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

该项目通过在田纳西大学（UT）和三所社区学院之间建立模范伙伴关系，解决了扩大和多样化美国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项目和地球科学职业的学生的入学率和成功率。德克萨斯大学地球科学学院正在与田纳西州东部和中部的佩里西比州立大学、罗恩州立大学和志愿州立社区学院的地球科学学院合作，提供丰富的活动，包括户外体验学习和合作研究，这将提高人们对地球科学作为专业和职业的兴趣。丰富的活动包括来自这两种机构的学生和教师，以及最近从德克萨斯大学地球科学专业毕业的学生。这些活动正在帮助社区大学的学生建立支持网络，以减少在转到大型州立大学时经常遇到的社会障碍。德州大学的教师导师为社区大学的学生提供转学课程的建议，并为他们提供研究和实习机会。由于合作社区学院的学生群体更加多样化，该项目预计将使德克萨斯大学四年制地球科学课程的学生群体更加多样化。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高于德州大学。该项目还可能为转校生带来更大的职业成功和经济效益，因为专业地球科学家的需求强劲，而且这些职位的工资相对较高。预计该项目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。这种合作模式的目标是：a)增加社区大学生转到德州大学地球科学专业（地质和自然地理）的人数；b)提高德州大学转学生的成功率，让他们对地球科学教育和职业感到兴奋，并在转学生之前提供更高水平的大学指导；c)通过有效地从地区社区大学的更多样化的学生中招募学生，增加德克萨斯大学四年制地球科学项目的多样性。德州大学的教职员工正与社区学院的合作伙伴合作，在大一期间招收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师一起参加在Tremont大烟山研究所举行的为期5天的实地地球科学研讨会。工作坊包括地球科学主题的体验式学习活动，预计会引起新生的共鸣，包括水质、化石、滑坡、气象和气候变化。参加暑期工作坊的学生在二年级时被邀请参加额外的丰富活动。这些活动包括实地考察该地区具有重要地质意义的地点，访问德克萨斯大学，在那里，社区大学生有机会结识同龄人，参观研究实验室，并被分配一位教师导师。导师提供有关课程转学、奖学金和职业前景的信息，并帮助安排在德州大学、社区学院或其他地点（如橡树岭国家实验室）的研究或实习机会。通过这个项目，社区学院获得了丰富的资金，并可以使用德克萨斯大学的实验室和设备进行学生合作研究。德州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校生成功与否的方法。该项目恰逢德克萨斯大学正在努力改善转校生成功指标的机构数据。教员参与人员正在指导这项工作，以确保收集机构的汇总数据，并以各系在规划课程修订和制定更有效的指导方法时可以使用的格式提出。改进转学生程序的努力，以及德克萨斯大学和社区学院教师之间预期发展的个人和专业联系，将确保项目的影响超出资助期限，并导致持久的制度变革。评估活动将有助于建立证据基础，了解哪些做法最有效地发展伙伴关系，以改善社区大学四年制地球科学课程的学生招募、转学和成功。

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.