FY 2009 Master’s Degrees Programs at Predominantly 

Black Institutions Abstracts
PR Award Number P382D090001 

Grantee: Long Island University

Director's Name: Dr. Edward Donahue 

State: New York

Phone Number: (718) 488-1664

Email Address: Edward.Donahue@liu.edu

The Long Island project encompasses three activities that will foster the mission of the Brooklyn Campus 

and meet the goals of the MPBI program to assist African-American and low-income students to enroll, 

persist, and earn a graduate degree and thus elevate their prospects for greater fiscal independence. 

Activity 1: Access to Research Comprehension and Careers (ARCC), supports the implementation of a 

new Graduate Training Learning Community for 50 student scholars. The program emphasizes rigorous 

and motivating curriculum enrichment and an embedded research activity that will culminate in a 

master’s degree in biology or chemistry. The planned learning community will embrace modifications in 

the existing curricula and training for biology and chemistry graduate students, including two new 

courses- one in Scientific Writing and the other in Research Methods; a sequenced rotation through each 

of the faculty mentors’ laboratories for each first-year cohort; an e-portfolio writing requirement that 

continues throughout the students’ tenure; and a seven-week summer heuristic research experience, where 

students will participate in a series of lectures and demonstrations and in hands-on experiences with 

research instrumentation. 

Activity 2: A new graduate program in Genetic Counseling to be housed in the Biology Department. The 

initial effort will require grant support to hire a half-time Genetic Program Director, who with science 

division faculty, will develop the curriculum, assist in acquiring provisional accreditation, identify 

potential sites for clinical training, and form policies and procedures consistent with the profession. The 

new graduate program will recruit its’ first cohort to matriculate in 2010. Implementing a graduate 

program in genetic counseling will improve the participation of African-American students in a 

profession where they currently comprise 3 percent of genetic counselors, and will also improve access to 

treatment in minority communities that have been traditionally underserved. 

Activity 3: Will support the renovation of three existing facilities and the purchase of scientific 

instrumentation, to include: renovation of an existing room to serve as the ARCC Science Center; 

renovation of two existing biology laboratories that will serve as sites for graduate research; and the 

purchase of scientific equipment. 

This project is supported by three unique instructional features: 

1. E-Portfolio Writing Requirement: 

A writing program designed to elevate scholars’ writing skills. Science depends on effective 

communication, clarity and straightforwardness in scientific writing. To obtain these skills 

students will receive constant reinforcement with clear feedback in an ongoing set of 

conversation between students and mentors. 

2. Mentoring: 

ARCC scholars will work with small clusters of undergraduate students. The experience will 

benefit both groups of students by providing role models and mentors to undergraduate AfricanAmerican and low-income students. 

3. Summer Research Experience: 

Will emphasize that research is an inquired-based process that reflects longstanding, fundamental 

methodologies. It will help students frame a research proposal, with relevant literature and time 

table for completion of their projects. 
PR Award Number P382D090002 

Grantee: Robert Morris College

Director's Name: Mablene Krueger 

State: Illinois

Phone Number: (312) 935-6645

Email Address: mkrueger@robertmorris.edu

The goal of the Robert Morris College project is threefold: (1) to increase the enrollment of AfricanAmerican and low-income students in the Information Systems master’s degree program; (2) increase 

the number earning a Master’s Degree in Information Systems by expanding facilities and integrating new 

technologies and support strategies into the curriculum, and: (3) expanding the current scholarship 

program. These goals are designed to address local and national deficits in the percentage of AfricanAmerican and low-income students who earn graduate degrees and is consistent with a 2003 study by the 

Illinois Board of Higher Education that showed minorities and low-income students earned only 3.3 

percent of all the computer/information sciences master’s degrees awarded that year. 

Three major activities addressed by the project are: 

1. Renovations to house a new Graduate Center to support improvements, including enhanced 

support services, in the Information Systems graduate program, to increase enrollment, retention, 

and degree completion of African-American and low-income students. 

2. Infuse new technologies typically used in today’s workplace to simulate the “real world” work 

environment, coupling this integration with expansion of professional development opportunities 

for Information Systems faculty. 

