Holmes Scholar Plans to Give Back to Alma Mater

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Cedric Collins

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas has named Cedric Collins of Jackson, Miss., a Holmes Scholar this year. The funding awarded to Collins signals the university’s renewed participation in the prestigious doctoral scholarship program designed to increase the pool of diverse candidates for higher education and other positions in education.

The American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education established the Holmes Scholars Program in 1991 for students pursuing terminal degrees in education at its member institutions, which include the University of Arkansas. In addition to a tuition scholarship and a monthly stipend of $1,000, the program provides mentorship, peer support, professional development and rich scholarly experiences to doctoral students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Previously, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education and Health Professions supported 12 Holmes Scholars who are now tenured faculty and serving in leadership positions at institutions of higher education or state departments of education.

The college revived the program last year after about a decade’s hiatus and began accepting applications this past spring.

Collins earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State University in Mississippi. Jackson State is one of 106 historically black colleges and universities in the United States.

When Collins completes his doctorate in counselor education at the University of Arkansas in 2017, he plans to return to his other alma mater to start a similar degree program there.

 “I earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and correctional services and a master’s degree in clinical and mental health counseling at Jackson State,” Collins said. “But very few HBCUs have a doctoral program in counselor education. There is a pipeline for master’s students that I would like to help lead to Jackson State.”

Collins co-led student groups in the counseling program with his faculty adviser when he was a master’s student in Jackson State.

“I want to work in higher education, to return to my alma mater,” said Collins, a Jackson native who has also lived in Little Rock.

The award requires Collins to work 20 hours per week. He assists Diana Gonzales Worthen with various projects she directs, including Project RISE. Project RISE, which stands for Realizing and Increasing Student Excellence, is a federally funded program operated by the College of Education and Health Professions to increase the number of local teachers certified in English as a second language.

Worthen herself was a Holmes Scholar who worked for more than 20 years in the public school system – leading and implementing numerous programs for English learners, immigrants, language-minority parents and first-generation college students – before coming to work at the University of Arkansas.

“We are very proud of Cedric and look forward to seeing him grow daily in his doctoral journey,” Worthen said.

Collins will attend Holmes Scholars conferences such as a meeting in Atlanta next March. He will meet legislators and fellow Holmes Scholars at the program’s Summer Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., in June.

“He will attend workshops geared for second- and third-year doctoral students as well as connect with other Holmes Scholars from across the nation,” Worthen said. “This will be a supportive and memorable experience for him.”

Collins, who is in his second year of his doctoral program, expects to complete his degree in the spring of 2017. His dissertation will examine issues concerning the effect a client’s perceptions of a counselor’s sexual orientation has on the counseling experience.

Collins’ criteria when looking for a graduate school included accreditation of the academic program, diversity and geographic location. He wanted to stay in the South.

“Coming to the University of Arkansas is the best move I could have made,” Collins said. “It’s a good environment.”