Funded in part by the University of Arkansas Women’s Giving Circle, iCiencia is a four-day residential academic summer program for Hispanic teenage girls that was hosted last week by the university’s College Access Initiative. The camp was held last week and welcomed 33 students who now know more about the academic opportunities at the University of Arkansas, particularly in the fields of science and engineering, and who are better prepared to take the next step in their educational journeys.

College Access Initiative was launched in September 2010 under the direction of Charles Robinson, the university’s vice provost for diversity, to extend college readiness outreach across the state and to increase the number of diverse and underrepresented students enrolling at the university. Bryan Hembree and Leslie Yingling — both University of Arkansas alumni with experience in college readiness and access — are the directors of the program. Yingling, who submitted the iCiencia grant proposal to the Women’s Giving Circle last year, oversaw the camp.

“iCiencia was a great success,” said Yingling. “We aimed to have teens and their families learn about campus life and college academics through hands-on enrichment activities and social engagement. It was clear to see that the experience changed many of the participants’ feelings about college and that they can now picture themselves as a part of the University of Arkansas landscape.”

The proposal that was put before the Women's Giving Circle for funding consideration in 2010 explained that the goal of iCiencia was to “improve participants’ access to college and to excite Latinas about studying and working in science, mathematics and engineering, all fields in which Latinas are severely underrepresented; to make visible the connection between education and the future; to familiarize students with the college setting; to encourage higher education as a realizable goal; and to highlight the University of Arkansas as an accessible, diverse hub of academic exploration, inquiry, promise and opportunity.”

As the Hispanic population grows in Northwest Arkansas and throughout the entire state, so does the Hispanic enrollment at the university. Programs like iCiencia help the university prepare for and respond to the changing landscape of the state and the state’s flagship.

“The members of the Women’s Giving Circle look for programs that are truly going to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Jamie Banks, director of development for the Women’s Giving Circle. “It was clear that this program deserved the group’s support.”

In addition to summer programs like iCiencia, specifically targeting Hispanic teens, the College Access Initiative team plans ACT workshops and service learning opportunities for students at underrepresented high schools.

The Women's Giving Circle was created in 2002 by the founding members of the Women and Philanthropy Committee of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, the seven-year effort that raised more than $1 billion for academics, programs and capital improvements at the University of Arkansas. The circle has awarded more than $470,000 since that time. Membership is open to the public.