Enabling Student Success through a Four-Year Seminar Series and S-STEM Scholars

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This NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) project will expand a highly successful graduation and retention program for chemistry majors to all STEM majors at the University of West Florida and develop a smaller cohort of 28 academically talented, low income students. The project will focus on student engagement in the context of (a) academic and social integration, (b) knowledge and skill development, (c) support and motivation, and (d) monitoring and advising. A key feature of the project is the new STEM for Life seminar series designed to prepare students for academic success and future careers. A systematic examination of the factors influencing STEM student retention at this regional, comprehensive institution, with a high percentage of commuter students, will be conducted using data collected as part of the project evaluation. The location of the institution in a county of low average income where only 26% of the population holds a bachelor's degree or higher provides an opportunity to decrease the local college attainment gap while at the same time addressing the national need to increase the number of American scientists. Using the College Strengths Inventory, the project team will create individual support and intervention plans that will be implemented and revised as needed throughout each student's college career. The STEM for Life seminar, which will serve as a platform for skill building and career readiness, will also be used to manage individual plan advisory discussions and goal setting. Outcomes evaluation will address the extent to which the project retention and graduation goals are met. Process evaluation will determine the extent to which the project is delivering high quality academic and social supports. Research will focus on understanding which set of S-STEM activities are most influential for student retention with an emphasis on the effectiveness of the seminar series. The research results will inform the institution's efforts to coordinate student development programs that use early identifiers and proactive interventions. The data will be disseminated at PKAL and Gordon conferences to bridge gaps in best practices designed for moderately selective, regional comprehensive state institutions with a high percentage of commuter and working STEM students.