Robert Noyce Teaching Scholarship
The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program seeks to encourage talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers. The Noyce Scholarship Track provides funds to institutions of higher education to support scholarships, stipends, and academic programs for undergraduate STEM majors and post-baccalaureate students holding STEM degrees who earn a teaching credential and commit to teaching in high-need K-12 school districts. The NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship Track supports STEM professionals who enroll as NSF Teaching Fellows in master's degree programs leading to teacher certification by providing academic courses, professional development, and salary supplements while they are fulfilling a four-year teaching commitment in a high need school district. This track also supports the development of NSF Master Teaching Fellows by providing professional development and salary supplements for exemplary mathematics and science teachers to become Master Teachers in high need school districts.
In October, 2009, Utah Valley University was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation grant of $863,000 for five years for the Noyce Scholarship Program for math and science education students. UVU has partnered with Alpine, Nebo, and Provo School Districts to begin recruiting promising high school students into science education and mathematics education majors at UVU. This scholarship provides $10,000 per year for junior and senior biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics education majors. The awardees commit to teaching two years in high-needs school districts for each year they receive the Noyce Scholarship. All of our local districts have schools with high needs students, so there is an incentive for our graduates to stay in these local districts. There will be a total of 62 Noyce Scholarships awarded in the first five years of the UVU Robert Noyce Scholarship program. The current program at UVU is only for juniors and seniors in their undergraduate endeavors.
Six biology education students received the 2009-2010 Noyce Scholarships; 14 biology education and mathematics education students received the Noyce Scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. There will be a total of 14 awardees each year for years 2 through 5. The total number of UVU students who are funded in the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program will be 62. Starting with the summer of 2011, there will be summer programs for high school students that will focus on how mathematics and biology support each other in many careers. There will be a major emphasis on hands-on, minds-on activities that reflect real world problems.
