CUSP

Computing Undergraduate Scholarship Program

B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, New York   14623

In the Fall of 2006-2007, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded RIT a five-year $484,000 grant from its 2006 Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an undergraduate level degree in science and engineering disciplines.

CUSP is a collaborative effort by the four academic departments residing within the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (GCCIS):

                                                Computer Science

                                                Information Technology and Game Design and Development

                                                Networking, Security, and System Administration

                                                Software Engineering

The Awards

RIT will award a maximum of 36 CUSP scholarships for six quarters beginning in the Fall of 2007. CUSP scholars will receive a scholarship of $1,000 per quarter, up to a maximum of six quarters ($6,000) during their first two years at RIT as long as they continue to meet CUSP eligibility requirements. All incoming GCCIS freshmen meeting the eligibility criteria will be considered for these scholarships.

In the Fall of 2009, an additional 36 scholars will be selected.

Eligibility

Students considered for CUSP must meet the following criteria:

• Be a citizen of the United States, National of the United States(as Defined in Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), alien admitted as a refugee under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
• Be enrolled full-time as a first year student in an undergraduate GCCIS degree program and be making progress towards that degree.
• Demonstrate academic potential or ability.
• Demonstrate financial need, defined for undergraduates by the US Department of Education and by the RIT Office of Financial Aid upon receipt of results from the Free Application Federal Student Aid (FASFA).
• Agree to participate in CUSP activities and surveys.
• Agree to keep RIT updated with address changes for at least five years after graduation.

The Selection Process

Students do not need to directly apply for CUSP scholarships. The RIT Office of Financial Aid will consider all incoming students in GCCIS undergraduate degree programs who have demonstrated need by the US Department of Education’s rules for financial aid. In 2007, a maximum of 36 incoming GCCIS students will be selected. An additional 36 students will again be selected under the same criteria in 2009.

CUSP scholars must fulfill current RIT admissions requirements, which include a variety of indicators of merit including students’ GPA. Each academic program has its own admissions criteria. However, we recognize the admissions process must be flexible to accommodate applicants from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, we will consider additional indicators of merit during the review of students’ applications.

Retaining Eligibility

CUSP scholarships will only be renewed if the scholar:

• Continues to demonstrate financial need for the second year.
• Remains matriculated full time in any GCCIS undergraduate degree program
• Meets quarterly with a CUSP faculty mentor to review academic performance.
• Maintains a quarterly and overall GPA > 2.5. A scholar whose GPA falls below 2.5 will have one quarter of probation to improve his/her GPA while participating in an appropriate intervention program to improve academic performance.

CUSP Faculty Mentors

• Department of Computer Science – Professor Trudy Howles
• Departments of Information Technology and Game Development – Professor Elouise Oyzon Biles
• Department of Networking, Security, and Systems Administration, Professor Sharon Mason
• Department of Software Engineering – Professor Tom Reichlmayr

Contact Information

If you have questions, please contact the Co-PIs for this project:

• Professor Trudy Howles tmh@cs.rit.edu
• Professor Tom Reichlmayr tjr@se.rit.edu

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. DUE-0630913.