An Integrated Achievement and Mentoring Model for Student Success

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With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the Integrated Achievement and Mentoring (iAM) Program for Student Success is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Hofstra University. The project is funding 20 scholarships over 5 years for students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Biology and Chemistry. Eligible participants are students who were accepted initially because of their high achieving performance in high school but then came to underperform in the first term at Hofstra which is a common occurrence in STEM disciplines. The significance of the iAM program is that it proposes an intervention prior to a critical, self-identified attrition point occurring at the end of the first year to enable these talented students to overcome the initial difficulties. The iAM program addresses three factors critical to retention: academic achievement, academic and social integration, and unmet financial need. The iAM program has four goals: increase graduation and career entry of academically talented STEM students who initially underperform in college; further understand curricular and co-curricular factors that contribute to student motivation and success; evaluate the adaptability and transferability of the iAM model across Hofstra and to other institutions; institutionalize sustainable, high impact practices beyond the term of the S-STEM award. Core programming elements of the iAM program are: hierarchical mentoring, integrated student support services, a STEM-focused writing and metacognition seminar, and STEM professional networking panels. Quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to understand the characteristics of the institutional academic and social environment affecting student retention and success. Data will be gathered using an array of tools including: focus groups and interviews, surveys, student and faculty reflections, and ePortfolios of student academic work. A holistic analysis of the overall benefits and adaptability of the iAM program across institution types and context will also be performed. Results will be widely disseminated across STEM education forums.