05-27-94 Five Receive Affirmative Action Awards FIVE RECEIVE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AWARDS COLUMBUS -- Three professors, one staff member and a student organization at The Ohio State University received 1994 Distinguished Affirmative Action Awards, recognizing their commitment and leadership to provide equal opportunity and treatment for all people of the university. Each recipient received a plaque and $500 honorarium at the 12th annual awards ceremony May 24. The Committee on Women and Minorities in cooperation with the Office of Human Resources sponsors the awards program. Daniel J. Christie Daniel J. Christie, professor of psychology at the Marion campus, has served on the Minority Advisory Committee for more than 10 years. He seeks to increase opportunities for minority students to attend Ohio State at Marion through recruitment and by providing scholarships. As a result of his work, Christie and his collaborators have received five University Affirmative Action Grants totaling more than $50,000. As faculty adviser of the Multicultural Student Organization, Christie helps raise awareness of cultural diversity. He also leads an annual field trip to Wilberforce University, where Marion students can experience life at the predominantly African-American campus. Christie's efforts continue into the classroom, where he includes the issues of prejudice, discrimination and racial tension in his basic psychology courses. He has a global perspective on the issues of affirmative action, having spent two years as a visiting professor in Malaysia, taking part in an affirmative action program designed to help bring together the Malays and the Chinese Malaysians. Christie's commitment to affirmative action extends to his own family. He and his wife are raising two adopted Afro-Euro- American children and two Vietnamese children in addition to his two biological offspring. David A. Culver For the last eight years, David A. Culver, associate professor of zoology, has been instrumental in the recruitment of women and minorities into science. He has achieved this in a number of ways. Active in the Young Scholars Program since 1987, Culver has co-directed the YSP seventh grade summer institute seminar in biology with Ann Ackermann-Brown, assistant professor of microbiology. Each year, between 200 and 400 African-Americans, Hispanic and Appalachian students take part. Culver coordinates an annual three-day trip for his limnology class to the F.T. Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie's Gibraltar Island with that of a class of 15-20 gifted fifth graders. Interaction with University students encourages the youngsters to study science. Culver also is active in the training of middle and high school teachers in life sciences. With grants from the ESSA Training Program and the Howard Hughes Memorial Medical Institute teachers training program, he has helped improve the confidence and skills of teachers, particularly women and members of minorities, who in turn pass on their enthusiasm for science to students. Another Howard Hughes grant enabled Culver and other professors to provide research experience for 40 minority high school students, who worked for six weeks in campus laboratories. Michael R. Foster Michael R. Foster, professor of aeronautical and astronautical engineering, has dedicated himself to the retention of minority students in the department, one of the most demanding in the field of engineering disciplines. Prior to Foster's efforts, aeronautical and astronautical engineering had but one minority graduate. Seven years ago, Foster began holding Study Night every Tuesday. From 6-9 p.m., he and other volunteer faculty gathered in a classroom to answer questions from minority students about class work or homework. Upperclassmen were also encouraged to attend and help the undergrads. The effort has made a big difference in the department's minority retention rate. The networking and extra help has reduced the drop-out rate for minority students to near zero. In honor of Foster's achievement, the College of Engineering this year awarded the AAE department the Minority Engineering Program trophy. Foster has gone even further to bridge the gap between the minority students and the educational system. Twice each quarter, he invites all of the minority AAE students to his home for dinner with his family. Yolanda Allen Yolanda Allen, technical typist and program coordinator at the Mansfield campus, has dedicated herself to recruiting and retaining minority students. With the encouragement of John O. Riedl, dean and director of the Mansfield campus, Allen was one of the first staff members to volunteer to serve as a campus mentor. She helped form the minority student organization. Twice, Allen organized field trips to the Columbus campus to participate in Black History Month activities. She also is active in public service in the African-American community. She is a strong leader of her church. She has been on the board of directors of the Emergency Pregnancy Assistance Council and is a 15-year member of Black Women United. Allen was also instrumental in helping to raise $15,000 for the John Jordan Scholarship Fund. Perhaps her most visible accomplishment is the gospel festival, Joyous Noise, held annually in downtown Mansfield. The event not only showcases the many talented gospel singers in the area, it also raises funds for minority scholarships. Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) has been credited with tripling the minority enrollment in the College of Agriculture. MANRRS is a national grass-roots, student-run organization. The Ohio State chapter was founded in the spring of 1990 by a Ph.D. candidate. The MANRRS goals are simple: to recruit and retain students, and to expand professional opportunities for minorities. Its community out-reach program organizes and directs a student visitation schedule that brought about 160 minority students to campus last year. MANRRS students also act as mentors to middle and high school students. To retain students, MANRRS fosters close ties among students and helps to encourage academic and professional growth through leadership programs and tutoring sessions. To expand professional opportunities, MANRRS developed a resume service, works with industry to establish internships, and acts as a clearing house for agricultural firms and government agencies that seek University graduates. Because of its success, MANRRS received the College of Agriculture and Agriculture Alumni Society's New Activity Award for student organizations in 1993. # [Submitted by: REIDV (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu) Fri, 27 May 1994 16:49:18 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.