Building Capacity: Improving STEM Graduation Rates through Engaged Learning

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With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to increase the number of underrepresented minority and low-income students who earn STEM bachelor's degrees from the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL), an HSI designated institution. In metropolitan Houston, with its high concentration of aerospace, petroleum, and biomedical employers, approximately one-third of jobs are in STEM fields. Houston ranks among the nation's top cities for job growth and for STEM workers. Over the past decade, Houston employers in growing STEM fields relied heavily on recruiting workers from other states and countries, citing a lack of qualified local residents. Despite the abundance of career opportunities in STEM fields, underrepresented minority and low-income students are not obtaining STEM degrees at a rate that keeps pace with the demand for qualified employees. This project will develop new student support infrastructures and create new opportunities for engagement in STEM research and professional activities. Expected outcomes include more students who successfully complete STEM gateway courses on their first attempt, increased retention in STEM majors, and improved STEM graduation rates. UHCL proposes an ambitious five-year project to address two Track 1 priorities. Evidence-based activities will address "Critical Transitions" by developing new support infrastructures for transfer students from two-year institutions and students enrolled in gateway courses. The project will address "Innovative Cross-Sector Partnerships" by collaborating with the UHCL Office of Strategic Partnerships to develop student research opportunities, internships, and career mentoring with leading regional companies in the aerospace, biomedical, petrochemical, and technology sectors. The project has three goals: (1) Use targeted outreach efforts, pre-college programming, and scholarships to attract new students to STEM majors; (2) Use social and academic support services to increase the retention of students enrolled in STEM majors; and (3) Use academic support services and data to increase the number of graduates in STEM majors. Proposed interventions include collaborative learning centers, mentoring, student organizations, student-led research, and financial support. This project examines the impact of these interventions on producing a qualified, diverse STEM workforce with the research skills, the communication skills, and the networking skills necessary to be successful in STEM careers. Data collected from each of the activities will be used to answer four research questions: (1) What is the impact of proactive interventions on retention and graduation for transfer students in STEM fields; (2) What is the impact of proactive interventions on retention and graduation for college students in STEM fields; (3) What forms of ongoing academic and social support yield higher retention and graduation rates for students in STEM fields; (4) What forms of career preparation produce higher placement rates in the STEM workforce. Project activities will be extensively evaluated with quantitative and qualitative data collected throughout the program's implementation. Project results and best practices will be disseminated via conference presentations, peer-reviewed journal publications, and formal and informal events each year so that elements can be replicated at other institutions. The National Science Foundation HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these goals.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.