The AU College of Architecture, Design and Construction and the Office of the Vice President for University Outreach have announced the creation of the Academic Success Action Program (ASAP) which will provide academic strategies and mentoring to high school minority students beginning in the summer of 2008. The program is designed to bridge the gap between high school and college by providing high school students interested in the fields of architecture, design or construction with the guidance needed to be successful during their collegiate careers. The students will be selected based on need and their interest in fields of architecture, construction and design from high schools in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The ASAP uses four elements (academics, student focus groups/special events, analysis and practice) which engage mentoring and coaching strategies toward academic success. University Outreach contributed $15,000 that will go toward the first three-week program in 2008. Beginning in the ninth grade, high school students will spend three weeks each summer on the Auburn campus with two weeks of calculus, physics and AutoCAD lab work and one week as part of an architecture, design or construction camp. Once students are enrolled at Auburn they will begin their mentorship with architecture, design or construction professionals. During the mentorship process, students will work as interns with area companies and have an assigned mentor to guide them through scenarios which will ultimately prepare them for the professional licensure. For more information, contact Carla Jackson Bell, director of multicultural affairs for the college, at cjj0001@auburn.edu or 844-4549.