue to expand this push. Currently organizations such as ADP, Altice USA, American Council on Education, AT&T, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Carnegie Corporation of NY, The A. James Clark & Alice C. Clark Foundation, Community Foundation of NJ, Mukilteo Investment Management, LLC., PSEG, and the Ruesterholz Family Foundation have supported the ACES program. McGrath concluded the interview by saying, “We are immensely grateful for their support. There are lots of people throughout the university who are working hard to make ACES successful, thank you.”
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