Westby Receives King-Chávez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship

The Program in Mathematics Education is excited to recognize Katie Westby for receiving a King-Chávez-Parks (KCP) Future Faculty Fellowship.

The KCP Future Faculty Fellowship Program was established by the Michigan Legislature in 1986 and named in honor of civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez, and Rosa Parks.

This initiative is comprised of seven different programs that aim to increase the number of Michigan’s most educationally or economically disadvantaged citizens who have the opportunity to complete college degrees and experience career success as active participants in a knowledge-based global economy.

Here at Michigan State University the KCP Future Faculty Fellowship (FFF) Program is funded by the State of Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and the MSU Graduate School.

Katie Westby was awarded this $35,000 fellowship in Summer 2023. MSU supplements the award with a health care allowance, one credit of tuition and fees for the Fall and Spring semesters, and one credit of tuition and fees for a summer semester.

Katie shared, “I am very honored to have been selected for the fellowship: it provides validation that my work and my presence as a researcher and educator are worthy and important. This investment in me and my future is a humbling verification of the importance of the work of creating more equitable educational spaces: as I continue with my degree and seek to become a faculty member, the support from this award allows me to focus on that important work.”  

There are specific selection criteria for applications, as well as conditions of the award and fellowship responsibilities that applicants should read carefully.

In particular regarding selection of fellowship recipients, the KCP fellowship program notes that “Preference is not given to applicants on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, gender, or national origin. Applications from minorities, women, people with disabilities, and individuals from cultural, linguistic, geographic, and socio-economic backgrounds who would otherwise not adequately be represented in the graduate student and faculty populations are encouraged to apply.”

Applications open in the fall semester and are due the following spring semester. To apply, please visit: https://app.leo.state.mi.us/kcpfff

Congratulations, Katie, on receiving this prestigious fellowship!

Written by

Liz Havey and Lisa Keller