MESAS
The Mentoring & Encouraging Student Academic Success (MESAS) program was initially created to increase the academic success of transfer students from the USU campus in Blanding to the main USU campus in Logan. The goals of the program were to encourage more Native American students to pursue graduate degrees in STEM fields and to build a more inclusive campus environment at Utah State University. As the program has grown, our goals have also grown. Program goals now include providing academic assistance and cultural programming for all Native American students at Utah State University.
Cultivating Connections
In partnership with Dr. Melissa Tehee (Psychology, USU) and her Tohi Lab, Dr. Litts and the LED Lab are working with Edith Bowen Laboratory School (K-6) to investigate how to collaboratively (re)design cross-cultural field experiences for sixth graders to effectively develop culturally competent citizen scholars. The key aim of the project is to cultivate connections across partners, cultures, and disciplines. This work is funded by USU’s Seed Program to Advance Research Collaborations and the Spencer Foundation.