The following foundations have funded various projects at Allegheny College. We invite you to explore this section regularly to view the progress of these programs.
Center for Information and Research on Civic Engagement (CIRCLE)
The Center for Political Participation (CPP), directed by associate professor of political science Dan Shea, has been awarded $14,797 from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). This grant is sponsored by a grant to the University of Maryland Foundation from The Pew Charitable Trusts. With the support of this grant, the CPP is conducting a follow-up study to its national survey of Republican and Democratic Party county chairs, which was undertaken to uncover the relationship between political party activities and the youth vote. The new study will identify "best practices" in mobilizing young citizens to vote.
Contact: Dan Shea, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Political Participation
Corporation for National and Community Service
Allegheny College, Edinboro University, Gannon University and Mercyhurst College are collaborating on an AmeriCorps VISTA project, sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This project partners 20 VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) with 20 social service agencies in Crawford and Erie counties that are dedicated to working with children and youth. These agencies match student volunteers with mentoring and tutoring programs that assist children and youth who are marginalized because of economic circumstances and insufficient support from families. The AmeriCorps VISTA project will address the needs of underserved children and youth, building on the trust and good will already established between the colleges and the service partners. The VISTAs will create new programs and improve the effectiveness of existing programs that use student volunteers in impacting children and youth in the region. Two more VISTAs will serve as leaders of the Crawford and Erie county efforts.
Contact: David Roncolato, Director of Community Service and Service Learning
Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)
As a result of an application submitted by the College's neuroscience program, Allegheny was one of only two independent colleges and universities to receive the fourth annual Heuer Award for Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Science Education from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). The CIC/Heuer Awards program, funded by The Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Foundation, builds on the documented achievements of independent colleges and universities in undergraduate science education. In addition to the prestige of the award, the College received a $10,000 prize that may be used to further enhance its neuroscience program.
Contact: Lee Coates, Associate Professor of Biology and Neuroscience and Director of the Neuroscience Program
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Allegheny College has been awarded a grant of $215,000 by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to initiate a series of related, sequential programs over the next three years that will enhance advising and mentorship for all students. We will develop our faculty's expertise in advising and, in the process, develop a stronger, more consistent Academic Planning Program that will assist students in designing their academic and co-curricular programs.
Contact: Linda DeMeritt, Dean of the College
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation's Artists and Communities Program has awarded $9,300 to Allegheny Art Professor Amara Geffen to work on Phase III of the Read Between the Signs project. Allegheny College students, PennDOT employees and other members of the community have been working together to design, fabricate and install a unique sculptural relief fence, which screens the PennDOT storage lot. The project celebrates the geography of the French Creek watershed and our community through a series of repetitive undulating mounds fabricated from recycled road signs. Photos of this project can be seen at http://ceed.allegheny.edu/CEED/A&E/read.html.
Contact: Amara Geffen, Professor of Art and Project Director for the Art and Environment Initiative of CEED
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Professor of Chemistry Martin Serra has been awarded a research grant of $196,495 from the National Science Foundation. This federal funding represents 58% of the total project cost. The title of Dr. Serra's project is RUI: Thermodynamics of RNA Bulge Loops. The grant will afford nine Allegheny College students the opportunity to conduct research in collaboration with Dr. Serra.
Contact: Martin Serra, Professor of Chemistry
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Catharina Coenen, assistant professor of biology, is the recipient of a Seed Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. This grant, in the amount of $73,356, constitutes 100% of funding for the project. It is titled Defining the Role of Auxin in Arbuscular Mycorrhiza and will involve collaboration with two Allegheny students.
Contact: Catharina Coenen, Assistant Professor of Biology
