Financial, Mentoring, Curricular, and Co-Curricular Supports to Increase Student Completion of Transfer Degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and Earth Science

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The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. This project at Spokane Community College will provide financial, academic, and professional support to 36 high achieving, low-income students, with emphasis on students from rural high schools. The students will be enrolled in associate degree transfer programs in biology, chemistry, or earth science. The need for more college graduates in STEM fields is well documented, yet many students who enter college interested in these subjects fail to graduate. In addition to providing financial support, this project will engage these students in activities designed to increase their success at Spokane Community College and matriculation to a four year college to pursue a bachelor's degree in STEM. Activities will include dedicated academic advising, tutoring, peer and professional mentoring, undergraduate research, guided career exploration, and community service. A collaboration with Washington State University College of Education will provide insight into effective interventions for increasing STEM student success rates, thus helping the project meet its goals. This collaboration will also explore which approaches contribute to STEM student success at community and four year colleges. It is expected that this project will support students' academic goals and help to meet regional business and industry workforce needs. The project will use multiple strategies to improve the systemic recruitment of high achieving, low-income students and guide their successful completion of a two-year transfer college degree in the sciences. Scholarships provided through this project will provide the economic means for students to focus on their academic goals. These scholarships, in combination with advising/mentoring by STEM faculty and curricular/co-curricular supports will increase student success as measured by the scholars' persistence and completion of transfer degrees in biological sciences, chemistry, and earth science. Results of the program evaluation studies will provide insights to drive changes in institutional practice that will improve Spokane Community College's future success in recruiting academically talented low-income students and supporting completion of STEM transfer degrees. The knowledge acquired through this program will be disseminated through publications and presentations to further the national goal of increasing STEM student success, particularly among low-income students.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.