FAMU and FSU researchers have partnered on a $1.5 million federal grant renewal to support the recruitment and academic success of research fellows from underrepresented populations. The initial grant started in 2017.
The five-year grant is called the Partners United for Research Pathways Oriented to Social Justice in Education (PURPOSE) program, funded through the Institution of Education Sciences’ (IES) National Center for Education Research (NCER). It’s goal is to develop a pipeline of talented education researchers who bring fresh ideas, approaches and perspectives to addressing the issues and challenges faced by the nation’s diverse students and schools.
FAMU professors Peggy Auman, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Education, and Novell E. Tani, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, serve as co-principal investigators. They partner alongside FSU College of Education professors, Jeannine Turner, Ph.D., the principal investigator, Alysia Roehrig, Ph.D., and Tamara Bertrand Jones, Ph.D.
“PURPOSE has provided a venue where students from various backgrounds may receive professional, research, and service development under the direction of a diverse group of scholars and mentors,” said Tani. “The paid research-training fellowship gives scholars the freedom to engage in research and service-leadership activities.”
PURPOSE provides undergraduate juniors, seniors, and beginning master’s students from education-related fields of study with financial support during a year-long research training and apprenticeship program. The fellowship helps to prepare fellows for doctoral-level research. On average, the grant offers 12-15 year-long fellowships. Applications for the next wave of PURPOSE fellows are due in September or October of the upcoming academic year.
So far, the researchers have successfully trained over 50 emerging scholars from FAMU, FSU, and Tallahassee Community College (TCC).