Laurie Burns McRobbie to visit research labs during STEM summer program

Students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Summer Scholars Institute will receive a visit Wednesday from IU’s first lady, Laurie Burns McRobbie, said Jack Schmit, assistant to the vice president for institutional development and student affairs.\nLaurie Burns, along with Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs Ed Marshall, will visit the students’ research labs in Jordan and Myers Hall. Her visit will give her an idea of the kind of fundraising needed for the program in the future, Schmit said.\nThe program, which started last year as an initiative by then-IU President Adam Herbert, works to provide research opportunities for and increase the number of African-American students in science and math disciplines, according to an IU news release. \nThe students in the nine-week program are from 11 historically black colleges and universities around the United States, including Morehouse College in Georgia and Xavier University in Louisiana, according to an IU news release.\n“Part of the partnership is to hopefully get those students coming to IU for graduate work,” Schmit said.\nSince it began, enrollment for STEM has doubled to 22 students who are juniors, seniors and graduate level, Schmit said.\nStudents who are chosen for the program are paired with faculty members on the IU-Bloomington or IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis campuses who have similar interests, Schmit said. During the program, students stay in campus apartments and receive a $4,000 stipend, he added. \nAnyone who is interested in the program and is thinking about going for their Ph.D. can apply online. Schmit said although some students go through the program and wind up attending graduate school somewhere else, they have a greater chance of coming back to teach at IU when they’re done getting their master’s degree.