by Leah Crowley and Julia Moro
The University of Rhode Island has recently received significant national recognition in multiple competitive academic areas, partially due to the unique programs offered on campus.
URI ranked particularly high for two very notable scholarships. According to a URI press release, “URI ranks 11th in the nation for the total number of URI students selected to receive [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency] NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarships, the most prestigious scholarship awarded to undergraduates studying marine sciences.”
URI Provost Donald DeHayes said that all of these accomplishments speak to the tremendous work of URI’s students and faculty.
“I think what [these accomplishments] mean, is that the hard work that the faculty have put into raising the profile of the academic programs of the University has paid off,” said DeHayes. “It also means that the excellent quality of our students, both inside the classroom and outside the classroom, is being recognized now nationally.”
Students who receive the the Hollings Scholarship are awarded $19,000 towards their last two years of undergraduate study along with a 10-week paid summer internship at a NOAA laboratory.
The press release also stated that the University was ranked fifth in the nation for the David L. Boren Scholarship. Five students received the prestigious study abroad award in 2018.
The Boren Scholarship is funded by the National Security Education Program. According to the press release, it is “A federal initiative to expand the pool of American citizens with foreign language and international skills.”
In return for study abroad funding, Boren Scholars must work for the federal government for at least one year sometime upon their return.
Kathleen Maher, the director of the Office of National Fellowships and Academic Opportunities, oversees the office that helps guide students through the process of making connections with mentors on campus and applying for various scholarships, fellowships and other opportunities.
“I bring together faculty with certain backgrounds and expertise relative to the scholarship or to the students interests and we put them through usually mock interviews before they would go up for a big one,” Maher said.
For example, Maher conducted a mock video interview with a student before the student had a video interview for an important scholarship opportunity.
“I think that is also an important aspect of the office,” Maher said. “I’m getting them prepared and comfortable, because most students haven’t necessarily had an interview before, at least not one with eight people in the room. So just getting a little more comfortable with that environment so that you can perform your best on the real occasion.”
Maher believes URI’s academics have an effect on students being selected for the Hollings Scholarship.
“Part of the reason that we’ve had success is because we do have very strong programs here in ocean and marine biology but also ocean engineering fisheries and aquaculture and so forth,” Maher said.
Students are also largely successful in pursuing the Boren Scholarship because of URI’s programs including the Chinese Flagship Program, the International Engineering program and the International Business Program.
“[The Boren Scholarship] is a wonderful match to URI because it’s about language learning and that’s something that URI excels at,” Maher said.
Maher commented on the University’s success saying, “It’s the combination of strong programs with strong students who come here specifically for them and faculty that are engaged with their students and then offering a little bit of scaffolding as they apply for the awards.”
However, the office is not done trying to improve, according to Maher. She said she wants more students to apply to the Fulbright student program.
“The Fulbright U.S. Student program is for after graduation,” she said. “It’s nine to 10 months abroad fully funded to either do research study or go as an English teaching assistant and we have a relatively small number of applicants but great success within those who apply right now.”
URI currently has five semi-finalists for the Fulbright Scholarship. Maher said she is also trying to work with faculty to find students to capitalize on “stepping stone opportunities” that increase their chances of being selected for a bigger scholarship.
The University was also recognized as the 21st best University for producing Peace Corps Volunteers, which has recently become a very competitive feat.
Provost DeHayes said that the Peace Corps program sheds light on URI students in a way that doesn’t focus on academic performance.
“It means our students are also committed to giving back and doing important work in the world,” said DeHayes. “They’re taking their expertise and their passion to do good things and sharing that in programs all over the world.”
Michael Rice, a professor of fisheries and aquaculture at URI and the academic director of the Peace Corps program, served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines from 1981 to 1985. He worked in fisheries and aquaculture in collaboration with Philippine government at the time.
“There are something on the order of 23,000 to 24,000 applicants each year and only about four or five thousand are accepted as Peace Corps volunteer,” Rice said. “So the acceptance rate is extremely low.”
