The Biology, Coastal and Marine Science, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Neuroscience Scholarship Program

在NSF科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划的资助下，该项目将支持位于康涅狄格州费尔菲尔德的圣心大学（SHU）表现出经济需求的高成就，低收入学生。在五年的资助期间，该项目将资助56个年度奖学金，为两批七名学生提供四年的支持。 学者们将攻读普通生物学、海岸和海洋科学、分子和细胞生物学或神经科学的学士学位。该项目旨在确保来自较低社会经济背景的学生将有强大的教师和同伴关系，可以支持学习活动，从而提高学生的成绩和保留。这个S-STEM轨道2项目将实施以下活动：秋季前的方向，以生物学为重点的第一年研讨会课程，教师指导，同行领导的团队学习四门生物学课程，学习社区延伸到所有四年，研究经验，以及研究和职业“STEMinar”系列。以群体为基础的活动的学者，无论专业，将暴露学者的多样性的观点在生物科学中发现。SHU将进行一项研究，以调查学生教师和学生同伴的支持对成就，保留和毕业的影响。目标是招收14名学者，保留12个原来的14（86%），直到他们的大二，保留10个14（71%）通过毕业在四年内，并放置12个出14在干相关的职业或研究生院毕业后一年内。 离开该计划的学者将被替换。 该项目旨在加强与行业合作伙伴和研究生课程的现有关系，并培养新的关系。项目管理团队将获得和传播与在所有四年的学习中提供强有力的教师指导的影响有关的新知识，与通过实施对等网络增强对等关系相结合，领导团队学习被确定为损耗点的课程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响进行评估来支持审查标准。

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Sacred Heart University (SHU) in Fairfield, CT. Throughout its five years of funding, this project will fund 56 annual scholarships to provide four years of support for two cohorts of seven students. Scholars will be pursuing bachelor's degrees in general biology, coastal and marine science, molecular and cellular biology, or neuroscience. The project is designed to ensure that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds will have strong faculty and peer relationships that can support learning activities, thus improving student achievement and retention. This S-STEM Track 2 project will implement the following activities: a pre-fall orientation, biology-focused first-year seminar courses, faculty mentoring, peer-led team learning in four biology courses, learning communities that extend throughout all four years, research experiences, and a research and career "STEMinar" series. Cohort-based activities for the scholars, regardless of major, will expose the scholars to the diversity of perspectives found in the biological sciences. SHU will conduct a research study to investigate the effects of student-faculty and student-peer support on achievement, retention, and graduation. The objectives are to enroll 14 scholars, retain 12 of the original 14 (86%) until their sophomore year, retain 10 of the 14 (71%) through graduation in four years, and place 12 out of 14 in STEM-related careers or graduate school within one year of graduation. Scholars who leave the program will be replaced. The project aims to strengthen existing relationships with industry partners and graduate programs, and to foster new ones. The project management team will gain and disseminate new knowledge related to the impact of providing strong faculty mentoring across all four years of study, combined with enhanced peer relationships through the implementation of peer-led team learning in courses that are identified attrition points.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.