3. Provide additional scholarships for needy students to encourage the enrollment and retention of 

African-American and low-income students in the Information Systems graduate program. 

The Graduate Center will be equipped with the most modern technologies and supported by a Graduate 

Advisor, skilled in addressing the financial needs, tutoring, and career planning needs of the graduate 

students. Specialized training by experts on the application of technology to enhance teaching and 

learning will be provided to both faculty and students. 

Research opportunities will be improved for students in the Information Systems program by integrating 

internships that allow students to work directly with local business leaders in solving real workplace 

problems. 

Robert Morris College will work with local businesses to conduct an in-depth analysis of the local job 

market for the purpose of adding at least one new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

graduate program. Among the possibilities are Information Technology and Assurance, Usability and 

Human Interaction, and Digital Media and Communications. 
PR Award Number P382D090003 Grantee: Columbia Union College Director's Name: Dr. Gina Brown 

State: Maryland Phone Number: (301) 891-4030 Email Address: gbrown@cuc.edu

Columbia Union College (CUC) is a private, liberal arts college, located in Takoma Park, Maryland. 

Since 1904, CUC has demonstrated the ability to deliver quality educational opportunities to both 

undergraduate and graduate nursing students. CUC offers more than 40 majors and is the oldest 

baccalaureate program in Maryland. The nursing department is accredited by the National League for 

Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNA) and the Maryland Board of Nursing (MBON). Current 

enrollment is 620 students, of which 230 have declared nursing as a major. 

The Master’s Degree at Predominantly Black Institutions Program at CUC will increase AfricanAmerican and low-income students’ access to and completion of the existing graduate degree program, an 

RN to BS completion degree, and the graduate degree Master’s of Science in Nursing with Business 

Leadership (MSN-BL) that was implemented in the spring of 2007. In addition, CUC will create two new 

academic concentrations: an educator track to the MSN-BL, called the Master of Science in Nursing, 

Nurse Educator (MSN Nurse Educator) and an Associate Degree in Nursing to Master of Science in 

Nursing (ADN to MSN). The MSN Nurse Educator will be implemented in fall 2010 and the ADN to 

MSN will be implemented in fall 2011. 

CUC will enhance the existing MSN-BL program by: (1) offering a basic Master’s of Science in Nursing; 

(2) providing opportunities for distance education through web-enhanced technologies, videoconferencing, and increasing the number of courses offered in an online format; (3) improving financial 

and economic literacy of students and their families in regards to student indebtedness; and (4) providing 

interdisciplinary research opportunities for graduate students. 

CUC will develop a Nurse Educator track to the basic MSN program by providing: (1) curriculum theory 

and application courses; (2) instructional and evaluation strategies that utilize faculty-guided, student-led, 

cases-based learning and utilizing technology such as human-patient simulations; (3) nurse education 

practicum’s; (4) research opportunities for graduate students; and (5) preparation for graduate learners to 

take and pass the National League of Nursing (NLN) Nurse Educator Exam. 

CUC will develop the ADN and MSN program by providing: (1) curriculum theory and application 

courses; (2) seamless progression from the existing RN to BS program into the MSN program; (3) 

research opportunities for graduate students; (4) instructional and evaluation strategies that utilize facultyguided, student-led, case-based learning and technology such as, human-patient simulations; and (5) 

relevant practicum experiences. 

Grants funds will be used to support: renovation of existing classrooms for wireless access to the Internet; 

utilize smart classroom technology; expand nursing computer lab space; increase and expand the library’s 

collection of electronic journals and databases related to nursing; software to manage budgets and become 

financially literate; tutoring and counseling by nursing professionals; faculty professional development; 

nursing faculty exchange; and faculty research and publication. 
PR Award Number P382D090004

Grantee: Chicago State University

Director's Name: Dr. Justin Akujieze 

State: Illinois

Phone Number: (773) 995-2406

Email Address: jakujiez@csu.edu

Chicago State University (CSU), a public, four-year urban institution of higher education, located on the 

south side of Chicago, strives for excellence in teaching, research, creative expression, and community 

service. The mission of CSU is to : 1) provide access to higher education for residents of the regions, the 

state and beyond, with an emphasis on meeting the educational needs, undergraduate through doctoral 

levels , of promising graduates from outstanding secondary schools as well as education students where 

academic and personal growth was inhibited by a lack of economic, social and/or educational opportunity, 

and 2) produce graduates who are responsible, discerning, and informed global citizens with a 

commitment to life-long learning and services. 

