A new program at Vincennes University aims to get more women involved in STEM-related fields.
Ebner Hall, the former Ebner Ice Co. storage facility on Chestnut Street that is now VU's Technology Center, will soon also serve as a living and learning community for coeds pursuing degrees in high-skill, high-demand fields such as industrial maintenance, architectural studies, construction and precision machining.
And to help them get into those fields, VU is now offering College of Technology scholarships for 46 women in the amount of $20,000 each. The scholarships cover room and board only.
The partnership with the Indiana Manufacturers Association will help target potential candidates for these new opportunities — all in an effort to recruit and graduate more women.
“If you go into our technology building, you'll find that a vast majority of our students are male,” said Phil Rath, VU's vice-president of finance and governmental affairs. “We have been trying for a very, very long time to try and get more women interested in advanced manufacturing, surveying, machining — all these other things that require a lot of technology and are great jobs.
“It's a lot to do with career awareness. These are things (women) just haven't been exposed to.”
VU has been working on renovating Ebner Hall for awhile to turn it into a living community that will offer residential perks in the same building where students' classes are held; now that the work has reached the final stages, Rath said VU decided to open it up for women as well.
According to the College of Technology website, studies suggest that students who participate in a living/learning community are often more engaged and satisfied with their college experience and more likely to remain in school.
“We're already very, very competitive on tuition and we don't think offering a tuition scholarship is going to get the job done, so we're concentrating on housing,” Rath said. “This way, we feel like we'll be able to draw some more interest and have a better candidate pool.
“And by partnering with IMA, hopefully these manufacturing firms will also offer incentives and internships for women down the road. That's the goal.”
Rath added that these scholarships are not strictly contingent on academics. Instead, they're focused more on “fit” than they are on GPA.
“We will measure up people depending on geographics and what their grades look like, but it's not an academic scholarship. We call it a 'fit' scholarship. You don't just jump into this because you're going to get free housing,” Rath said. “You have to want to do this, you have to have a passion for it. This is an opportunity for women in general to get out and do something different.”
There's no set deadline regarding how soon students have to apply or be nominated for the College of Technology Scholarships for Women, but they will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“We're already getting a lot of hits on this,” Rath said.
To make student nominations, contact Diana Hatton at 812-888-5101 or email dhatton@vinu.edu.
Manufacturers may further contribute by sponsoring students with tuition assistance and offering students applied experience internships to provide real-world applications, according to the VU website. Area high schools can team up with local manufacturers as well to nominate female students interested in pursuing a career in STEM fields.