Encouraging academically strong students from 2 year colleges toward baccalareate degrees in STEM disciplines

Juniata学院是宾夕法尼亚州一所备受推崇的文科学院，该学院正在利用其S-STEM奖，让社区大学转学学生在攻读STEM专业的同时，能够在Juniata大学的最后两年进入Juniata学习。成本和招生要求使得这种转学很少见，但在S-STEM奖学金的帮助下，通过在当地社区大学的积极招聘(Juniata与Juniata有转学协议)，PI和他的团队找到了成绩优异的STEM学生，邀请他们在申请入学时申请奖学金。代表不同背景和族裔的这类学生的存在加强了对所有学生的教育。丰富的支持系统和指导确保了奖学金获得者被纳入校园社区，而联合课程活动，其中一些是专门为奖学金获得者举办的，有助于留住他们在STEM专业为他们的科学生涯做准备。在三年级和四年级之间的暑期，学者们参加暑期本科生研究计划，这是大多数计划在STEM招生和留住方面取得成功的一个关键特征。在五年的助学金中，大约24名学生将被分成四组，每组6名学生。除了让这些学生为STEM职业生涯做好准备外，与社区大学转学学生合作的挑战和机遇的经历将为他们提供可以广泛分享的建议和教学方面的信息。

Juniata College, a highly regarded liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, is using its S-STEM award to make it possible for community college transfer students to attend Juniata for their last two years of college while studying for STEM majors. Cost and admissions requirements make such transfers rare, but with the assistance of S-STEM scholarships and through active recruiting at local community colleges, with which Juniata has transfer agreements, the PI and his team identify high achieving STEM students inviting them to apply for scholarships as they apply for admission. The presence of such students representing a diversity of backgrounds and ethnicities enhances the education of all students. A wealth of support systems and mentoring ensures that the Scholars are included in the campus community, while co-curricular events, some specifically for the Scholars, help to retain them in their STEM major preparing them for scientific careers. In the summer between the junior and senior year, Scholars participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, a key feature of most programs showing success in STEM recruitment and retention. Over the five years of the grant, about 24 students will become Scholars in four cohorts of 6 students each. In addition to preparing these students for STEM careers, the experiences of the challenges and opportunities of working with community college transfer students will inform aspects of advising and pedagogy that can be widely shared.