SUCCESS-LEADERS: Leading Educational and Academic Directions to Enhance Retention in STEM

在国家科学基金会科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）计划的资助下，SUCCESS-LEADERS正在为低收入学生提供支持，这些学生表现出经济需求和学术承诺，以在联合学院的STEM学科中取得成功。这个S-STEM轨道2项目是资助超过五年谁是追求数学，科学，工程或计算机科学学士学位的学生共20名。该项目将从农村地区招生，并为来自资源不足的农村高中的学术天才学生提供奖学金。该项目将增加联合学院STEM专业进入学校的人数，并显着增加这些学生的保留;因此，更多的人将毕业并进入STEM劳动力市场。成功领导者学者将以几种不同的方式获得支持，包括获得行业经验，从事STEM领域的研究，以及属于一个社区，在大学期间为他们提供支持。主要研究人员将使用来自回顾性纵向研究的证据来评估联合学院先前和当前NSF S-STEM资助计划的长期影响，这些计划旨在留住科学和工程学科的风险人群。SUCCESS-LEADERS项目将通过开发，完善和实施以学习者为中心的做法，促进对影响低收入、高风险人群的保留和职业道路的因素的理解。成功的领导者学者将提供四年的奖学金援助和个性化的支持，以帮助通过满足他们的情况和背景独特的教育和财政需求取得成功。该项目的总体目标是：1）增加有经济需求的学术天才学生的申请和录取数量，主要来自资源不足的农村高中; 2）通过专门解决学术机会有限的学生所面临的挑战，提高这些学生在联盟STEM领域的保留和成功; 3）增加工程、物理、数学和计算机科学领域以及所有学科中代表性不足群体的女性数量; 4）为学生提供机会，以提高他们的教育，通过早期介绍研究机会，连接到行业和实习通过学院的行业导师计划，出国留学，领导力培训;以及5）通过促进富有成效的指导关系来改善本科生教育体验并促进专业发展，以解决和克服STEM中的典型流失领域。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, SUCCESS-LEADERS is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Union College. This S-STEM Track 2 project is funding a total of 20 students over five years who are pursing a bachelor's degree in Mathematics, Science, Engineering, or Computer Science. The project will recruit from rural areas and provide scholarships for academically-talented students from under-resourced, rural high schools. The project will increase the number of Union College's STEM majors coming into the school and increase significantly the retention of these students; thus many more will graduate and enter the STEM workforce. SUCCESS-LEADERS scholars will be supported in several different ways, including access to experiences in industry, working on research in STEM areas, and belonging to a community to support them during their college years. The principal investigators will use evidence from a retrospective longitudinal study to assess the long range impact of Union College's prior and current NSF S-STEM-funded initiatives designed to retain at-risk populations in science and engineering disciplines.The SUCCESS-LEADERS project will further strengthen Union College's curricular offerings and co-curricular enrichment programs in science and engineering by developing, refining and implementing learner-centered practices that advance understanding of the factors affecting retention and career pathways of low-income, at-risk populations. SUCCESS-LEADERS scholars will be provided four-years of scholarship aid and individualized support to help achieve success by meeting the educational and financial needs unique to their situation and background. The overall goals of the project are to: 1) increase the number of applications and admissions from academically-talented students with demonstrated financial need, drawing primarily from under-resourced, rural high schools; 2) improve retention and success of these students in STEM fields at Union by specifically addressing the challenges faced by students with limited academic opportunities; 3) increase the number of women in engineering, physics, mathematics and computer science, and underrepresented groups in all disciplines; 4) provide students with opportunities to enhance their education through early introduction to research opportunities, connections to industry and internships through the College's Industry Mentoring Program, study abroad, and leadership training; and 5) improve undergraduate educational experiences and promote professional advancement by facilitating fruitful mentoring relationships in order to address and overcome typical areas of attrition 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.