Strategies for Support of the STEP Program

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The STEM Talent Expansion Program (STEP) was initiated in FY2002 with the goal of increasing the number of students graduating with undergraduate degrees in STEM areas. The purpose of this project is to enhance the impact of STEP through activities in three primary areas: 1) conducting site visits to projects that may be in need of additional feedback or support, 2) developing an informational document suitable for distribution to external audiences regarding achievements in STEP, and 3) conducting three regional workshops per year aimed at faculty who might be interested in submitting a proposal to the program. Intellectual Merit The intellectual merit of the proposed project lies in development of a community of scholars engaged in STEP projects. Through the professional development workshops being conducted by this project, faculty and administrators across the country are learning about best practices in student recruitment and retention and will be able to apply these best practices on their home campuses. PIs who have participated in a site visit are able to make adjustments and improvements to their project to enhance the impact of their work. Broader Impacts STEP is essentially a program focused on broader impacts. Active STEP projects are focused on broadening the participation of undergraduate students in STEM fields, so improvements to individual projects have an overall positive impact in this area. The informational document being developed through this project serves to disseminate achievements from active STEP projects, to facilitate greater understanding of best practices in recruitment and retention of STEM students among STEM faculty, and to educate the broader scientific community about the challenges and successes in recruiting and retaining undergraduate students in STEM disciplines.