Mark Nelson, a 1991 graduate of Saint Michael's College in computer science, and his wife Sheila, established the Alumni Fund for Undergraduate Research at Saint Michael's College this year, with a $10,000 gift and a pledge to add $10,000 a year for four more years.
"Student research makes a huge difference," said Nelson, a digital content strategist and vice president for strategy and development for NACS (National Association for College Stores) media solutions, based in Albany, with company headquarters in Cleveland. "Research projects give students perspective on what faculty do-they have no other way of getting that exposure," the former Rensselear professor said.
With the goal of encouraging other alumni to participate in the fund, Nelson named it the Alumni Fund for Undergraduate Research. It has already generated gifts totaling $49,300, from three additional donors. Nelson funded a scholarship for computer science majors at Saint Michael's, several years ago. The new fund is for promising students regardless of major, who could, by doing research, explore their field of study in a more focused way.
"Research projects allow students to develop all kinds of critical thinking skills, interaction skills; it shows them what research is about and sometimes encourages them to go on to graduate school," Nelson said.
A dedicated Saint Michael's graduate, Nelson serves on the Saint Michael's alumni board of directors. "I got so much out of Saint Michael's-it was so influential to me for where I ended up in my career; I don't know if I would I have ended up where I am without Saint Michael's," he said. "The best part was getting all those different perspectives from different faculty-that's what the liberal arts does," he added.
Nelson moved from his position as a professor when he was offered an exciting opportunity to help restructure college stores, specifically to "save the college store industry." This matters, Nelson said, because these stores are something of a canary in the mine shaft. "If they fail, their profit, which typically goes into financial aid and student activities, would dry up," he said. He does research and development for this industry, working on emerging technologies in an effort to reduce the costs to students, "while keeping the students coming to the stores."
Nelson's article on digital textbooks in higher education was ranked 5th most read higher education information technology piece by EDUCAUSE in 2008. Nelson has a blog at
http://thecite.blogspot.com
Mark and Sheila Nelson reside in Latham, N.Y.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's
Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009
U.S. News & World Report rankings.