Collaborative Research: Exploring Sustainable Strategies to Support Success of STEM Students with Financial Need

在国家科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)计划的资助下，该项目将支持北肯塔基大学和费里斯州立大学表现出经济需求的高成就、低收入学生。在整个五年的资助期间，该项目将向288名独特的低收入高成就本科生提供平均2500美元的奖学金，分四个年度分组，每个机构36名学生。该项目将是两所规模相似但位置不同的公立大学的合作伙伴：北肯塔基大学位于一个人口超过200万的大都市地区，而费里斯州立大学位于密歇根州的一个农村地区，人口不到1.1万人，距离最近的城市地区几乎一个小时车程。该计划的目标是：将有经济需要的优秀学生的STEM招生人数增加10%；在一年级到二年级的过渡阶段实现90%的保留率；与STEM学科和整个大学的类似人群相比，提高S-STEM学者的留校率和毕业率，特别是那些在STEM中代表性不足的学生；记录北肯塔基大学干预措施的可持续性和可扩展性？S之前完成了国家科学基金会的资助；并确定跟踪STEM专业人员对S-STEM奖学金一到二年保留率的有效性。该项目将建立在成功完成三项国家科学基金资助的经验教训的基础上，这三项资助增加了获得STEM学位并进入STEM劳动力或研究生课程的低收入学术天赋学生的招生、留住和毕业。专业跟踪是一种经济高效、可扩展的干预措施。该项目将调查这一以前未经测试的干预措施是否会对STEM的保留产生重大的积极影响。项目奖学金获得者将参加迎新、新生研讨会、学习社区、创业教育以及联合课程和丰富机会。学者招聘将依赖于每所大学的传统招聘方法，并在低收入和代表性不足的学生人数众多的地区进行有针对性的招聘。学者将被指派给项目团队的一名导师。每位学者将分为两组：一组将包括共享学习社区的学生，其中将包括一些非项目学者的学生；另一组将专门针对项目学者，由12名学生组成，他们集体和单独会见同一名第一年的导师。为了测试专业跟踪的效果，每年一组12名一年级学生将在秋季影子；另一组12名一年级学者将在春季影子；第三组12名将不影子。辛辛那提大学评价服务中心将作为独立的外部评估者，以确定项目实现其目标的程度。在该项目的整个生命周期中，北肯塔基大学和费里斯州立大学都将在当地、全州和全国范围内传播“经验教训”。这一奖项反映了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 NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Northern Kentucky University and Ferris State University. Throughout its five years of funding, this project will provide scholarships averaging $2,500 to 288 unique low-income high-achieving undergraduates, in four annual cohorts of 36 students at each institution. This project will be a partnership between two similar-sized but differently situated public universities: Northern Kentucky University, located in a metropolitan region of more than two million people, and Ferris State University, located in a rural region of Michigan with a population of fewer than 11,000 people, almost one hour from the nearest urban area. The program aims to: Increase the STEM enrollment of high achieving students with financial need by 10%; Achieve a 90% retention rate in the transition from first to second year; Increase the retention and graduation rates of S-STEM scholars particularly those from underrepresented groups in STEM compared to similar populations in both STEM disciplines and the university as a whole; Document the sustainability and scalability of the interventions in Northern Kentucky University?s previously completed NSF grants; and Determine the effectiveness of shadowing STEM professionals on the first- to second-year retention rate of S-STEM Scholars.The project will build on the lessons learned from three successfully completed NSF grants that increased the recruitment, retention, and graduation of low-income academically-talented students who obtained degrees in STEM and entered the workforce or graduate programs in STEM. Professional shadowing is a cost-effective, scalable intervention. The project will investigate whether this previously untested intervention can have a significant, positive impact on STEM retention. Project scholars will participate in an orientation, a freshman seminar, a learning community, entrepreneurship education, and co-curricular and enrichment opportunities. Scholar recruitment will rely on each university's traditional recruiting methods augmented by targeted recruiting in areas with large populations of low-income and underrepresented students. Scholars will be assigned to a mentor from the project team. Each scholar will belong to two groups: one group will include the students in the shared learning community, which will include some students who are not project scholars; the other group will be exclusively for project scholars and will consist of 12 students who meet, collectively and individually, with the same first-year mentor. To test the efficacy of professional shadowing, each year a group of 12 first year Scholars will shadow in the fall; another group of 12 first year Scholars will shadow in the spring; and a third group of 12 will not shadow. The University of Cincinnati Evaluation Services Center will serve as the independent external evaluator to determine the extent to which the project achieves its objectives. Throughout the life of the project, both Northern Kentucky University and Ferris State University will disseminate "lessons learned" locally, statewide, and nationally.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.