ORONO – A recently retired UMaine program director and an engineering professor hope to raise awareness and scholarship funds for the university’s Onward Program by bicycling across the United States this summer.

Jerry Ellis, former director of the College Success Program’s Onward Program, and John Hwalek, associate professor of chemical engineering, shipped their touring bikes to Seattle, Wash., last week and will fly to the West Coast June 16.

They begin their 4,300-mile trip from Alexander Beach in Anacortes, Wash., to Sand Beach in Acadia National Park on June 18, riding about 80 miles a day and camping most of the way, with an occasional night in a hotel or motel.

A Web site has details about the trek and fundraising campaign. It also has a link to the Google map Hwalek created with 221 place-marks outlining the route.

Ellis and Hwalek want to raise $12,000 for the Jerry Ellis Scholarship Fund for Onward Program students by the time they complete their 8-10-week trip.

Onward Program students typically are nontraditional students who otherwise would not be admitted into a traditional four-year academic program. Onward provides selected students a preparatory year on campus to take refresher courses in math,
science, English and reading to hone their study skills before beginning first-year studies toward a bachelor’s degree.