August 19, 2014
Multicultural engineering program director wins award
LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin, director of the College of Engineering's multicultural engineering program, has been named the Midwest Region INROADS Educator of the Year. The award recognizes an educator or educational administrator who has demonstrated commitment to the INROADS process in identifying candidates for internships.
INROADS is a nonprofit career development organization, partnering with Fortune 500 companies to provide career-related, paid internships to underserved students that leads to consideration for full-time employment with those companies. INROADS offers year-round coaching, mentoring and academic support to interns, as well as professional development training during the summer.
Bitsie-Baldwin was cited for her support of the INROADS program at K-State in making students aware of its benefits, connecting INROADS with engineering and technical candidates, and coordinating INROADS presentations with the student organizations in her department.
Dustin Abnos, senior in mechanical engineering, and Geordy Williams, freshman in computer science, INROADS interns from the College of Engineering, each received a Trendsetter Academic Award from the organization as well.