Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is committed to making college possible for people who want to further their education. A UWP scholarship fund established by Clark Dietz, Champaign, Ill., will help students from under-represented groups studying engineering.

With $2,500 awarded annually, as many as three students each year will benefit from scholarships in amounts of $1,000 or $500. Prospective students from within the Tri-State region must be planning to major in engineering to be eligible.

John Boldt, executive vice president of Clark Dietz and a 1978 UWP civil engineering graduate, said the company wants more minorities to consider an engineering education. Employees at Clark Dietz have noticed a discrepancy in the percentage of minorities among the engineering ranks versus the population in the areas they work, particularly among African-Americans and Hispanics.

"Looking at our own client base, we said we had to do something ... We want to make sure our industry reflects what our client base is," Boldt said. "I'm glad that we've recognized as a company that the issue needs some assistance. It was just the right thing to do."

Women and minorities have traditionally comprised a small percentage of the engineering workforce. At UWP, the Women in Engineering program has strived to change that statistic since its inception in the early 1990s, and minority recruitment has been a major focus within the UWP College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science the last five years, said Richard Shultz, dean of the college.

Clark Dietz had established a similar scholarship at the University of Illinois-Chicago last year. With Wisconsin offices in Kenosha and Spring Green, and given the quality of an engineering education at UW-Platteville, the company's decision to support under-represented groups at UWP an easy one.

"We said, 'where's our next possibility?' Having a number of grads from UW-Platteville [working at Clark Dietz] and being connected to the university, I know what we get," Boldt said.

Shultz said the scholarships will be a boon not only to minority students, but to the whole college as well.

"Our friends in industry are one of our strongest assets. These scholarships will help create an environment that will be beneficial to all of our students," he said. "It's very important for our students to be exposed and get to know people that are different from them. They will be going into a workforce that will be highly diversified."

The Clark Dietz scholarships will be awarded annually through 2010, at which time the agreement will be evaluated and the company may continue its support. With 140 engineering professionals in offices located in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, Clark Dietz serves the upper Midwest in the areas of transportation and civil, environmental, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering.

Contact: Alma Valencia, University Relations, 608-342-1733, valencia@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Dan Lehnherr, UWP Public Relations, 608-342-1194, lehnherd@uwplatt.edu