WVU-community partnership that provides science and math enrichment for underrepresented high school students

In response to the need to help West Virginia secondary school students ove rcome educational and economic barriers and to increase the number of healt h professionals in the state, the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (h ereafter, "the Academy") was established in 1994. The Academy is a partners hip between West Virginia University (WVU)-including the Robert C. Byrd Hea lth Sciences Center, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and the College o f Human Resources and Education-and members of the community, including sec ondary-school teachers, healthcare professionals, and other community leade rs. The Academy targets students from underrepresented groups (mainly Afric an Americans and financially disadvantaged whites) in grades nine through 1 2. By November 1997, 290 students (69% girls and 33% African American) from 17 counties were Academy participants. Funding is from the W. K. Kellogg F oundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Heal th, the Coca-Cola Foundation, and other sources. Academy programs are an on campus summer institute and community-based club s, where students engage in activities for science and math enrichment, lea dership development, and health careers awareness. In the Academy's clubs, students carry out extended investigations of problems related to human hea lth and local communities. Most students report that the Academy has increa sed their interest in health care careers, and almost all who have continue d to participate in Academy programs through their senior year have been ac cepted into college.