New Jersey City University has been awarded a grant of $1,499,453 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to support the “Northern New Jersey Mathematics and Science Teacher (MAST) Fellowship Program at New Jersey City University.” The grant is the largest NSF grant in the University’s history.

Through a partnership with the Latino Institute and the Urban League, the five-year MAST Fellowship Program will recruit 20 highly-qualified and diverse math and science graduates into NJCU’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program; through a fast-track program, the Fellows will be certified to teach in one year. The Fellows will then teach at University Academy Charter High School or in public middle or high schools in Jersey City or Union City.

Faculty from NJCU’s William J. Maxwell College of Arts and Sciences and Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe College of Education will mentor Fellows and help prepare them for successful careers as urban teachers. The Fellows will receive rigorous clinical training and participate in enhanced professional development activities, summer academies, and year-round inquiry workshops and partnerships with practicing scientists. Each MAST Fellow will receive a $10,000 stipend.

NJCU’s Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs spearheaded this elaborate partnership, which was critical to the grant award. NJCU faculty and staff as well as representatives from University Academy Charter High School, Jersey City Public Schools, the Union City School District, the Latino Institute, and the Urban League of Hudson County will serve on the NSF Fellows recruitment and selection committee.

The MAST Program will support the improvement of local schools and cement partnerships with local non-profits to establish an enduring infrastructure to help recruit science and mathematics teachers. MAST will also create a permanent professional development model that will be used to retain science and mathematics teachers while helping them to develop as master teachers.

The NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program seeks to encourage talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers. The program provides funds to institutions of higher education to support scholarships, stipends, and academic programs for undergraduate STEM majors and post-baccalaureate students holding STEM degrees who commit to teaching in high-need K-12 school districts.

For further information call Ruddys Andrade, NJCU assistant vice president for academic affairs/grants and sponsored programs, at (201)200-3364.