PRISM Program

Positive Routes into Science and Mathematics

Do you ever watch CSI and wish you were the forensic scientist on the crime scene? Would you like to travel to New Zealand to study the country’s environment? Do you enjoy “hands-on” science and mathematics research?

If so, then Alma College’s PRISM program is for you.

Here at Alma College, we learn by doing, not just by sitting in a classroom. We go out and experience the things we learn about, because that’s how we learn the most.

First-year science and mathematics students have the extraordinary opportunity to engage in research before they even step foot on campus! Prior to their freshman year, selected students are invited to begin their PRISM journey through the ASPIRE summer research opportunity alongside Alma faculty and other students. Check out the following video on the ASPIRE program.

Once you’re here, the opportunities only get better:

  • PRISM seminars are offered in both the fall and winter terms to introduce students to all of the possibilities that science has to offer. At Alma, you are not just a chemistry or biology major; you are a part of a science community.
  • Science-focused four-week Spring Term courses provide opportunities for students to study in the lab or out in the field, working side-by-side with a faculty member.
  • Students can apply for a summer research opportunity following their first year at Alma under the exclusive direction of a faculty member.
  • In addition to developing your research skills, PRISM students have the chance to develop their leadership skills. Second- and third-year students are recruited to be peer mentors in the sciences.

For more information about the PRISM program, please contact PRISM Director Dr. John Davis at (989) 463-7158.


 

Alma College boasts a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio, a liberal arts approach to undergraduate education, 33 academic majors, self-designed programs of emphasis, pre-professional programs in law and medicine, and an intensive Spring Term that provides opportunities for innovative courses, travel classes, research and internships.

 

Graduate Profile

Kelsey Hughes

Kelsey Hughes
Graduation: 2009
Major: Biochemistry

Kelsey Hughes ’09 was attracted to Alma College’s biochemistry program like a proton is attracted to an electron.

“I’ve always sort of been on the border right between chemistry and biology, so biochemistry was the perfect combination of both of my interests,” she says. “Alma also felt right to me. As soon as I set foot on campus, I felt at home. When I visited with professors and students, that feeling was only reinforced.”