Increasing Access to Graduate Degrees, Professional Development, and Research Experiences: Pathways to Achievement in Chemical Industries

该项目将有助于对受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需要，通过支持高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明在蒙特克莱尔州立大学，西班牙裔服务机构和多数少数民族机构的经济需要。在五年的时间里，该项目将为37名攻读化学硕士学位的全日制和非全日制学生提供奖学金。学者将获得长达两年的奖学金。该项目旨在使低收入学生能够通过以下方式攻读化学硕士学位：1）奖学金，2）灵活的学位课程选择，3）增加辅导，4）夏季研究津贴，5）具有成本效益的15个月硕士学位课程。这个项目也很重要，因为它将增加学生参加短期研究项目的机会，以适应学生的学术和工作时间表。研究参与是众所周知的化学教育中的一个高影响力的做法，但许多硕士生目前放弃了这个机会。该项目将产生有关战略的知识，以增加研究生，特别是低收入，在职硕士生的研究参与。教职员工将为学者提供额外的机会，参与数据分析或建模项目，使学者的研究经验适合他们的学术，工作和个人时间表，并可以在家里进行。该项目将有助于建设北方新泽西化学和制药行业所需的熟练未来劳动力。 该项目的总体目标是增加低收入，高成就的研究生与证明财政需要的STEM学位完成。该项目有两个具体目标：1）创造灵活的选择，让低收入，学术人才，学生与学士学位，以推进他们的学业，并获得化学硕士学位; 2）改变和调整现有的化学硕士课程，以更好地为学生在工业和学术界的现代化学研究职位做好准备。这个项目的动机是最近的研究表明，学生与专业科学MS的需求。专业科学硕士课程培养行业和政府为其员工所需的知识和技能。此外，众所周知，包括团队合作和沟通在内的专业技能对于现代化学工业的成功至关重要，但传统化学硕士课程的学生往往缺乏专业发展机会来发展这些技能。该项目将确定学生需要在北方新泽西化学和药物生物化学行业的职位竞争力的技能，并推进最佳实践的理解，以培养这些技能。 该项目将通过访谈、焦点小组和对本科生、硕士生、教师和当地专业人员的调查收集数据。利用这些数据，该项目将调查化学专业人员和学生如何评价一个提供较少化学专业课程的课程，同时为学生提供专业技能的正式课程。该项目的成果将通过介绍、出版物和通过访问大学进行非正式传播的方式提供。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, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Montclair State University, a Hispanic Serving Institution and a majority minority institution. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 37 unique full time and part time students who are pursuing master’s degrees in chemistry. The Scholars will receive scholarships of up to two years. The project aims to enable low-income students to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry through 1) scholarships, 2) flexible degree track options, 3) increased tutoring, 4) summer research stipends, and 5) a cost-effective 15-month master’s degree track. This project is also significant because it will increase opportunities for students to participate in short-term research projects that fit into the students’ academic and work schedules. Research participation is known to be a high-impact practice in chemistry education, but many master’s students currently forgo this opportunity. The project will generate knowledge about strategies to increase research participation of graduate students, particularly low-income, working master’s students. Faculty members will offer Scholars additional opportunities to participate in data analysis or modeling projects, so that the Scholars’ research experience fits into their academic, work, and personal schedules and can be conducted from home. The project will contribute to building the skilled future workforce needed by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in Northern New Jersey. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving graduate students with demonstrated financial need. The project has two specific aims: 1) to create flexible options that allow low-income, academically talented, students with a bachelor’s degree to advance their studies and obtain a Master’s of Chemistry degree; 2) to change and adapt an existing Master’s of Chemistry program to better prepare students for modern chemistry research positions in industry and academia. This project is motivated by recent research suggesting that students with a Professional Science MS are in demand. Professional Science MS programs cultivate the knowledge and skills desired by industry and government for their employees. Additionally, it is well known that professional skills including teamwork and communication are critical for success in modern chemical industry, but students in traditional Master’s of Chemistry programs often lack professional development opportunities to develop such skills. This project will identify the skills that students need to be competitive for positions in Northern New Jersey chemistry and pharmaceutical biochemistry industries and advance the understanding of best practices to cultivate these skills. The project will gather data from interviews, focus groups, and surveys with undergraduate students, master’s students, faculty, and local professionals. Using these data, the project will investigate how chemistry professionals and students value a program that offers fewer chemistry-specific courses while offering students formal coursework in professional skills. Results of this project will be made available by presentations, publications, and informal dissemination through university visits. 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.