The Holmes Scholars® Program at FAU Recipient of AACTE 2023 AACTE Outstanding Holmes Institution Award
AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) announced that Florida Atlantic University (FAU) College of Education is the recipient of the 2023 AACTE Outstanding Holmes Institution Award. The AACTE Holmes Program supports students who self-identify as racially and ethnically diverse, and are pursuing graduate degrees in education at AACTE member institutions. This award recognizes Holmes Program institutions that demonstrate exemplary and innovative practices in supporting graduate students of color, resulting in increased productivity of its scholars. Rangasamy Ramasamy, Ph.D., FAU Holmes Program coordinator, and Stephen Silverman, Ed.D., Dean, FAU College of Education, were recognized formally with the award during AACTE’s 75th Annual Meeting, held February 24 – 26 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Florida Atlantic established the Holmes Scholars® Program at FAU in 2016-17. Since its inception, FAU Holmes Scholars have actively engaged as board members, media, and research coordinators and introduced the 3-Minute Thesis competition to the AACTE Holmes Pre-conferences. FAU’s robust peer-to-peer mentoring network connects new and incoming Holmes scholars to third-year cohorts who serve as formal mentors. To provide additional support for the sometimes-cryptic research process, FAU established its Research Apprenticeship Pipeline, a program that pairs senior scholars with first-year scholars to work together to submit co-authored proposals to the Holmes Pre-conference. Through this mentoring program, first-year Holmes scholars learn about the research process, create proposals, and participate in roundtables and poster presentations. FAU’s Holmes Scholars authored/co-authored and published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles in the past two years.
“We are honored to receive AACTE’s 2023 Outstanding Holmes Institution Award,” said Michele Hawkins, Ph.D., FAU Interim Provost. “This recognition reflects our faculty and doctoral students’ high quality of work. This program will help provide a diverse professorate for years to come.”
“The AACTE Holmes Scholar Program embodies the importance of providing mentorship, peer support, and professional development opportunities in elevating educator preparation,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO. “I look forward to honoring Florida Atlantic University’s exemplary Holmes Scholar program at the Annual Meeting later this month, a program whose innovative peer-to-peer mentoring and robust Research Apprenticeship Pipeline rigorously prepare scholars to be impactful members of the profession.”