Rice believes that URI is one of the top contributors of Peace Corps volunteers for multiple reasons, including URI’s status as a land grant University. Land grant universities were universities given land and founded with money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“The function of the land grant University is threefold,” Rice explained. “One is teaching students, the other is agricultural research and the other is extension or basically extending the knowledge. Well, the Peace Corps program came out of the land grant University tradition.”
Rice said URI’s status as a land grant University allows many students to have experience in fields that traditionally have lots of Peace Corps volunteers, like conservation biology or agriculture.
According to Rice, URI was one of the first universities to host Peace Corps recruiting and training events. Rice said there are “historical ties” between URI and the Peace Corps. He explained that he was even trained for the Peace Corps at URI in 1981.
As of 2016, URI now has a Peace Corps Prep Program as well. The Peace Corps Prep Program was originally instituted in Washington, D.C. in response to a large demand of volunteers. Rice noted that today, not all that many applicants are accepted.
“[What the] Peace Corps wanted to do is basically up-the-ante by making sure that the applicants are as prepared as they can be going into the application process,” said Rice. “So, what Peace Corps did was they looked around the United States and found the key universities where they have the resources to deliver this this program and then we at the University of Rhode Island went and basically accepted the challenge.”
Rice said there are only several other Peace Corps Prep Program universities in all of New England.
According to Rice students who complete the Peace Corps Prep Program receive a certificate of completion and their names are forwarded to the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.
Rice explained that Peace Corp Prep Program students’ applications are advanced to the top of the application file because the Peace Corps know that students from the program have “been quality pre-screened as good students that [have taken] their language courses, taken their cross-cultural competency courses, and basically have one of the key technical skills.”
The Peace Corp Prep program is now also trying to make itself more available to engineering students who have strict major requirements.
“We’re going to work with the engineering college to basically figure out how we can taylor engineering courses and basically make it a little bit more friendly to the engineering students,” Rice said.
Rice further attributed the success of the program to the nature of Rhode Island.“We’re in a region of the country where basically volunteerism is a high on the list of things that people do as a state collectively.”
Rice said that Rhode Island is a state that produces some of the most Peace Corp volunteers per capita in the nation.
“I mean that’s something to be proud of,” Rice said.
URI was also highly ranked for their biotech program. According to the press release, “The University of Rhode Island’s program in biotechnology has been ranked fourth best in the nation by College Choice, an online resource for students selecting a college to attend.”
Edward Bozzi directs and teaches in URI’s Biotechnology Manufacturing Program. The program has been in existence for the past 15 years, and is currently a track within medical lab science. Medical lab science is a major within the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology.
“The latest news is we’re making biotechnology of full major within the Department of Cell and Molecular biology,” Bozzi said.
He believes that the part of the program that makes it so successful is internships offered through the program.
“I think what’s most notable about our program are the internships,” Bozzi said. “I don’t think other programs are as successful in gaining internships as our program is. Most of our internships if not all of them are paid internships. We have a program with Commerce Rhode Island where companies that employ our students get reimbursed by Commerce Rhode Island for the cost of the internships. That’s the unique feature.”
The comprehensive program prepares students with hands-on experience.
“We are always upgrading the laboratories here, where we’re constantly getting feedback from students as they complete their internships on what more we can do to make our students even more successful. So, it’s an ever-changing technology,” Bozzi said.
Bozzi said the major has grown in popularity amongst students and 25 students are now searching for internships at different biotechnology companies. Bozzi said the department is assisting in helping the students find an internship.
According to Bozzi there are a multitude of small biotech companies in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island area. Of the program as a whole Bozzi said, “The classes are small, and the support is very strong here.”
The University’s press release also said that URI was recognized as one of the top five universities for retention and degree completion by Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
DeHayes said that this accomplishment was among the most prestigious of the honors earned by URI. “Over the course of about 8 or 9 years,” DeHayes said, “URI has graduated 9,000 more students than it would have before we implemented new curriculum programs and student support programs.”
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