Bee Vang, Program Director for Upward Bound at UW-River Falls is one of the recipients the UW System Board of Regents will honor at its tenth annual Regents’ Diversity Awards on February 9 in Madison at the next Regents meeting. These awards recognize individuals and programs that foster access and success for students who are members of historically underrepresented populations. Each recipient will receive $5,000 to support professional development or continue the program being honored. Read more
- Individual: Bee Vang, Program Director, Upward Bound, UW-River Falls.
Vang joined UW-River Falls’ Upward Bound program in 2010 as a program advisor and was promoted to director in 2011. Under her leadership, the federal TRIO Upward Bound grant has been successfully renewed twice (2012-17 and 2017-22) through the U.S. Department of Education’s competitive grant process. Vang hires, supervises, trains, and evaluates one full-time academic advisor, 10 part-time student workers, and eight part-time instructors to help prepare low-income and first-generation high school students for college. Through Vang’s commitment to ensuring every student is successful, 100 percent of the students in the Upward Bound program’s partner school, Washington Technology Magnet School, have been accepted to post-secondary education each year. Vang is recognized for promoting partnerships, including with the university’s six-week summer program; the McNair Scholars program; TRIO Student Support Services; and STEMteach, a program that allows student teachers to interact with high school youth. Vang selects student designates to attend the National Student Leadership Congress held annually in Washington, D.C., where they cultivate civic leadership and speak to Congress on Capitol Hill.
