Student Tuition Aid for Research and Transfer in Urban Polynesia (START UP)

在夏威夷大学(UH)卡皮奥拉尼社区学院(KCC)，Start奖学金支持学院的双重使命，即为自然科学副学士(ASNS)项目的学生做好准备，以满足严格的学位要求，继续完成学士学位要求，并在州经济多元化的情况下满足高标准的就业。KCC Start正在朝着四个雄心勃勃的主要目标前进：1)在5年内向100名有学业天赋和经济困难的STEM学生提供1-3年的奖学金；2)支持/培育所有S-STEM学生取得令人满意的年度进步；3)将资助参与率和项目成功率从大约60%提高到90%；以及4)将ASNS学位学生的数量从86人增加到300人，其中65人完成ASNS学位和/或转到学士学位课程。奖学金申请者的招聘战略包括一个暑期桥项目，该项目为夏威夷原住民、代表不足的学生和其他有才华的11年级和12年级学生提供STEM丰富活动。奖学金遴选采用严格的GPA和学术进步标准，每年聘用生物、物理科学和工程学方面的六名STEM教员。为初创学者提供的支持活动包括STEM学习中心、同行指导、就业安置服务、本科生研究经验和社区服务机会，以及工程学、生态学、生物技术和人类生理学的STEM正式转学途径。这些确保初创企业学者学术成功的活动和战略利用了NSF资助的其他项目以及额外的联邦和州投资的运营模式和基础设施。创业计划使KCC继续成为科学人才的有效孵化器，特别是夏威夷原住民和STEM中其他代表性不足的学生，他们在学业上有天赋，在经济上处于不利地位。

At Kapiolani Community College (KCC), University of Hawaii (UH), START UP scholarships support the College's dual mission to prepare students in an Associate in Science in Natural Science (ASNS) program to meet rigorous degree requirements, go on to complete baccalaureate degree requirements, and meet high employment standards in a diversifying state economy. KCC START UP is making progress towards four ambitious, major goals: to 1) provide scholarships of 1-3 years in duration to 100 academically talented and financially needy STEM students over five years; 2) to support/nurture all S-STEM students to make satisfactory annual progress; 3) to increase financial aid participation and program success rates from approximately 60 to 90 percent; and 4) to increase the number of ASNS degree students from 86 to 300, with 65 completing the ASNS degree and/or transferring to baccalaureate degree programs. Recruitment strategies for scholarship applicants include a summer bridge program that provides STEM enrichment activities for Native Hawaiian, underrepresented, and other talented 11th and 12th grade students. Scholarship selection employs rigorous GPA and academic progress criteria and engages six STEM faculty members in the biological and physical sciences and engineering annually. Support activities for the START UP scholars as they pursue comprehensive STEM academic programs include a STEM learning center, peer mentoring, career placement services, opportunities for undergraduate research experiences and community service, and formalized STEM transfer pathways in engineering, ecology, biotechnology, and human physiology. These activities and strategies for ensuring academic success of START UP scholars leverage operational models and infrastructure from other NSF-funded projects, as well as from additional federal and state investments. The START UP program allows KCC to continue to be an effective incubator of science talent, particularly Native Hawaiians and other underrepresented students in STEM, who are academically talented and economically disadvantaged.