Academic Collaboration and Coordination model to Ensure Student Success in STEM (ACCESS STEM): A Partnership to Improve Recruitment, Retention, and Student Success

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This Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) Track 3 project, ACCESS STEM, addresses two critical attrition points for low income students trying to major in STEM: first-year retention and the transition of community college students to a four-year university. It also aims at improving student success in gateway mathematics courses. The project will recruit and support with scholarships at least 100 academically high-achieving, Pell-eligible students, of which 40 will start at a 4-year institution and 60 at Community College Institutions. ACCESS STEM's cornerstone is the strategic partnership between the ACCESS Institutions: St. Cloud State University (SCSU), Anoka Ramsey Community College, North Hennepin Community College, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and Ridgewater College. The project's retention and student success model will comprise a holistic student support services approach with interventions categorized under two intellectually cohesive systems of experiences: sense of belonging to institution and sense of belonging in STEM. It is expected that the early integration of career pathway exploration and preparation, coupled with a focus on interventions that promote a sense of belonging in STEM, will successfully prepare ACCESS STEM Scholars to meet regional and national STEM workforce demands. The ACCESS Institutions, as members of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the fifth largest public system of colleges and universities in the country, serve more students of modest financial means than anyone else in the state. The significance of this project is that it will bring opportunities to expand and strengthen the system's plan to create transfer pathways for baccalaureate completion. This expected outcome also responds to recent mandates from the State of Minnesota's legislature. The ACCESS STEM project will test the predictive power of an in-house sense of belonging index survey instrument to understand its association with retention and graduation. Qualitative research investigating why enhanced student support service interventions influence the sense of belonging and how interventions impact first-year retention at community colleges and four-year institutions will fill a knowledge gap to understand the nuances and complexities of STEM intervention programs for low income students. The project's innovative dissemination strategy involves creation of Community ACCESS STEM, a video journal series chronicling longitudinal reflections of ACCESS Scholars and Mentors on their STEM aspirations and sense of belonging to their institutions and to their chosen STEM majors. In addition, SCSU will also publish sense of belonging survey instruments, rubrics, and other publications.