05-27-94 Hancock to Head YSP

CHARLES HANCOCK TO HEAD YOUNG SCHOLARS PROGRAM

     COLUMBUS -- Charles R. Hancock, associate professor of
educational studies at The Ohio State University, has been
selected to be the new director of the Young Scholars Program,
effective June 1.

     LeRoy Pernell, interim vice provost for minority affairs,
announced that an extensive search process has been completed and
he will recommend Hancock's appointment to President E. Gordon
Gee and the university's Board of Trustees.

     "We are extremely pleased that Dr. Hancock has accepted the
appointment to this vitally important post in the Office of
Minority Affairs (OMA)," Pernell said.  "He has the expertise and
knowledge to provide the necessary leadership for the Young
Scholars Program, and he will work in concert with all units of
OMA to provide a special place of added learning and development
for all who come through our doors, while also serving the larger
mission of The Ohio State University."

     Hancock will fill the vacancy left when James Bishop,
special assistant to the provost and head of the Young Scholars
Program since its beginning in 1988, stepped down from the day-
to-day administration of the program in order to concentrate on
fund raising.

     Hancock, a native of New Orleans who earned his Ph.D. in
foreign language education at Ohio State in 1970, returned to the
university as a faculty member in 1986.  Previously, he was an
associate superintendent in the Baltimore City Schools and taught
at the University of Maryland, the State University of New York
at Albany and Columbia University Teachers College.  Earlier in
his career, he taught in the New Orleans Public Schools and was a
training director with the Peace Corps in west Africa.

     Fluent in Spanish and French, he has also studied several
African languages and Russian.  He is a specialist in bilingual
education and has completed several summers of postdoctoral study
in the field.  In addition, he has studied and published in the
areas of multicultural issues in school settings and student
aptitude, attitude and motivation.  As a Mellon Fellow, he
conducted research on alternative assessment methods at Johns
Hopkins University and the National Foreign Language Center in
Washington.

     "The Young Scholars Program makes a difference in the lives
of many youngsters who, otherwise, might not pursue a college
education," Hancock said.  "In addition to the personal gains for
the young people themselves, there are substantial benefits for
all of American society when we increase the pool of youngsters
from underrepresented urban populations who can be made ready for
college.  I want to help shape the nature and extent to which The
Ohio State University meets its responsibilities in this area."

     The Young Scholars Program provides year-round academic,
personal and skill development opportunities for economically
disadvantaged African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and
Appalachian youth.  Its main objective is to increase the number
of students from underrepresented minority groups who enroll in
and complete a bachelor's degree at a college or university.
There are approximately 1,450 students in grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
and 12 participating in the Young Scholars Program from nine
major Ohio cities: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Columbus, Dayton, Lorain, Toledo and Youngstown.  The first class
of Young Scholars, inducted as sixth graders in the spring of
1988, is graduating from high school this spring and will enter
Ohio State or other colleges in the fall.  Young Scholars are
guaranteed admission to Ohio State, along with financial aid, if
they maintain eligibility requirements and successfully complete
the program through high school graduation in a college
preparatory curriculum.  They come to the Columbus campus for an
institute each summer and take part in a variety of academic
support activities in their hometowns throughout the year.
                                
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Contacts: LeRoy Pernell, (614) 292-4355.
          Charles R. Hancock, (614) 292-4884.


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 27 May 1994 14:28:24 -0500 (EST)]
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