October 11, 1999
ACE Honors Program wins Presidential award
By Tim Stephens
The Academic Excellence (ACE) Honors Program has been selected to receive the 1999
Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
The national award, administered and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF),
includes a $10,000 grant and a Presidential certificate.
Nancy Cox-Konopelski, director of the ACE
Honors Program, will accept the award in a ceremony at the White House later
this year. UCSC is among five institutions and ten individuals to receive the award
this year.
The Division of Natural Sciences established the ACE program in 1986 to help students
succeed in entry-level undergraduate science courses. The program focuses on attracting,
retaining, and advancing underrepresented undergraduate students who are pursuing
math- and science-related careers at UCSC.
Through a combination of collaborative problem-solving sessions and one-on-one
peer mentoring, ACE provides a setting in which students master the course material
while developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
"The ACE Honors Program is unique because it is cocurricular rather than extra-curricular,"
Cox-Konopelski said.
Over the past 12 years, the ACE program has helped approximately 2,000 students succeed
in introductory-level courses in biology, calculus, chemistry, and physics. ACE students
earn about 5 percent more A and B grades in their courses than students at large
do. Their graduation rates and participation in undergraduate research are also higher
than average.
"No personal influence is as powerful, long-lasting, and positive as that of
a superlative mentor," said NSF director Rita Colwell. "The mentors receiving
this award are a true national resource who play a key role in defining the quality
of our nation's future human resources in science, mathematics, technology, and engineering."
