05/22/07 Contact: Kimberly King-Jupiter 334-844-5700 (kingki1@auburn.edu)

AUBURN - The Office of the Vice President for University Outreach has awarded more than $100,000 in competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants to fund six faculty initiatives for 2007-08.

The primary goal of the program is to provide AU faculty members with resources to connect their research with pressing needs of the state, said Assistant Vice President for University Outreach, Royrickers Cook.

Six projects were funded out of 23 proposals submitted for the competitive grant program.

“The Outreach Scholarship Grants Review Committee felt these proposals show enormous potential for connecting research to the direct benefit of external audiences,” said Cook. 

“These projects will contribute greatly to Auburn University’s efforts toward improving the quality of life for individuals, organizations, counties and towns throughout the state of Alabama.”

The six projects selected for funding, the award, principal investigators and description are:

Providing Diagnostic Services to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Training, Tele-Health, and Service Demonstration Project, $19,993, Jennifer M. Gillis, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts.  This project will deliver low cost diagnostic and follow up services to students and their families.

An Outreach Project between Auburn University, Harrison School of Pharmacy and the University of South Alabama, BreathMobile Program to Improve Asthma Care in Public School Children, $10,000, Karen F. Marlowe, associate professor, and Allison M. Chung and Jennifer Cole, both assistant professors, all in the Harrison School of Pharmacy. The project will support the activities of a mobile asthma clinic operating in Mobile County.

Improving the Basic Literacy Skills of Incarcerated Males in Two Alabama Correctional Facilities, $19,998, Margaret Shippen, assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Special Education in the College of Education.  This project=s goal is to improve the reading skills of low literate inmates at correctional facilities in Bibb and Elmore counties.

Water Education for Alabama=s Black Belt (WET), $15,000 Ming-Kuo Lee and Lorraine Wolf, both professors in Department of Geology and Geography in the College of Sciences and Mathematics.  This project will provide water resources education to public schools in several Alabama counties.

The Design Seed Outreach Project, $20,000, Tsai Lu Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Design in the College of Architecture, Design & Construction. This project will facilitate the design and manufacturing of products that can be marketed to benefit and support economic development in the Black Belt region of Alabama.

KEMET (Knowledge and Excellence in Mathematics, Equilibrium and Technology) Academy,  $15,000,  L. Octavia Tripp, assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching in the College of Education; Cheryl Seals, assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Software Engineering in the College of Engineering; Denise Davis-Maye, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work in the College of Liberal Arts; Garnetta Lovett, assistant professor in the Department of Art in the College of Liberal Arts; and, Dorienna M. Alfred, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Counselor Education, Counseling Psychology and School Psychology in the College of Education.  The project is a comprehensive academic enrichment program targeting African American students enrolled in schools in under-resourced communities across Alabama's Black Belt region.

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