A Public - Private Partnership to Increase Enrollment, Retention, and Diversity in Chemistry, Biology and Biochemistry

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Stonehill College is the only private four-year institution in the immediate vicinity of Brockton Massachusetts, an economically disadvantaged urban area south of Boston. Stonehill College is engaged in efforts to attract a larger and more diverse student population to its science programs. One of these efforts is a partnership with Massasoit Community College. Also located in Brockton, Massasoit Community College serves a highly diverse student population and has a growing science transfer track. Massasoit Community College is working to increase enrollments in biology, chemistry, and biochemistry, and to retain these students through graduation and/or transfer to 4-year baccalaureate programs in science, particularly Stonehill College. The Stonehill College - Massasoit Community College partnership is pursuing its goals of increased STEM enrollments and graduation rates in chemistry, biology, and biochemistry through six coordinated initiatives. These initiatives are (1) developing a theme-based General Chemistry curriculum, (2) providing enhanced research experiences for faculty and students, (3) launching mentoring programs, (4) introducing a Science Summer Bridge Program for incoming first-year students, (5) fostering early exposure to science career paths, and (6) providing access to college laboratories for AP Chemistry and Biology courses. Intellectual Merit: This project is grounded in effective practices in promoting increased student participation in the sciences, for example, curricular reforms that will impact all science majors, and focused initiatives targeting underrepresented students and community college transfers. Stonehill College has an established commitment to a discovery-based approach to learning science, and to collaborative student-faculty summer research, both of which are central to this STEP project. Massasoit Community College has had success in serving underrepresented and low-income students through a commitment to hiring research-active Ph.D. scientists and its related efforts to improve science advising. By sharing their laboratory resources and expertise with local high schools, many of whom cannot comply with rigorous AP lab standards, Stonehill and Massasoit Colleges are facilitating increased and improved AP science offerings, and exposing high school students to the collegiate science environment, two important gateways to science for promising high school students. The Stonehill - Massasoit STEP Partnership is also engaged in capacity building. Stonehill College is sharing its curriculum, research, and career exploration resources with Massasoit Community College, and is assisting Massasoit Community College in strengthening its own mentoring, research, and outreach capacities beyond what is typically possible for community colleges. This increased capacity is expected to have a strong impact on recruiting and retaining science transfer-track students at Massasoit well beyond the grant period, and it is expected to assist their faculty and students to secure grant funding from a wider range of sources, including NSF.Broader Impact: The Stonehill - Massasoit Science Partnership can serve as a model to stimulate greater cooperation between private four-year institutions and community colleges toward preparing a larger and more diverse science workforce.