Forty state college students who make up the 2010 All-Minnesota Academic Team are being honored March 3, 2010 for their academic achievements and community service.The 40 students, ranging in age from 18 to 58, are the state’s nominees for the All-USA Academic Team for Community, Technical and Junior College Students, a program sponsored annually by Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges, USA Today and the American Association of Community Colleges. State academic teams were introduced in 1994 to provide scholarships and scholastic recognition to Phi Theta Kappa members.
All of the students attend one of the 25 community and technical colleges, which have about 170,000 students, in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
Asian and Pacific Islander students among the 40 being honored at a luncheon in Eagan with their colleges include: Maria Del Carmen Wong Guerrero of Inver Hills Community College; Mahmoud Hatab of Normandale Community College; Shelly Pauhu and Suksimarari Daaljit of Northeast Higher Education District-Mesabi Range Community and Technical College; and Darleen Tareeq of St. Paul College.
Students selected for the All-USA academic team receive stipends or plaques. The 2010 All-USA team members will be announced in April at the American Association of Community Colleges convention in Seattle.
To be nominated to the Minnesota team, a student must be currently enrolled at a Minnesota two-year college and expect to graduate during the 2009-2010 academic year, have completed at least 12 semester credits and a grade point average of at least 3.25 at a Minnesota two-year college.
Nominees were selected based on biographical information, letters of recommendation, academic performance, demonstration of leadership, and campus and community service. Applicants also wrote an essay describing a specific educational experience while attending a two-year college that has transformed the student’s thinking about learning or the future.
The Minnesota All-State Academic Team is sponsored by the Minn-Wi-Kota Region of Phi Theta Kappa; the participating colleges and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Office of the Chancellor.
