MONDAY, MAY 10, 1999

Departments' cash wish granted

By Troy Fresch

On-Line Forty-Niner

After spending one month drafting a grant request with her colleagues, Elizabeth Ambos, associate dean of the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, received the news she hoped to hear.

The National Science Foundation awarded Cal State Long Beach a $2.247 million grant aimed at improving teacher preparation in science and math classes from kindergarten through eighth grade.

"We are thrilled," Ambos said. "This is one of the largest grants the National Science Foundation has ever given."

Ambos co-authored the grant request with Glenn Nagle and Jean Houck, deans of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Ambos, along with William Ritz, chairman of the Science Education Department, will be responsible for overseeing the spending of the grant money.

CSULB has been involved in the Long Beach Education Partnership for the past six years, Ambos said, and in that time the college has realized the need to develop a balanced curriculum that best serves the needs of the modern classroom.

The Long Beach Education Partnership is a nationally recognized program, and the fact that the grant asked for $2.247 million and received $2.247 million will give CSULB even more national recognition, Ambos said.

"The National Science Foundation awards grants competitively," said Patrick Kenealy, professor of physics and science education.

The foundation reads all of the grants submitted and awards money to the best ones, in this case, our grant was considered the best, Kenealy said.

The money will be managed out of the CSULB Foundation, and will be dispensed as the department needs it, much like a business, Ambos said.

She said the first place the money will go is to a town meeting where members of the community and the college will set up a framework for the new program.

Ambos projects that the money will be spent over a three-year period.

"In that time we hope to increase the number of teachers coming out of the university to meet the demands of smaller classroom size," Ambos said.

The college faculty will now be able to devote more time to rethinking courses, concentrating on recruitment and attending teaching career workshops, Ambos said.

The large amount of the grant speaks strongly to the colleges dedication to the education program and to the honesty with which we must approach the changes, Ambos said.

The National Science Foundation has a visitation committee that overseas the spending of grant money, she said. A formal evaluator, contracted by the university, will also visit CSULB to monitor grant money spending.