EKU is using a two-year, $270,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide scholarships for mathematics and computer science majors.

Fifteen scholarships valued at $3,125 each have been awarded to 16 students this fall. The undergraduate recipients are: Ronald Alcorn, Pineville; Melanie Bernard, Vine Grove; Shawn Coffey, Elkhorn City; Elizabeth Colyer, Somerset; James Gallaher, Manchester; Shannon Hanner, Inez; Ryan Henry, Irvine; Adis Maric, Florence; Jason Turner, Hazard; and Elizabeth Grant and David Wormley, Richmond. The graduate recipients are: Amber Allen, Berea; Shawn Clift, Taylorsville; Frank Donnelly, Shelbyville; Gregg Hewins, Lexington; and Virginia Phillips, Nicholasville. More students may qualify for the spring semester.

"Many of our students have financial problems that force them to try to work full time and go to school full time," said Dr. Jaleh Rezaie, chair of EKU's Department of Computer Science and co-project investigator for the grant along with Dr. Don Greenwell. "This affects the retention and graduation rates and dictates the major that they pick.

"The number of mathematics and mathematics teaching majors has been very low now for many years," Rezaie added. "As a result of this, there is a shortage of secondary teachers of mathematics in Kentucky and especially this region." The scholarships "will help to solve many of the problems we have in attracting, retaining and graduating academically talented students in computer science and mathematical sciences."

Among other requirements, undergraduate recipients must have at least 64 credit hours toward graduation, be a full-time student majoring in computer science or mathematics, have a minimum overall GPA of 2.7, and have demonstrated financial need.

Graduate students must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.5, be a full-time student majoring in computer science or mathematical sciences and have demonstrated financial need.

In addition to the financial assistance, recipients will receive mentoring from members of the project committee, attend several career-related workshops and special meetings with various graduate school representatives, receive student memberships in professional computer science and mathematics associations and attend at least one professional conference each year.

For more information about the scholarship, call 859-622-2398.