Cardinal Science Scholars: Enhancing Student Opportunities and Retention

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The project at Otterbein College is providing scholarships and enhanced academic and co-curricular experiences to students majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Physics. Fourteen scholars, who entered as first-year students, are receiving four years of support and fourteen scholars are receiving two years of support following their transfer to Otterbein after completing a 2-year program at a regional community college. Scholars, selected based on both previous academic experience, and an on-campus interview, are participating in an active learning community whose components include a three day-long summer immersion experience, programming with the Center for Career Planning, residence in a living-learning house, a focused seminar program, and a mentoring triad which includes a peer, a faculty member, and a STEM professional. All S-STEM scholars are eligible for a paid summer research experience as an explicit part of the program designed to help students maintain an interest in STEM fields, improve the likelihood they will earn higher GPAs and persist in the major. The project, through its recruiting strategies with local high schools, is leading to greater retention in STEM majors and access to STEM careers for students from groups traditionally underrepresented in chemistry, particularly first-generation college students.