Faculty Grants & Potential Job Opportunities

TLC Faculty are internationally renowned for their research and have been selected for highly competitive grant funding. They continuously work towards creating research and educational programs that aim to increase educational standards and equity, especially for the U.S./Mexico border region and the State of Texas.

These grants potentially allow faculty the opportunity to provide students with job opportunities as Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants.

Bodies and minds in motion: Cultural contexts for learning in community arts programs at the United States and Mexico border

Sponsor: National Endowment for the Arts

Timeline: January 2021-January 2023

Amount: $70,000

Abstract:   The goal of this research is to examine community arts programs at the United States and Mexico border to study how these programs align with the cultural learning practices of the region’s majority Mexican-American population. We use a video ethnographic approach to examine, for one, the practices and actions by which teaching is accomplished and, secondly, the interplay between these practices and families’, youths’, and educators’ meanings, desires, and attributions that account for the existence of the programs. By studying arts pedagogies and their surrounding cultural meaning, this research will advance theory and practice in arts education while advocating for increased access to the arts for underserved communities. 

Principal Investigator: Sarah Jean Johnson (sjjohnson2@utep.edu)

Co-Investigators: María Teresa de la Piedra, Nathanial Robinson

Article Link: https://elpasoheraldpost.com/tag/sarah-jean-johnson-ph-d/

The Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program @ The University of Texas at El Paso

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Timeline: 2019-2024

Amount: $1,199,692

Principal Investigator: Amy Wagler

Co-Principal Investigator: Erika Mein (elmein2@utep.edu) 

Project ACE – Action for Equity: A BUILDing SCHOLARS Pipeline

Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Timeline: 2020 - 2025

Amount: $ 1,350,000

Abstract: The five-year NIH Science Education Partnership Award program will attempt to attract the attention of high school students in economically disadvantaged communities to be prepared and motivated to pursue undergraduate degrees in engineering as well as biomedical and behavioral sciences. Project ACE will recruit and engage students and teachers from area high schools in Gadsden, Del Valle and Canutillo with multiple tiers of mentors and a research-focused curriculum.

Principle Investigator: Dr. Osvaldo Morera

Co-Investigators: Dr. Josefina V. Tinajero (tinajero@utep.edu), Dr. Thomas Boland, and Dr. Guadalupe Corral

Transforming Teacher Preparation at UTEP: Building Capacity to Prepare the Highest-Quality Latinx Teachers for the US-Mexico Border and Beyond

Sponsor: US PREP/Gates Foundation

Timeline: 2018-2021

Amount: $300,000

Principle Investigator: Clifton Tanabe

Co-Principal Investigator: Erika Mein (elmein2@utep.edu)

Developing Software Engineers of Tomorrow

Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education, Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program

Timeline: 2019-2022

Amount: $742,174

Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Christina Convertino (cconvertino@utep.edu)

Abstract: The project goals are to improve academic and professional outcomes of Latinx computer science [CS] undergraduate students, in particular Latina students, through augmentation of their set of professional skills; and to support the pedagogical and professional growth of faculty, especially computer science faculty, and learning assistants who can effectively support student professional growth. To understand how this happens, an ethnographic study on gender and computer science explores the development and implementation of three undergraduate computer science courses with a focus on enhancing Latina students’ leadership and other professional skills. The three courses, tentatively titled Foundations in Computing Leadership, Advancing Computing Leadership, and Mastery in Computing Leadership, will be integrated into the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Program.

Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Timeline: 2018-2023

Amount: $4,000,000

Abstract: The LSAMP Program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce through their efforts at significantly increasing the numbers of students successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming STEM education through innovative recruitment and retention strategies and experiences in support of groups historically under-represented in STEM discipline: African-Americans, Alaskan Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ben Flores

Co-Investigators: Dr. Helmut Knaust, Dr. William Robertson (robertson@utep.edu), Dr. Cristina Villalobos