GP-IMPACT: Engagement of Students and Faculty at Community Colleges to Enhance Recruitment to 4-Year Geoscience Programs

该项目旨在通过田纳西大学(UT)和三所社区学院之间的模式合作伙伴关系来满足美国扩大和多样化地球科学劳动力的需求，以提高从两年制社区学院转到四年制地球科学课程和地球科学职业生涯的学生的招生和成功程度。德克萨斯大学地球科学教员正与佩里西比州立大学、罗恩州立大学和田纳西州东部和中部的志愿者州立社区学院的地球科学教员合作，提供丰富的活动，包括户外体验学习和协作研究，这些活动将提高人们对地球科学作为专业和职业的兴趣。充实活动包括来自这两类机构的学生和教职员工，以及德克萨斯大学新近毕业的地球科学毕业生。这些活动正在帮助社区大学生建立支持网络，以减少在转到大型州立大学时经常遇到的社会障碍。德克萨斯大学的教师导师正在为社区学院的学生提供转学课程方面的建议，并将他们与研究和实习机会联系起来。该项目预计将导致德克萨斯大学四年制地球科学项目的学生群体更加多样化，因为合作社区学院的学生群体更加多样化。与德克萨斯大学相比，这些大学的第一代大学生、农村学生和非裔美国学生的比例通常更高。该项目还可能为转学学生带来更大的职业成功和经济利益，因为对专业地球科学家的需求很大，而且这些职位提供的工资相对较高。该项目预计将成为主要研究型大学和社区学院之间其他伙伴关系的典范；正在广泛分享经验教训，以鼓励和加强其他机构和其他科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学科的类似伙伴关系。这一模式伙伴关系的目标是：a)增加德州大学转学地球科学专业(地质学和自然地理学)的社区大学生的数量；b)提高德州大学转学学生的成功率，让他们对地球科学教育和职业充满热情，并在转学前提供更高水平的大学指导；c)通过从地区社区学院更多样化的学生中有效地招募学生，增加德州大学4年制地球科学项目的多样性。德克萨斯大学的教职员工正在与他们的社区大学合作伙伴合作，在大一期间招募地质学入门课程的学生。每年夏天，大约15名社区大学学生和5名德克萨斯大学学生被邀请与合作机构的教职员工一起参加在特雷蒙特的大烟山研究所举行的为期5天的住宅野外地球科学研讨会。工作坊包括地学主题的体验式学习活动，预计将引起新生的共鸣，包括水质、化石、山体滑坡、气象学和气候变化。参加暑期工作坊的学生将被邀请在二年级参加额外的充实活动。其中包括对该地区具有重要地质意义的地点的实地考察和对德克萨斯大学的访问，在那里，社区大学的学生有机会会见同行，参观研究实验室，并被指派为教师导师。导师提供有关课程转移、奖学金和职业前景的信息，并帮助安排在德克萨斯大学、社区学院或其他地点的研究或实习机会，如橡树岭国家实验室。通过这个项目，社区学院获得了丰富的资金，并获得了德克萨斯大学的实验室和设备，用于合作进行学生研究。德克萨斯大学和社区学院的教职员工也在与管理人员合作，改进转学程序和跟踪社区学院转学学生成功与否的方法。该项目与德克萨斯大学正在进行的改善转学学生成功衡量标准的机构数据不谋而合。教员参与者正在指导这项工作，以确保收集和提交汇总的机构数据的格式可供各系在规划课程修订和制定更有效的指导方法时使用。改善转学程序的努力，以及德克萨斯大学和社区学院教职员工之间预计将发展的个人和专业联系，将确保该项目的影响超出资金期限，并导致持久的制度变革。评估活动将有助于建立证据基础，说明哪些做法最有效地发展合作伙伴关系，以改善社区大学学生的招生、转学和四年制地球科学项目的成功。

This project addresses the need to expand and diversify the geoscience workforce in the United States by developing a model partnership between the University of Tennessee (UT) and three community colleges to improve recruiting and success of students transferring from 2-year community colleges to 4-year geoscience programs and geoscience careers. UT geoscience faculty are partnering with geoscience faculty at Pellissippi State, Roane State, and Volunteer State Community Colleges in east and middle Tennessee to offer enrichment activities, including outdoor experiential learning and collaborative research that will boost interest in the geosciences as a major and a career. Enrichment activities include students and faculty from both types of institutions, along with recent geoscience graduates from UT. These activities are helping community college students develop support networks that can reduce the social barriers that are often encountered when transferring to a large state university. Faculty mentors at UT are advising community college students on transfer courses and connecting them with research and internship opportunities. This project is expected to lead to greater diversity in student populations in 4-year geoscience programs at UT because of the more diverse student body found at the partner community colleges. The colleges typically have higher percentages of first-generation college students, rural students, and African-American students than UT. The project may also lead to greater career success and economic benefits for transfer students, because of the strong demand for professional geoscientists and the relatively high salaries offered for these positions. The project is expected to serve as a model for other partnerships between major research universities and community colleges; lessons learned are being shared widely to encourage and strengthen similar partnerships at other institutions and in other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. The goals of this model partnership are to: a) increase the number of community college students transferring to geoscience programs (Geology and Physical Geography) at UT; b) improve the rate of success of transfer students at UT, by getting them excited about geoscience education and careers, and providing a higher level of university mentoring prior to their transfer; and c) increase diversity in the 4-year geoscience programs at UT, through effective recruiting from the more diverse pools of students that attend area community colleges. UT faculty are working with their community college partners to recruit students from introductory geology courses during their freshman year. Approximately 15 community college students and 5 UT students are invited to participate with faculty from the partner institutions in a 5-day residential field geoscience workshop at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont each summer. The workshop includes experiential learning activities on geoscience topics that are expected to resonate with freshman students, including water quality, fossils, landslides, meteorology, and climate change. Students who are engaged in the summer workshops are invited to participate in additional enrichment activities during their sophomore year. These include field trips to geologically significant sites in the region and visits to UT, where community college students have opportunities to meet peers, tour research labs, and be assigned a faculty mentor. Mentors provide information on course transfers, scholarships, and career prospects, as well as help arrange research or internship opportunities at UT, at the community colleges, or at other locations, such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Through this project, the community colleges are receiving enrichment funds and access to UT labs and equipment for collaborative student research. UT and community college faculty are also working with administrators to improve transfer procedures and methods of tracking success of community college transfer students. The project coincides with ongoing efforts at UT to improve institutional data on metrics of success for transfer students. Faculty participants are guiding this effort to ensure that aggregated institutional data are collected and presented in formats that can be used by departments in planning revisions of curricula and in developing more effective mentoring methods. The efforts to improve the procedures for transfer students, together with the personal and professional ties that are expected to develop between UT and community college faculty members, will ensure that the impact of the project extends beyond the duration of funding and leads to enduring institutional change. Evaluation activities will help build the evidence base regarding what practices are most effective for developing partnerships to improve community college student recruitment, transfer and success in 4-year geoscience programs.