The intellectual merit of the Undergraduate Training in the Environment (UTE) Scholars program derives from its focus on the impacts of global changes and the dynamics and sustainability of natural and human built systems. The UTE Scholars program supports 14 students in the Colleges of Science, Mines and Earth Science, and Engineering who work as a multidisciplinary cohort to explore how various scientific and engineering fields interact. This scholarship program is a partnership of the University of Utah's Global Change and Sustainability Center (GCSC) and the Center for Science and Math Education (CSME). This partnership provides academically talented and financially challenged undergraduate students with unique educational and research opportunities. The program also provides academic scaffolding, mentoring, professional development, and supports them throughout their undergraduate training.
The broader impacts of the UTE Scholars program derive from partnerships with various and diverse organizations both in recruiting and outreach. These partnerships engage scholars in outreach to the minority-majority school districts as well as rural areas. The UTE Scholars seminar series provides a forum for participants to learn to integrate research activities with education in order to place their science in a broader societal context. This scholarship project is developing an interdisciplinary learning community of students, faculty, and professionals that synergistically engages and supports the UTE Scholars as they move through their academic training. Further, this program provides a model for similar programs in the future both within and outside of the University of Utah.
