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George Washington Carver Research Program Summer Research Internship

Purpose

Our Founder

Willyerd Collier, Founder

The George Washington Carver Project is an affirmative action initiative of the University of Arkansas designed to increase the racial diversity of the graduate and professional student body. The Project, which was originally designed and implemented by Willyerd Collier in the Office of Affirmative Action, seeks to identify, interest and recruit graduates of Historical Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions as graduate students through the establishment of institutional linkages between the University of Arkansas Graduate School and participating Historical Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions.

History

During the summer of 1997, two Southern University undergraduate students completed paid six-week internships in agriculture under the supervision of University of Arkansas faculty members in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

In 1998, a total of nine undergraduate students from Southern University and University of Arkansas Pine Bluff completed summer internships in Agriculture. In 1999, six undergraduate students from Southern University and University of Arkansas Pine Bluff completed internships in Agriculture. That same year, the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration and the College of Education and Health Professions agreed to support Carver interns at Alcorn State University, Tougaloo College, and Jackson State University.

In 2001, internships in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Poultry Science, and Micro Electronics Photonics were added and Dillard University, Xavier University, and Prairie View A&M University joined the program as partner schools in the Carver Project. Over the past seven years, the Carver Project has continued to gain momentum. In 2005, four new partnerships were established: Mississippi Valley State University (MS), Langston University (OK), Lincoln University (PA), and New Mexico Highlands University (NM) the first Hispanic Serving Institution. To date, there are 22 HBCU’s and HSI’s participating in the Carver Project. In 2005, the number of participants increased to 18 and in 2006, increased to 32 participants.

Program Description

All Carver interns will work directly with a faculty mentor and be exposed to various aspects of graduate study including standardized test preparation, research and presentation skills, and the graduate application and funding process.

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