Gateways to Success in Science, Mathematics and Computing

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This STEP Type 1A project is addressing issues of retention and success in science, mathematics, and computing. Based on extensive planning and examination of best practices the PI team is implementing improvements in several areas of the institution's programs, including use of collaborative learning materials, improved identification of at-risk students, introduction of a summer enrichment bridge program, and development of a new program to recruit underrepresented students. A particular emphasis taking place is the encouragement of more women and underrepresented minorities to pursue science degrees. Ambitious goals are envisioned to increase the number of science and mathematics majors by 150 per year and to double the annual number of underrepresented minority graduates with science and mathematics majors, from 55 to 110. Faculty development workshops are also being undertaken with particular attention to strengthening collaborations between a feeder two-year campus and the main institution. The intellectual merit of this project rests in the quality of its strategies and activities and in its formative and summative evaluation on i) changes to introductory courses, ii) academic support and mentoring, and iii) use of quantitative data on student performance and qualitative data from focus groups, to determine factors that influence retention in majors or persistence in career paths. The project is exercising broader impacts through its ambitious numerical goals for increasing the number of graduates in the sciences, mathematics, and computing, particularly among members of groups that remain underrepresented in STEM fields of study. Moreover, the project's approaches offer models for small teaching-intensive two-year institutions, as well as research intensive universities with a strong liberal arts tradition.