July 9, 2024
Diversity Programs Office Summer Update
Happy July!
We are excited to be halfway through our summer programs in the K-State College of Agriculture/K-State Research and Extension (KSRE) Diversity Programs Office (DPO). This summer we are hosting and partnering for a variety of programs, including three long-term summer programs: KSRE Summer Research Fellows Program, Project IMPACT MAPS, and KS-LSAMP RiPS. We have welcomed eighteen students for the K-State Research and Extension (KSRE) Summer Research Fellows Program, ten students for the Project IMPACT Multicultural Academic Program for Success (MAPS) summer program, and five students for the KS-LSAMP Research Immersion: Pathways to STEM (RiPS) summer program.
2024 MAPS
We would like to congratulate the MAPS cohort on successfully completing their program 4-week program on June 28, 2024. We look forward to welcoming them back in the fall.
The students completed an a 4-week program hosted during the month of June to help incoming freshmen students from the Colleges of Agriculture, Business, Engineering, Architecture and Arts and Sciences transition into K-State.
Project Impact MAPS allows students to get familiar with their respective colleges and the academic rigor of a K-State class the summer before starting school at K-State. The students were on campus for four weeks. This summer, all MAPS students took a free 3 credit hour Speech course through K-State and will receive a renewable scholarship for their freshmen year. The program is hosted through the Office of Student Belonging and Inclusion. The 2024 MAPS cohort has 26 students, ten of whom are incoming agriculture students. The students arrived on Friday, May 31, 2024, and completed the program on Friday, June 28, 2024. We are excited to have all of our MAPS students back in the fall semester. The following students are members of the 2024 MAPS College of Agriculture Cohort:
Arianna Simmons, Animal Sciences & Industry
Cedar Umana, Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Elijah Lewis, Animal Sciences & Industry
Evan Buckner, Food Science
Hailey Black, Animal Sciences & Industry
Isabel Huddleston, Animal Sciences & Industry
Katelyn Patrick, Animal Sciences & Industry
Patrick Amaro, Animal Sciences & Industry
Sara Lopez, Animal Sciences & Industry
Sydney (Blue) Sawyer, Entomology
Additionally, the KSRE Fellows and RiPS Scholars have now completed over half of their program here at K-State. We are excited to see the continued growth and success of our summer program participants! Thanks to all our summer mentors and partners for your continued time and efforts.
2024 KSRE Multicultural Summer Research Fellows Program
This program is designed so that the participants receive the primary benefit of learning hands-on research techniques, methods, procedures, and about related topics. The program serves as a pipeline for undergraduate students from Land Grant Institutions, such as 1890’s and 1994’s, and Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities into the K-State College of Agriculture graduate programs. This summer, eighteen fellows are on campus for 9 weeks conducting in-depth research within an agricultural-related field of their interest. Students will have produced tangible research results demonstrating their knowledge of experimental research and will report the results in a final research symposium on July 25, 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Two fellows, Dawn Earles and Myles Lowery, will present their research on July 22. All are invited to attend the symposium.
The following students are participants in the 2024 KSRE Research Fellows Program from across eight 1890 Land Grant Institutions:
Avion Brown, Tennessee State University
Amore Clayton, Tuskegee University
Chaz Hardy, Tennessee State University
Caleb Hines, Tuskegee University
Cana Jackson, Prairie View A&M University
Dawn Earles, Tuskegee University
Ervin Richebourg, Virginia State University
Jaden Teamer, Florida A&M University
Kayli Smith, Prairie View A&M University
Kourtney Brown, Langston University
Luke Roberts, Delaware State University
Malachi Guillory, Prairie View A&M University
Myles Lowery, Langston University
Sydney Love, Langston University
Sydney Wyche, Tennessee State University
Tamesha Young, North Carolina A&T State University
Zaria Heckstall, Virginia State University
2024 KS-LSAMP RiPS
This summer the DPO is partnering with the Kansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (KS-LSAMP) to host the Research Immersion: Pathways to STEM (RiPS) summer research program. RiPS is designed to connect students from community colleges and at K-State with research and the opportunities that a bachelor’s degree and career in STEM can offer. The RiPS students gain the opportunity to do research with a K-State faculty member within a field of their interest for 8 weeks on campus. The program also offers information about transferring to K-State and seminars about graduate school and research. This summer, the RiPS participants started on June 3 and will complete the program on July 26. Dr. Zelia Wiley and Summer Santillana are serving as the coordinators for the 2024 RiPS program in partnership with the Office of Student Success with April Mason-Taylor and Ana Guane serving as the graduate assistants. The scholars will participate in a 3-minute thesis symposium on July 23 afternoon to highlight their research. The symposium is in partnership with other Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) on campus. All are invited to attend.
The following students are participants in the 2024 KS-LSAMP RiPS Program:
Alicia Montoya, Garden City Community College
Felix Garcia, Dodge City Community College
Juan Becerra Figuear, Dodge City Community College
Moses Aguilar, Kansas State University, Transferred from Dodge City Community College
Wesley French, Kansas State University, Transferred from Barton County Community College
This summer we are also partnering to host multiple K-State JR MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences) Events. Please be on the lookout for more information about these programs. We appreciate all of our partners and your support. For more information about upcoming events or to collaborate with the DPO, please call 785-532-5793 or Dr. Zelia Wiley at zwiley@ksu.edu.