Dr. Earlene Armstrong has clearly encouraged young minority students during her twenty years on faculty at University of Maryland at College Park. She has served as the primary advisor to undergraduate students in the Department of Entomology, formally advising more than one hundred students each year. Armstrong has served as the director of the Prefreshman Academic Enrichment Program, which prepares and retains "at risk" students during their first year at Maryland, focusing on strengthening their skills in mathematics and science. Armstrong is noted for taking a personal interest in working with students, and for helping the student to develop important practical skills, such as good time management and study habits. As a result, the program's students earn higher grades, have a retention rate of eighty-seven percent and a fifty-five percent retention rate in the sciences. Those mentoring relationships remain active long after the students graduate from the university.
Armstrong's success with her students is reflected in honors she has received, such as the Faculty Minority Achievement Award from the University of Maryland President's Commission on Ethnic Minority Issues, the Outstanding Advisor of the Year Award from the University's Parents' Association.
