Scholarships, Strategic Course Sequencing, and Comprehensive Student Support to Increase Undergraduate Degree Completion in Computing and Cybersecurity

该项目将通过支持胡德山社区学院的高成就低收入STEM学生的保留和毕业，为国家对熟练科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。该计划为期五年，将资助35名攻读网络安全与网络及计算机信息系统应用科学副学士学位的学生。奖学金获得者将分为三组，包括全日制和非全日制学生，并获得最多三年的奖学金支持。学者们将参加一个新的培训课程，该课程将基础信息技术技能整合到学院现有的培训和新生学习社区中。该项目旨在实施全面的学生服务，包括个性化的教育计划和职业道路、欣赏建议、学术辅导和学术技能研讨会。该项目将有助于建立有关奖学金影响的知识体系和全面的学生服务，重点是攻读信息技术和/或综合系统和技术管理教育学位的学生。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。该项目旨在让学者参加课外丰富活动，如网络安全竞赛、波特兰信息系统安全分会会议和活动，以及其他软件开发和网络安全活动和展览。该项目旨在解决社区大学生获得与学位或职业计划不一致的超额学分的问题。为此，奖学金获得者将在职业道路课程中制定个性化的教育计划。该计划将列出每学期至毕业所需的课程，以确保有效及时地完成课程。该项目将为学者们提供有价值的建议，这是一种最佳实践，其特点是提出积极、开放式的问题，以帮助学生取得学业成功。这种建议将与学术辅导和学术技能研讨会相结合，以提高学生的成果，包括完成学位或转学。该项目的研究计划包括定量和定性技术，以调查项目活动对学者的学术成果、相关专业能力的发展、专业身份自决的影响。评估计划将检查实施和管理过程，以确保对项目计划的忠实，确定合规和绩效问题，并提出建议，以改进项目期间的项目要素和服务。最初的传播场所将包括向专业组织的地方分会进行演讲，与同行机构建立专业网络，以及地方和区域教育公平和STEM教育会议（例如，俄勒冈科学教师协会年度秋季科学教育会议）。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 skilled scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income STEM students at Mount Hood Community College. Over its five-year duration, the project will fund scholarships to 35 students who are pursuing Associate in Applied Science degrees in Cybersecurity and Networking and Computer Information Systems. Scholars will be admitted in three cohorts that include both full-time and part-time students, and receive up to three years of scholarship support. Scholars will participate in a new orientation course that integrates foundational information technology skills into the college's existing orientation and learning community for new students. The project intends to implement wraparound student services including personalized education plans and career pathways, appreciative advising, academic tutoring, and academic skills workshops. The project will contribute to the body of knowledge about impacts of scholarships and wraparound student services, with a focus on students pursuing degrees in information technology and/or in integrated systems and technology management education. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project aims for scholars to participate in co-curricular enrichment activities such as cybersecurity competitions, the Portland Chapter of Information Systems Security meetings and events, and other software development and cybersecurity events and exhibits. The project intends to address the problem of community college students' earning of excess credits that are not aligned with a degree or career program. To this end, the Scholars will create a personalized education plan within a career pathway curriculum. This plan will map out the courses needed each semester through graduation to ensure efficient and timely completion of their program. The project will provide Scholars with appreciative advising, a best practice characterized by the intentional collaborative practice of asking positive, open-ended questions to help students achieve academic success. This advising will be combined with academic tutoring and academic skills workshops to improve student outcomes, including degree completion or transfer. The project's research plan includes quantitative and qualitative techniques to investigate the impacts of project activities on Scholars’ academic outcomes, development of relevant professional capabilities, self-determination within their professional identities. An evaluation plan will examine the implementation and management processes to ensure fidelity to the project plan, identify compliance and performance issues, and make recommendations to improve the project elements and services over the course of the project period. Initial venues for dissemination will include presentations to local chapters of professional organizations, professional networking with peer institutions, and local and regional equity in education and STEM education conferences (e.g., Oregon Science Teachers Association Annual Fall Conference on Science 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.