Few around N.C. Central University know it, but 34 NCCU science and math majors are receiving a helping hand from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, the government agency that supervises space travel and exploration.

The NASA program, “Training Incoming Students to become Scientist and Engineers,” targets incoming NCCU freshmen with a high school GPA between 2.5-3.0, who will major in math or science. The program, which is open to students who scored between 800-1000 on their SAT, is now in its third year at NCCU.

Freshman biology student K. Starr Glenn says the program has helped her a lot.

“I hope to obtain a more goal-oriented mindset as well as skills to assist me in my career.”

Students participating in the program arrive at NCCU the summer before their fall semester and get an early exposure to campus life while taking a few classes.

They also get to tour NASA sites such as a space camp at Huntsville, Alabama and the research center at Langley, Virginia.

“Our visit to the Langley NASA site was especially informative because it showed what types of jobs we could eventually have with NASA,” said freshman environmental science major Constance Birden.

This year the students are supervised by biology instructor Kenneth Cutler and Hope Sinclair, a graduate student in psychology.

Sinclair says she gets a kick out of working with the freshmen. “I really enjoyed working with the girls this summer,” said Sinclair.

“I was able to learn from them as they were able to learn from me. It also brought back memories from when I was a freshman trying to adjust to campus life.”

Cutler and Sinclair work under the supervision of Bernice D. Johnson, interim assistant vice chancellor of academic services.

Johnson is the project investigator for the NASA/TISSE grant.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for science majors to enhance their science, technology, engineering, and math research skills,” said Johnson.

“It’ll help the students become more competitive in pursuing graduate programs and career opportunities.”

The program has received $300,000 since 2001. Funding for the program ends December 2004. Johnson is seeking more funding to continue the program.