Miami University

Miami to receive $300,000 in grants from
The Procter & Gamble Fund

02/25/1997

The Procter & Gamble Fund has awarded Miami two grants totaling $300,000

for programs involving the School of Education and Allied Professions. Both

Project MIND and Back on Track will receive $150,000 each over the next three

years, beginning this July.

Project MIND is a scholarship program at Miami for minority students pursuing

degrees in education. Recruiting and retaining students of color has been a

priority at Miami for some time.

The purpose of Project MIND is to create an endowment to support need-based

scholarships for students of color who enroll in the School of Education and

Allied Professions. The contribution of The Procter & Gamble Fund will

provide six full-tuition scholarships to minority students to attend Miami for

four years each.

The Back on Track program at Bloom Middle School in Cincinnati, one of Miami's

partner schools, helps students who have been held back at least one grade stay

in school. It is a highly accelerated educational experience characterized by

high teacher expectations and rigorous standards for students. Participants

complete the two-year middle school curriculum in just one year.

The program works--more than 125 students have been promoted from the seventh

grade to the ninth grade after only one year in middle school. And students'

scores on proficiency and achievement tests have increased dramatically.

The grant from The Procter & Gamble Fund will help train 10 Cincinnati

Public School staff members to support and supervise Miami students. A

significant number of Miami students will work at the middle school as interns,

some as observers, others as student teachers.

"Both Project Mind and Back on Track demonstrate Miami University's ongoing

commitment to education and the community," said Robert L. Wehling, senior vice

president of Procter & Gamble and president of The P&G Fund. "I

believe that dignity comes from independence and understanding," he said. "We

are glad we can support these important programs that help prepare middle

school students for continuing education and fund scholarships for students of

color who will study to be educators."

Julie Underwood, dean of Miami's School of Education and Allied Professions,

says: "Through Procter & Gamble's generous support, Project MIND and Back

on Track will now be able to move forward, bringing diversity to the student

climate of Miami University and to the ranks of teachers nationally and, in the

case of Back on Track, helping encourage teen-agers to stay in school. It is

with genuine sincerity that we at Miami University extend our thanks to The

Project & Gamble Fund for its support of these projects."

For more information about these programs call Michelle Young, an assistant

director for divisional support at Miami, at (513) 529-8136. Julie Underwood,

dean of Miami's School of Education and Allied Professions, can be reached at

(513) 529-6317. Dorothy Battle, principal at Bloom Middle School, can speak to

the success of Back on Track. Her number is (513) 357-4340. Elaine Plummer of

Procter & Gamble can be reached at

(513) 983-7756.