About HANDS

The Department of Nutrition has received a $90,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the Nutrition Multicultural Scholarship Program, which provides $6,000 scholarships for five undergraduate students for three years of study leading to a bachelor's of science degree in nutrition. The effort, dubbed HANDS (Health and Nutrition Diversity Scholars), is being run by Nancy Cohen, professor and head of the Department of Nutrition; Pamela Marsh-Williams, assistant provost and dean for the Undergraduate Advising and Academic Support Center (UAASC) and director of Pre-Major Advising Services; and Mathew L. Ouellett, associate director of the Center for Teaching.

The HANDS program is designed to recruit, retain, provide mentors and train high-quality undergraduate multicultural scholars in nutrition. Special features of the program include a scholars' seminar; a one-credit course aimed at developing social support, mentorship and professional preparation through research projects and community service projects; a peer tutoring system where senior nutrition majors provide tutoring in math, science, nutrition and other courses; finding community mentors who are nutrition practitioners or researchers in the field; and giving participants the opportunity to serve as mentors to first-year students.

The overall goal of HANDS is to build the capacity of students to study and practice nutrition in diverse settings and communities nationally and globally.