This MPBI in the School of Graduate and Professional Studies (SGPS) at Chicago State University (CSU) 

addresses among other goals, the necessary support services to enhance and expand graduate and 

professional education to deserving students in four qualified masters programs. The programs are: 

Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Occupational Therapy, and 

Geography/Geographic Information Systems. 

The program objectives include the following: 

• Provide students and their research advisors with the human and material resources that they 

need so as to allow them to persist in their studies without interruption; 

• Provide students with such services as preparation for successful qualification examinations; 

• Guidance to become excellent researchers and assistance in data analysis; 

• To introduce cross disciplinary collaborative approach at problem solving; 

• To seek ways that introduce new pedagogical approach in education befitting the 21st century; 

• To ensure that students are sufficiently prepared within their disciplines to assume positions of 

leadership within the global community; leading to financial independence; 

• Efforts will be made to introduce a new cross-disciplinary graduate program; 

• To implement dynamical evaluation strategy utilizing both formative and summative tools for 

early corrective capability from October 2009 and continue through September 2015. 

The MPBI will provide students with the human and material resources needed to help them persist in 

their studies without interruption, motivate them to become excellent researchers, encourage them to think 

critically, seek-out generative conversational engagements, and help them face academic challenges with 

disciplined and focused study, all within a context of community. 

To achieve its purpose, the MPBI program at CSU will employ cross-disciplinary, international, interethnic and inter-cultural tools to do research and to participate in scholarly problem-solving seminars. As a 

result of participating in the CSU graduate program, students will be sufficiently prepared within their 

discipline to assume positions of leadership within the new global community, and have the needs of others 

foremost on their agenda. 
PR Award Number P382D090006 Grantee: York College Director's Name: Dawn Hewitt State: New York 

Phone Number: (718) 262-2060 Email Address: Hewittd@york.cuny.edu

York College is a public, four-year commuter college enrolling approximately 7,157students. York is a 

senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, the nation’s largest urban public 

university, with 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, and several graduate colleges and specialized 

institutions. Located in Queens, NY, one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the nation, York has 

95 percent minority students, including 55 percent African-American, 23.25 percent Hispanic and 15.07 

percent Asian (York College Fact Book, Academic Year: 2008-2009). About 67 percent of York students 

are female and more than half of York’s students come from low-income families (under $30,000 a year). 

York College has designed a comprehensive, integrated institutional approach to the MPBI graduate 

program, with four major goals, each with specific activities to carry out the goals: 

• Support, develop and enhance its current master’s degree program in Occupational Therapy; 

• Develop additional graduate programs in STEM disciplines, specifically, biology and chemistry; 

• Develop master’s degree programs in other professional fields such as mathematics education, 

pharmaceutical science, and social work to meet local, state and national needs; and 

• Enhance and upgrade academic infrastructure, including facility and laboratory improvement. 

Each goal is based on research, best practices, and successful programs at other PBI, HBCU and PWI 

institutions. The goals also reflect York’s annual performance goals set by the president, Dr. Marcia V. 

Keizs, with specific targets and measures: retention rates, graduation rates, total enrollment, mean SAT 

scores and other entrance scores, and student satisfaction with academic support, student services, and 

computer technology. 

The four project goals will be supported by specific activities to be conducted over one year. 

Although they are described as separate services, the activities are crucial to African-American 

student achievement and are inter-connected to overall project success. The successful fulfillment of the 

four goals will enable York to increase the number of African-American students who are retained, 

graduate and who seek advanced degrees in STEM and health-related disciplines to enter the 

technological, scientific, health, and medical workforce in the greater metropolitan New York area. 

The program proposed by York College addresses two of the five PBI purposes: strengthening 

programs in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, and including health education and 

improving educational outcomes of African-American males.