Supporting Undergraduates for Careers in Computing and Engineering with Scholarships and Supervision

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The goal of the S-STEM project, Supporting Undergraduates for Careers in Computing and Engineering with Scholarships and Supervision (SUCCESS), will be to expand the STEM pool by providing scholarships to academically talented and financially needy entering freshmen or transferring regional community college students into Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). Project objectives will be to recruit at least 21 students as SUCCESS Scholars with majors in engineering and computer science at TAMU-CC and retain 100% of these students through graduation. In terms of the broader impacts, many of the students will likely be from underrepresented groups (reflecting regional population demographics), thereby increasing the diversity of the nation's professional workforce in these critical fields. Some may also pursue doctoral degrees and serve as role models for future STEM students. Texas ranks second nationally for Hispanics, who are 37% of its population, 60% in the region served by TAMU-CC; SUCCESS will be well-placed to bring Hispanics into ECS fields, where they are underrepresented. SUCCESS will recruit from regional high schools and community colleges with large Hispanic student populations.The five-year project will be designed as a recruitment tool providing each SUCCESS Scholar up to four years of funding, which may be augmented by other scholarships and financial aid. The project will retain scholars through a learning-community cohort experience within an existing infrastructure of student services (mentoring, academic advising, research opportunities, career counseling, professional development)augmented by support services tailored for freshmen and transfer students. Retention strategies will incorporate experiences of other TAMU-CC S-STEM projects. SUCCESS Scholars will be integrated into established student communities through participation in research, internships, mentoring, support activities, and campus professional organizations. SUCCESS evaluation strategies include both internal and external evaluations to determine programmatic adjustments (formative) to project strategies and summative information to determine the project's impact.