GP-Impact: Freshman Year to Geoscience Career

“从大学一年级到地球科学生涯”项目致力于实现招募、留住和培养科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学科的下一代劳动力这一重要的国家目标，特别注重增加地球科学的多样性。今天，近45%的大学生在社区大学开始他们的本科教育；对于代表不足的少数族裔(URM)大学生来说，社区大学的起点更大(54%)。这些学生在地球科学领域的代表性往往不足，在学术上准备不足，并且由于社会经济地位和家庭责任而背负着独特的障碍。很少有人知道地球科学是一种可能的职业。如果这些学生成功转入学士学位课程，他们往往会因为数学准备不足和缺少先决条件，以及为了养活自己和家人而每周工作20-40个小时的普遍需要而推迟完成学位。许多人退出了申请，要么是因为他们无法完成严格的学位要求，要么是因为他们感到被孤立，并有一种“不归属感”。即使他们完成了学位，这些学生中的许多人也是他们家族中第一个上大学的人，他们几乎不知道如何以及何时为毕业后的事情做计划。为了解决这些障碍，该项目正在创建一条从学生选择大学专业到S进入研究生院或作为地球科学家就业的无缝、支持性道路。纽约城市大学(CUNY)系统中的四年制大学皇后学院(Queens College)与拉瓜迪亚和昆斯伯勒社区学院之间的多校区合作伙伴关系，确保了来自不同种族和经济背景的学生的帮助，无论他们是从哪里进入教育渠道的。这一努力中的创新策略解决了学生在四个关键点上的过渡，在这些关键点上，学生做出或确认是选择从事地质学或环境科学，还是退出STEM：1)在社区大学开始地球科学职业道路；2)从两年制转到四年制大学；3)完成严格的地球科学专业；以及4)过渡到研究生院或地球科学工作。通过社区学院的定制讲习班和外联活动，学生们正在培养从事科学职业所需的技能，并获得有关地球科学领域职业选择和工资的信息。所有三个校区的同行和教职员工协调一致地进行多校区招聘，并提供建议，帮助学生做出战略性的课程选择，更好地符合这家四年制院校的学位要求。一个覆盖所有三个校区的独特的地球科学学习社区正在帮助实现从两年制到四年制的无缝过渡。新专业的学生有机会在学年之前和整个学年在学术(座谈、实地考察)和社交活动中与皇后学院校园的高级学生和教职员工打成一片。到他们从社区大学转学的时候，学生们已经知道了皇后区的教职员工和完成学位的最佳途径。提供适中的津贴，为优秀学生提供地学服务-学习文化，省去了与他们的职业目标无关的校外工作的往返路程。助学金获得者在入门课程中担任助教和导师，帮助他人理解基本概念，同时加深自己的理解。一些辅导员将成为下一代地球科学专业的学生和导师。由于微积分在全国范围内被认为是取得地学学位的主要障碍之一，皇后学院发起的培训学生成为高中数学教师的活动《时代2000》(Time 2000)提供免费辅导。为了更好地为学生毕业后的生活做好准备，该项目从大一开始提供一系列研讨会，帮助个人选择工作或研究生院；撰写简历、个人陈述和申请信；这个项目的主要智力价值是测试两种提高学生参与度、学习成绩和留存能力的创新模式：1)覆盖三个城市校园-两个副校区(社区学院)和一个学士-硕士学院-的独特的特定学科学习社区，以及2)服务学习方法，吸引学生参与，消除或减少经济困难的地学专业学生在校外工作的需要，这些工作与他们的专业目标无关。虽然“从大一到地球科学生涯”项目是专门为增加参与的城市大学系统校园的地球科学学生的数量和多样性而设计的，但它解决的问题是地方性的，它提供的解决方案可以作为所有学术机构和学科的典范。

The "Freshman Year To Geoscience Career" project addresses the important national goal of recruiting, retaining, and preparing the next generation workforce in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, with specific focus on increasing diversity in the geosciences. Today, nearly 45% of all college students begin their undergraduate education at a community college; for underrepresented minority (URM) college students, the community college starting point is even larger (54%). These students are often underrepresented in the geosciences, underprepared academically, and burdened by unique obstacles due to socioeconomic status and family responsibilities. Few are aware of geoscience as a possible career. If these students transfer successfully into a bachelor's degree program, they are often delayed in completion of their degrees because of inadequate math preparation and missing prerequisites, as well as the common necessity of working 20-40 hours/week to support themselves and their families. Many drop out of the pipeline, either because they are unable to complete the rigorous degree requirements or because they feel isolated and a sense of "not belonging." Even if they complete their degrees, many of these students are first in their families to go to college and have little idea of how and when to plan for what follows graduation. To address these obstacles, this project is creating a seamless, supportive path from the time a student chooses a college major to when s/he enters graduate school or employment as a geoscientist. This multi-campus partnership between Queens College, a 4-year college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, and LaGuardia and Queensborough Community Colleges guarantees help for students from unusually diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds, regardless of where they first enter the education pipeline. Innovative strategies in this effort address transitions at four key points at which students make or confirm the decision to pursue a career in Geology or Environmental Science, or to drop out of the STEM pipeline: 1) Starting a geoscience career path at a community college; 2) Transfer from a 2-year to 4-year college; 3) Completing a rigorous geoscience major; and 4) Transition to graduate school or geoscience employment. Through customized workshops and outreach at the community colleges, students are building the skills needed for a science career and being provided with information about career options and salaries in the geosciences. Coordinated multi-campus recruiting and advising by peers and faculty from all three campuses are helping students make strategic coursework choices that better articulate with the degree requirements at the 4-year institution. A unique geoscience learning community spanning all three campuses is helping to make the transition from 2-year to 4-year seamless. New majors have an opportunity to mingle with advanced students and faculty from the Queens College campuses before and throughout the academic year at academic (colloquia, field trips) and social events. By the time they transfer from their community college, students know the Queens faculty and the best path to degree completion. Modest stipends are being provided that make possible a geoscience service-learning culture for superior students, saving travel to and from off-campus jobs unrelated to their career goals. Stipend recipients serve as teaching aides and tutors in introductory courses, helping others understand basic concepts while deepening their own understanding. Some tutees will become the next generation of geoscience majors and tutors. Because calculus is known nationally as one of the major obstacles to completing a geoscience degree, free tutoring is being provided by Time 2000, a Queens College initiative that trains students to become high school math teachers. To better prepare students for their lives after graduation, the project is offering a series of workshops, starting in the freshman year, that help individuals choose job or graduate school; write resumes, personal statements, and application letters; and learn interview skills.The principal intellectual merit of this project is to test two innovative models for improving student engagement, academic performance, and retention: 1) a unique discipline-specific learning community spanning three urban campuses - two Associates (community college) and one Bachelor's-Master's college, and 2) a service-learning approach to engaging students that removes or lessens the need of financially challenged geoscience majors to work off-campus at jobs unrelated to their professional goals. Although the "Freshman Year to Geoscience Career" project is designed specifically to increase the number and diversity of geoscience students at the participating CUNY system campuses, the problems it addresses are endemic and the solutions it offers can serve as a model across all academic institutions and disciplines.