Intensive Student Supports to Increase Persistence and Completion of STEM Associate Degrees

该项目将通过支持有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业，为国家对准备充分的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。该项目在Gateway社区学院，这是马里科帕县社区学院区内的十所学院之一。该项目团队正在寻求建立一种可复制的STEM奖学金模式，可以扩展到凤凰城和马里科帕县以外的地区。在该项目的五年期间，至少30名新生将获得最多两年的奖学金支持。这些STEM奖学金获得者将作为一组被录取，以便他们能够共同参与有组织的课程和协同课程活动。该项目的目的是在每个STEM学者队列中建立一个支持社区。这种类型的学习社区将提供强制性和可选性学生支持相结合，包括暑期桥牌计划、教师指导/建议、带补充指导的数学课程，以及各种STEM俱乐部活动。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。具体目标是：(1)招收学生并为他们的全日制入学提供财政支持；(2)及早并经常在副STEM学位课程中提供以证据为基础的密集学术支持；(3)产生可用于探索和开发资源，以支持不同学生群体及时完成学位的新知识。该项目团队假设，接受强制性、全方位支持的STEM学者将以更高的比率和更少的时间完成副学士学位，而不是对照组的学生。此外，预计STEM学者将以更高的GPA课程完成他们的学位。最后，人数不足的STEM奖学金获得者完成学位的速度和时间预计与非小规模STEM奖学金获得者相似。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。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业成功、留住、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优势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-prepared scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. The project is at GateWay Community College, one of ten colleges within the Maricopa County Community College District. The project team is looking to build a replicable STEM scholarship model that can expand beyond Phoenix and Maricopa County. Over the five-year duration of the project, at least 30 new students will receive up to two years of scholarship support. These STEM Scholars will be enrolled as a cohort to enable their joint participation in structured curricular and co-curricular activities. The project aims to create a community of support within each STEM Scholar cohort. This type of learning community will feature a combination of mandatory and optional student supports, including a summer bridge program, faculty mentoring/advising, math courses taught with supplemental instruction, and a variety of STEM club activities. This support is expected to establish a learning environment that provides an efficient pathway to academic success, degree completion, and entry into the workforce or four-year STEM degree programs.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The specific aims are to: (1) recruit students and provide financial support for their full-time enrollment; (2) provide evidence-based intensive academic support early and often throughout the associate STEM degree path; (3) generate new knowledge that can be used to explore and develop resources that support timely degree completion for a diverse population of students. The project team hypothesizes that STEM Scholars who receive mandatory, holistic supports will complete the associate degree at higher rates and in less time than a control group of students. Additionally, the STEM Scholars are expected to complete their degree with a higher program GPA. Finally, underrepresented STEM Scholars are expected to complete their degrees at similar rates and time as non-minoritized STEM Scholars. 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.