Scholars Program for Environmental Challenges

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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 the University of Charleston (UC), an independent, co-educational, residential university located in Charleston, West Virginia. Over its 5-year duration, this project will fund four year scholarships to 12 students who are pursuing baccalaureate degrees in data science, computer science, biological sciences, chemistry, and dual biology-chemistry B.S. programs. This project will examine innovative ways to attract and retain students in STEM fields at UC who can be successful in the STEM workforce, and determine what institutional factors promote students' engagement and achievement in STEM education. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The specific goals of this project are to: (1) recruit 12 academically talented students who demonstrate financial need to major in STEM disciplines, (2) improve retention and graduation of the STEM scholars, (3) place 90% of graduating scholars in a STEM-related job, internship, or graduate program within one year of graduation, and (4) generate new knowledge in the field of undergraduate STEM education by examining the effects of novel recruitment strategies and determining whether an evolving faculty mentoring approach featuring mentor-guided, mentor-student-guided and finally student-guided research opportunities helps to develop science identity and retain students in STEM. Research questions addressed in this project are: (1) to what extent does a non-traditional recruitment and selection method increase the number of underrepresented students entering STEM majors, and (2) to what extent does an evolving faculty mentoring approach featuring mentor-guided, mentor-student-guided, and finally student-guided research opportunities retain students in STEM? The study will collect and analyze institutional data to determine what effects (if any) this project has on recruitment and retention of STEM students. A mixed methods approach will be used for both the formative and summative evaluations of the project. The results of the study will be shared at the regional, state and national levels through venues such as the Appalachian College Association, West Virginia Academy of Sciences, Campus Contact, as well as archived journals in STEM education. 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.