At a press conference this morning, Senator James Alesi (R,C-Perinton) will announce significant state funding for the Rochester Area Colleges (RAC) Center for Excellence in Math and Science.
The grant is designed to help the consortium of area colleges to increase the number of math and science professionals in the field. MCC is a member of the RAC consortium.
"In the United States, and here in New York, especially Upstate, we are facing a crisis as more and more students are lacking in the areas of math and science academically and shying away from careers related to these fields," said Senator Alesi. "It is my hope that by providing these funds, that we can encourage young students to get excited about math and science, that we can attract more math and science teachers to our school districts and that New York can advance towards unparalleled leadership in technological innovation."
The first of its kind in Upstate New York, the Rochester Area Colleges Center for Excellence in Math and Science will be located on the Nazareth College campus and will serve a number of functions, including:
1. designing ways for colleges to cooperate and collaborate on math/science programs;
2. developing partnerships with local, state and national business communities;
3. investigating and analyzing issues such as the decline in the number of students who want to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and focusing on teacher education within those fields;
4. increasing the local and national pool of math/science teachers at the K-12 levels as well as retention of those teachers.
The Rochester Area Colleges (RAC) is a consortium of 19 higher education institutions from the greater Rochester metropolitan area and its surrounding communities. It is composed of both private and public colleges and universities including three community colleges.
"Monroe Community College is the access point to higher education for more than 25 percent of recent high school graduates in Monroe County," said Monroe Community College President R. Thomas Flynn. "With Senator Alesi’s generous support, the RAC Center for Excellence in Math and Science will encourage more students in our area to enter these important fields of study as well as provide advanced training and education for current math and science teachers."
Cynthia Cooper
Public Affairs
10/05/2006 |