Collaborating to Support the Success of Community College Transfer Students in Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science

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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. Over five years, this project will fund two-year scholarships to 45 community college transfer students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics. This project will collaborate with community college leadership, faculty, and advisors to recruit transfer students, particularly women in computer science. Through strategies such as advising and peer-led team learning, the project expects to decrease the time to graduation of students who transfer from community colleges to the University. The project's research and evaluation will contribute to the body of knowledge regarding how to support the success of community college transfer students.The goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project has three objectives: (i) recruit Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics students at community colleges to transfer to West Texas A&M University; (ii) increase the academic achievement of these students following transfer; and (iii) develop efficient pathways from community college into four-year institutions. Student recruitment will be accomplished through personal contact at community college campuses, engaging community college students in co-curricular opportunities, and collaborative professional development between University and community college faculty. Scholars will be engaged in a peer-led team learning program, which will help to integrate the Scholars into the University's pre-professional STEM communities. Scholars will have the opportunity to be involved with interdisciplinary research projects under the guidance and mentorship of faculty and industry professionals. In addition, the project will provide continuous academic advising of Scholars, from community college enrollment through graduation with a Bachelor of Science degree. This project intends to increase understanding of the factors that influence pathways to graduation for community college transfer students in Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics. The models developed through this project have the potential to be used by other universities to recruit, retain, and increase academic success of community college transfer students in STEM fields. Consequently, results will be broadly disseminated locally and nationally through existing partnerships, peer reviewed publications in STEM education journals, and presentations at professional conferences focused on transfer student success. 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.