Financial and Academic Support for STEM Transfer Students

该项目将通过支持在埃尔姆赫斯特学院（Elmhurst College）有经济需要的高成就、低收入家庭学生的保留和毕业，为国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。该项目为期五年，将为60名攻读生物学、生物化学、化学、计算机科学、信息系统、数学或物理学学士学位的转学生提供两年奖学金。为了留住这些学生，该项目将为学生提供支持，包括在第一学期之前提供基于队列的夏季本科生研究经验，综合STEM转校生指导，同行和教师指导以及职业探索研讨会。夏季研究体验旨在为传统上不太可能参与本科研究的学生群体提供平等的研究体验。这些干预措施有望增加学生对STEM学习社区的归属感，使学生能够克服“转移冲击”并在学业上茁壮成长。由于埃尔姆赫斯特学院的地理位置和学生人口结构的变化，该项目有可能增加有才华的、多样化的STEM专业人士进入芝加哥地区的劳动力队伍。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目有三个具体目标：1)招收60名有学术天赋、经济需要的STEM专业转学生；2)在STEM专业项目中保留至少54名（90%）学者；3)将四年制毕业率提高到85%。为了最大限度地减少转学冲击，增加学者们的归属感，该项目将为每个学者群体提供一个基于暑期课程的本科研究经历，同时也有一个综合的STEM转学方向。它还将为学者提供同行指导和职业探索（STEM研讨会），以及其他支持服务，旨在增加转学生对STEM课程和专业的归属感。pi将评估项目干预（研究经验、同伴导师和STEM研讨会）是否集体和单独地为转学生带来归属感、学术成果和STEM职业成果。私立学校希望这些核心干预措施能够增加学生的归属感，从而提高学生的保留率和毕业率。因此，这个项目的结果有可能促进理解在多大程度上增加转校生的归属感会导致对STEM学科的更强的坚持。该项目将使用混合方法协议，利用现有数据、调查数据和焦点小组数据进行评估。该项目的研究结果将在全国范围内发表，并在同行评议的期刊上发表。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，旨在增加有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Elmhurst College. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund two-year scholarships to 60 transfer students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, information systems, mathematics, or physics. To retain these students, the project will provide student supports, including a cohort-based summer undergraduate research experience before their first semester, an integrated STEM transfer student orientation, peer and faculty mentoring, and career exploration seminars. The summer research experience aims to equalize research experiences for groups of students who are traditionally less likely to participate in undergraduate research. These interventions are expected to increase the students' sense of belonging to the STEM learning community, enabling students to overcome "transfer shock" and thrive academically. Because of Elmhurst College's location and the changing demographics of its student population, this project has the potential to increase the pipeline of talented, diverse STEM professionals entering the Chicago-area workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project has three specific aims: 1) Recruit 60 academically-talented transfer students with financial need who are majoring in STEM; 2) Retain at least 54 (90%) of these Scholars in STEM major programs; and 3) Increase their 4-year graduation rates to 85%. To minimize transfer shock and increase the Scholars' sense of belonging, the project will provide each Scholar cohort with a summer course-based undergraduate research experience that also has an integrated STEM transfer student orientation. It will also provide Scholars with peer mentoring and career exploration (STEMinars), and other support services designed to increase transfer students' sense of belonging in STEM courses and majors. The PIs will assess whether the project interventions (Research Experience, Peer Mentors, and STEMinar) collectively and individually lead to gains in belonging, academic outcomes, and STEM career outcomes for transfer students. The PIs expect that the core interventions will increase Scholar's sense of belonging, which in turn will result in increased retention and graduation rates. Thus, the results of this project have the potential to advance understanding of the extent to which increasing transfer students' sense of belonging leads to stronger persistence in STEM disciplines. The project will be evaluated using a mixed-methods protocol utilizing existing data, survey data, and focus group data. The results of this project will be presented nationally and published in peer-reviewed journals. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of 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.