DENVER—Fort Lewis College officials say they plan to use a $1.9 million federal grant to overhaul its math program and increase the number of students studying science, engineering and technology.
One obstacle the Durango college wants to tackle with the grant from the U.S. Department of Education is how to get more students to advance through the school’s math program, said Dr. Carol Smith, dean of enrollment services and general education.
“We’re really strong in science and technology,” said Dr. Carol Smith, dean of enrollment services and general education at the college. “But we also see students opting out and not believing or seeing those areas as careers for themselves.”
She said many students enrolled in calculus are not moving on to higher levels of the course because they are not being taught what they need in their prerequisite classes.
“It wasn’t a smooth process,” she said. “But I believe it could be.”
Fort Lewis College students have nearly 600 science and engineering majors, said school spokesman Mitch Davis.
Davis said that while the school is still planning how it will use the grant, the funding will likely benefit the college’s American Indian students, who make up nearly 20 percent of the school’s student body.
A 2007 Fort Lewis College survey found that about 31 percent of the school’s nearly 4,000 students arrived at the school underprepared in math, Davis said. More than half of the school’s American Indian students have also enrolled underprepared for the school’s math courses.
“We identified native students as having a need,” he said. “We’re also looking for this grant to help the entire student body.”
