Campus Life

UWF receives $25,000 from AT&T for STEM educational outreach

The University of West Florida recently received a $25,000 gift from AT&T to support the enrichment and expansion of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, educational outreach activities for K-12 students.

The University of West Florida recently received a $25,000 gift from AT&T to support the enrichment and expansion of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, educational outreach activities for K-12 students.

The gift will not only support existing programs organized by the UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, but it will also provide the necessary resources to develop new initiatives to support local and regional schools.

AT&T‘s legacy is our commitment to building and making the communities we serve stronger,” said Ray Walker, AT&T Florida regional director. “Our support for education and STEM programs is as much a part of our heritage as our future.”

Current programs, such as the annual BEST Robotics Competition and Northwest Florida Regional Science Olympiad, will now be able to welcome and support participation from more students throughout Northwest Florida.

The Emerald Coast BEST Robotics hub, housed at UWF, hosts the competition each fall and provides material kits for teams to build the robots. The participating students and schools pay no fees, thanks to funding from individual and corporate sponsors like AT&T, who has continuously supported the University’s STEM efforts.

The Northwest Regional Florida Science Olympiad, held at the UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, hosts students from Northwest Florida’s public and private schools in the Florida Panhandle. UWF faculty, staff and students serve as event supervisors and help develop, run and score the events for the competition.

Additionally, the College will organize all of its current and future STEM programming for middle and high school students into the K-12 Outreach Initiative, which will be led by an outreach coordinator charged with determining plans for program implementation, expansion and enrichment.

“Most faculty in STEM at UWF are passionate about teaching and working with students at all levels,” said Dr. Michael Huggins, dean of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering. “The partnership with AT&T allows us to enhance and expand our programming for K-12 students, thus empowering our faculty and students to continue engaging them in hands-on learning experiences that create excitement about studying science. These activities help generate interest in pursuing STEM careers and increases the number of STEM graduates pursuing careers in our local and regional communities.”

The UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering is dedicated to providing innovative programs of excellence in education, research and public and professional service at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The College promotes the production of highly competitive graduates as judged by the highest academic standards in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, while students, faculty and staff are also focused on and heavily involved in K-12 outreach.

For more information about the UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, visit uwf.edu/cse.