Collaborative Research: Motivated Engineering Transfers -- STEM Talent Expansion Program (METSTEP)

该项目是一所四年制学校(亚利桑那州立大学)和五所非大都市支线学校(亚利桑那州西部学院、亚利桑那州中部学院、科奇斯学院、亚利桑那州东部学院和莫哈德社区学院)共同努力的结果。该团队正在努力大幅增加工程和计算机科学专业的转学学生数量，特别是女性和代表性不足的少数族裔学生。为了实现这一目标，他们是：1)向支线学校的学生提供奖学金并转移到亚利桑那州立大学，2)支持支线学校的学生外展活动，3)通过提供材料、辅导、当地工程演讲者和学费奖学金来支持支线学校的工程课程，4)在支线学校为学生和他们的父母举办“成为一名工程师”活动，5)使用现场广播和录像带提供课程、讲习班和研讨会，6)为所有学生提供具有丰富经验和承诺的参与式导师社区，7)在亚利桑那州立大学为工程转移学生举办迎新活动，8)管理一个中心，在那里，工程转学学生可以一起学习，并获得生存所需的支持；9)通过久经考验的“职业塑造”学术奖学金研讨会计划，与转学学生合作。该项目是在亚利桑那州立大学和一系列目标相似的大都市社区学院之间早先成功的项目的基础上进行的。评价工作涉及形成性和结束性两个方面，由内部和外部评价人员进行，他们正在制定和监测入学、坚持和毕业的指标。更广泛的影响包括开发和传播社区学院和四年制学校之间的合作模式，以及努力增加从事工程工作的妇女和少数族裔的人数。

The project is a collaborative effort between a four-year school (Arizona State University) and five non-metropolitan feeder schools (Arizona Western College, Central Arizona College, Cochise College, Eastern Arizona College, and Mohave Community College). The team is working to significantly increase the number of transfer students, especially women and underrepresented minority students, that graduate in engineering and computer science. In order to accomplish this, they are: 1) providing scholarships to students in the feeder schools and to transfer students at Arizona State University , 2) supporting student outreach activities at the feeder schools, 3) supporting engineering courses at the feeder schools by providing materials, tutoring, local engineering speakers, and tuition scholarships, 4) conducting "Be an Engineer" events at the feeder schools for both students and their parents, 5) providing classes, workshops, and seminars using live broadcast and videotape, 6) providing an engaged community of mentors with extensive experience and commitment for all students, 7) hosting an orientation at Arizona State University for engineering transfer students, 8) managing a center where engineering transfer students can study together and get the support needed to survive, and 9) working with transfer students through a time-tested "career shaping" academic scholarship workshop program. The project is building on an earlier successful program between Arizona State University and a set of metropolitan community colleges with similar goals. Evaluation efforts, involving formative and summative aspects, are being conducted by internal and external evaluators who are developing and monitoring indices for enrollment, persistence, and graduation. Broader impacts include the development and dissemination of models for collaboration between community colleges and four-year schools and the efforts to increase the number of women and minorities in engineering.