University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Receives Innovative Program Grant Award

The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently announced that University of the Sciences in Philadelphia has received an Act 101 Innovative Program Grant Award. The $5,700 grant will be used to educate a select number of incoming freshmen on the benefits of preserving the environment on campus and in their respective hometowns. The students will learn the importance of maintaining the environment so they can, in turn, educate their families, community and fellow classmates.

In the 1999-2000 budget recommended by Governor Tom Ridge and approved by the General Assembly, there was an allocation included for Innovative Program Grant Awards. Two categories of competitive awards were made available to Act 101 institutions:

Bridge/recruitment awards that use Act 101 students to provide outreach from colleges and universities into middle schools/high schools with the goal of introducing disadvantaged youth to a future in higher education.
Program improvement awards for creative ideas that will strengthen services to Act 101 students.
These competitive awards were made available to approximately 77 ACT 101 institutions in the state of Pennsylvania. USP was selected as one of only 40 whose creative ideas and high quality proposals earned them the recognition.

At USP, this service learning grant will apply to the 16 incoming students in the Preparation, Retention and Education Program (PREP) during the summer. PREP allows incoming freshman students a chance to become acquainted with the USP campus while taking preparatory coursework in biology, chemistry, English and math. This year during the operation of the eight-week summer program, each subject area class will encompass the service learning focal point of this grant into the respective curriculum.

Since its first incoming class in 1988, the PREP Program has emphasized the important expectation and objective for PREP graduates to make a contribution to their profession (pharmacy), their community and themselves. Another way of stating this is "Service is a PREP program hallmark" – service to the pharmacy profession, service to the communities in which PREP members live and work, and, finally, service that brings PREP members self-satisfaction.

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