PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (December 2, 2024) – Keisha Antoine, Ph.D., a Lecturer I in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Prairie View A&M University, has secured a $22,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation.
The grant aims to establish a Track 3 S-STEM consortium among the chemical engineering departments at Prairie View A&M University, the University of Houston, and the University of Kentucky.
The proposed Track 3 S-STEM planning grant represents a transformative step toward addressing the critical challenges faced by low-income chemical engineering students. By uniting the University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University and the University of Kentucky, this collaboration seeks to create a robust support framework that integrates financial aid, engineering identity development and mental health resources.
Recognizing the intersection of affordability, identity interference and mental health challenges as barriers to persistence, the initiative prioritizes student-driven solutions tailored to their lived experiences. This effort aims to increase graduation rates, diversify the chemical engineering field and create a transferable model for supporting underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students across engineering disciplines.
The project team includes Antoine; Jerrod Henderson, Ph.D., of the University of Houston; Sarah Wilson, Ph.D., of the University of Kentucky; and Hasan Zerze, Ph.D., of the University of Houston.
This initiative marks a significant step toward advancing student success in chemical engineering programs across the participating institutions.
By Joe McGinty