APLU Names Recipients of 1890 Land-grant University Awards

Delaware State University Honored as the 1890 Land-grant Institution of the Year. Two Reports on HBCUs also Released

November 11, 2013–As a part of ongoing efforts to highlight exemplary achievements at 1890 land-grant institutions, APLU named 15 recipients of the inaugural 1890 Land-grant Universities Teaching, Research and Innovation Awards (1890 Awards). The recipients were honored during a ceremony at the 126^th APLU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Sponsored by the Kresge Foundation, the 1890 Awards recognizes advances in teaching, research and innovation on 1890 university campuses and encourages advancement and development in these areas of national importance.

Two reports on HBCUs were also released at the award ceremony. 1890 Land-grant Universities: Teaching, Research & Innovation provides data on the impact of 1890 land-grant universities in the areas of access, success, research and innovation and provides information on students, successes, outcomes, research, intellectual property and economic impacts at land-grant HBCUs. The data is derived from an APLU survey of institutions for the 1890 Awards and from other data sources including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

A discussion paper on Repositioning HBCUs for the Future: Access, Success, Research and Innovationwas also released during the annual meeting. The report offers a broad examination of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the higher education landscape, and provides strategies that can be used by HBCUs to reposition themselves for the future. The report seeks to start a longer, national dialogue with the higher education community and the nation about the value and future of HBCUs.

1890 AWARDS HONOREES:

The Retention Award—This award is presented to the university with the largest improvement in retention rates over the last academic year for 1st Year (Freshman to Sophomore) Retention from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Lincoln University—for 16 percentage point increase in student retention between 2012 and 2013.

The Degree Completion Award—This award is presented to the university that has the highest increase in bachelor’s degrees from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Fort Valley State University—for a 130 percent increase in overall degrees awarded between 2012 and 2013.

Agriculture Degree Completion Award—This award is presented to the university that has the highest increase in Agriculture bachelor’s degrees from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Alcorn State University-Alcorn State University—for a 123 percent increase in agriculture degrees awarded between 2012 and 2013.

Education Degree Completion Award—This award is presented to the university that has the highest increase in Teacher Education bachelor’s degrees from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: University of Maryland Eastern Shore—for 180 percent increase in Education degrees awarded between 2012 and 2013.

STEM Degree Completion Award—This award is presented to the university that has the highest increase in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) bachelor’s degrees from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Fort Valley State University—for a 53 percent increase in STEM degrees awarded between 2012 and 2013.

Intellectual Property Award—This award is presented to the university that had the largest increase in their intellectual property portfolio (Patents, industrial design rights, etc.) from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

WINNER: Kentucky State University—for a 300 percent increase in its Intellectual Property Portfolio between 2012 and 2013.

KSU Produced the Following Intellectual Property:

• Honeybee Pathogen Detector- Developed at KSU-College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems by Dr. Thomas Webster and Mr. Martin Matisoff;

• New Pesticide Formulation for Organic Growers- Developed at KSU- College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems by Dr. George Antonious;

• Development of New Biofilters – Developed at KSU- College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems by Dr. George Antonious;

• New Pawpaw Tree Fruit Variety- Developed at KSU- College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems by Dr. Kirk Pomper, Ms. Sheri Crabtree, and Mr. Jeremiah Lowe.

Innovation Award—This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in successfully transferring intellectual property into new products, processes, applications, materials or services that have been successfully taken to market from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Florida A&M University—for a 67 percent increase in its Intellectual Property Transfer between 2012 and 2013.

FAMU Intellectual Property Transferred to Processes, Products, Applications, Materials, Systems or Services in 2012-2013 includes:

• Dr. Karam Soliman and Dr. Elizabeth Mazzio; Neutracuetical Agent for Parkinsons’ Disease (License);

• Dr. Elizabeth Mazzio and Dr. Karam Soliman; Effective Topical Treatment for Dyshidrosis and Dry Skin Disorders (License);

• Dr. Jiang Lu; “Majesty Muscadine Grape” (New much larger grape variety with trademarked name (License);

• Moeub Lanh; Finger Flag and Flag Assembly (Market);

• Dr. Jennifer Cherrier and Mr. Alex Bolques; Water Retention and Reuse System (Market);

• Dr. Violetka Colova; Cosmetics Products/cosmecuetical (Muscadine Grapes for Use as a Source of Flavonoid Compounds) (Market);
• Malcolm Kelly, Nordian Brown and Leitoya Snelling; Collapsible, Sanitized Straw Assembly (License);

• Dr. Hermanth Vasanthaiah and Mehboob Sheik; A Variety of Healthy, Naturally Low Sugar Snacks From Grape Products (License).

Research Award—This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in federal funding from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Delaware State University—for a 129 percent increase in its Total Federal Research Funding between 2012 and 2013.

International Research Award—This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in international research awards from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: University of Maryland Eastern Shore for a 22 percent increase in its International Research Funding between 2012 and 2013.

Experiential Student Learning Award—This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in undergraduate students participating in research and internships that has been proven to increase student persistence to graduation from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Kentucky State University-Kentucky State had a 77 percent increase in the number of undergraduate students participating in research opportunities between 2012 and 2013.

International Students Award-This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in undergraduate international students from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: North Carolina A&T State University—for a 33 percent increase in undergraduate international students enrolled between 2012 and 2013.

International Student Development Award—This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in undergraduate students participating in study abroad programs from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff—for a 133 percent increase in the number of undergraduate students participating in study abroad between 2012 and 2013.

Alumni Engagement Award—This award is presented to the university that has the largest increase in donations to the university by alumni from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: West Virginia State University for a 114 percent increase in the number of alumni who donated between 2012 and 2013. West Virginia State also saw a 48 percent increase in the amount of donations received from alumni between 2012 and 2013.

Exemplary Alumni Award—This award is presented to the university that has the single largest donation (monetary or in-kind) to the university from an alumnus of the university during the 2012-2013 academic year.

• WINNER: Florida A&M University and North Carolina A&T State University—for having alumnus who gave $500,000.

The anonymous planned gift in the amount of $500,000 will be used to establish an endowed scholarship in the amount of $400,000 for students majoring in chemistry and the remaining $100,000 will provide funding for the Florida A&M University Black Archives and Research Museum.

The purpose of the donations at North Carolina A&T is to fund the Willie A. Deese Endowed Scholarship, Willie A. Deese Endowed Global Lecture Series, Willie A. Deese School of Business & Economics Fund, Willie A. Deese CAS Current Use Fund, & Student Scholarship & Faculty Development Endowment Fund.

1890 University of the Year Award—This award is presented to the university that has the best overall performance in each category from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013.

• WINNER: Delaware State University—for being the only university in the top 3 in 9 out of 14 categories.