Achieving Change in our Communities for Equity and Student Success (ACCESS) in STEM

从科学，技术，工程和数学（S-STEM）轨道1计划的NSF奖学金的资金，在我们的社区实现平等和学生成功（访问）在STEM计划的变化将招募高成就，低收入的学生成为STEM专业在华盛顿大学在塔科马。该计划将通过提供有针对性的指导，生活学习社区，基于课程的本科生研究经验以及两年的有针对性的奖学金支持来支持36名学生的保留和学术成功。指导活动将包括三个12人队列中的小组和一对一教师指导，技能研讨会以及关于STEM公平和包容的焦点小组，以帮助培养社区意识，身份认同和赋权。总的来说，该ACCESS计划将提供支持和经验，使更多低收入，学术成就高的学生毕业于STEM学位，为劳动力队伍带来有才华和熟练的专业人士。此外，利用他们增加的文化能力，访问研究经验将吸引学生在一个跨学科的，社区使用的环境污染影响当地美洲原住民部落的启发研究。其目的是准备访问学者，以帮助将STEM工作场所转变为一个更具包容性和热情的环境。该项目团队将定量和定性评估公平和包容性为重点的指导，这是与社区参与，社会相关，早期研究经验相结合的有效性。 这项研究的结果可能会告知其他机构寻求支持低收入学生在STEM的成功。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Track 1 program, the Achieving Change in our Communities for Equity and Student Success (ACCESS) in STEM program will recruit high-achieving, low-income students to become STEM majors at the University of Washington at Tacoma. The program will support the retention and academic success of 36 students by providing focused mentoring, a living-learning community, course-based undergraduate research experiences, and two years of targeted scholarship support. Mentoring activities will include group and one-on-one faculty mentoring in three 12-person cohorts, skills workshops, and a focus group on equity and inclusion in STEM to help develop a sense of community, identity, and empowerment. Taken together, this ACCESS program will provide supports and experiences that enable more low-income, academically high achieving students to graduate with STEM degrees, bringing a pipeline of talented and skilled professionals into the workforce. In addition, using their increased cultural competencies, the ACCESS research experience will engage students in an interdisciplinary, community-use inspired study of environmental pollution that affects a local Native American tribe. The aim is to prepare ACCESS scholars to help transform the STEM workplace into a more inclusive and welcoming environment. The program team will quantitatively and qualitatively assess the effectiveness of equity- and inclusivity-focused mentoring, that is coupled with community-engaged, socially relevant, early research experiences. The results of this research may inform other institutions seeking to support the success of low-income students in STEM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.