Scholarships with Integrated Academic, Mentoring, Career Development, and Wellness Supports to Increase STEM Degree Attainment of Rural Undergraduate Students

该项目将通过支持威尔逊学院表现出经济需求的高成就，低收入本科生的教育，保留和毕业，促进国家对受过良好教育的科学家的需求。威尔逊学院的大多数学生来自宾夕法尼亚州富兰克林县及其周边的农村和高度工业化地区。 该项目为期五年，将为21名攻读生物学、生物化学、化学和/或环境科学理学士学位的农村学生提供四年奖学金。除了财政支持外，该项目还将为学者提供额外的循证支持，包括：（1）通过引入新的每周STEM背诵课程提供学术支持，这些课程由同行导师教授，由学术成功中心提供研讨会，以及致力于提高应试技能和减轻压力和焦虑的重点课程;（2）同行指导和互动队列建设;（3）工作/职业发展，校友指导和实习机会;以及（4）强调健康和减轻压力。该项目将产生有关如何将健康，减压技术和时间管理技能的知识影响学术人才，农村STEM本科生的教育成果与未满足的经济需求。这个项目的意义在于它有可能招募和更好地教育来自宾夕法尼亚州农村的STEM学生，使他们成为具有更健康生活管理技能的有效科学专业人员。有效的战略也将在整个学院传播，从而加强机构和通知其他小型，私人研究机构在nations.The项目的目标是提高低收入，高成就的本科生与证明谁来自宾夕法尼亚州的农村，高度工业化地区的财政需要完成STEM学位。 本项目将研究健康和减压活动的整合如何作为农村大学生STEM教育体验的每周组成部分影响：（1）短期内整体和学术相关的自我报告压力或焦虑（2）学习成绩;（3）学习成绩（整体GPA和STEM专业GPA）;（3）在所选STEM领域的一年保留和四年坚持;（4）毕业后的职业选择和安置。 该研究将使用从学生，教师，导师和其他利益相关者收集的定性和定量指标，将学者的结果与其他STEM和非STEM学生的结果进行比较。该项目旨在促进了解如何更好地开发STEM本科课程，以教育训练有素的STEM毕业生，他们对工作与生活的平衡深表赞赏，并善于在一生中管理压力。吸取的经验教训将传播给其他高等教育机构，特别是那些在招收和留住本科农村STEM学生方面面临类似挑战的机构。 该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学术成功，保留，转移，毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了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。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists by supporting the education, retention, and graduation of high-achieving, low-income undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need at Wilson College. Most students at Wilson College are from the rural and highly industrialized region within and surrounding Franklin County Pennsylvania. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide four-year scholarships to 21 rural students who are pursuing Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and/or Environmental Science. In addition to financial support, this project will provide Scholars with additional, evidence-based supports, including: (1) academic support through the introduction of new weekly STEM recitation classes taught by peer mentors, workshops offered by the Academic Success Center, and focused class periods dedicated to improving test-taking skills and reducing stress and anxiety; (2) peer-to-peer mentoring and interactive cohort building; (3) job/career development, alumni mentoring, and internship opportunities; and (4) an emphasis on wellness and stress reduction. This project will generate knowledge about how incorporating wellness, stress-reduction techniques, and time-management skills affects the educational outcomes of academically-talented, rural STEM undergraduates with unmet financial need. The significance of this project is its potential to recruit and better educate STEM students from rural Pennsylvania to be effective science professionals with healthier life management skills. Effective strategies will also be disseminated throughout the College, thus strengthening the institution and informing other small, private research institutions across the country.The goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who originate from a rural, highly-industrialized region of Pennsylvania. This project will examine how integration of wellness and stress-reduction activities as a weekly component of the STEM educational experience for rural undergraduates affects: (1) overall and academic-related self-reported stress or anxiety over the short (semester) and long (year) terms; (2) academic performance (overall GPA and STEM major GPA); (3) one-year retention and four-year persistence in the chosen STEM field; and (4) career choice and placement after graduation. The research study will use qualitative and quantitative metrics collected from students, faculty, mentors, and other stakeholders, comparing results of Scholars to results of other STEM and non-STEM students. This project aims to advance understanding of how to better develop STEM undergraduate programs to educate highly-trained STEM graduates with a deep appreciation for a work-life balance and who are adept at managing stress throughout their lifetimes. Lessons learned will be disseminated to other institutions of higher education, particularly those that face similar challenges with recruiting and retaining undergraduate rural STEM students. 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.