"Engaging with Community for Undergraduate Student Success in Mathematics, Engineering and Science"

该项目将通过支持圣地亚哥大学表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。该项目为期五年，将为16名攻读STEM学士学位的全日制学生提供最多四年的奖学金。学生的专业将包括行为神经科学、生物学、化学、计算机科学、工程学、环境和海洋科学、数学和/或物理学。进入的一年级学者将从合作社区组织中招募，这些组织为符合S-STEM项目条件的学生群体提供服务。该项目旨在通过利用社区参与以及个性化的教师指导来提高这些学者的成功。学者们还将有机会获得研究经验和实习机会，以及参加社区和职业建设活动。该项目旨在促进对这些活动对学生归属感和STEM自我效能感的有效性的了解。该项目将创建和评估招生过程中制度变革的有效性以及对学者的制度支持。值得注意的机构支持的例子包括开发“繁荣STEM”学生成功课程和“改变STEM”课程，以鼓励学者将他们的STEM知识应用于影响他们社区的问题。该项目以大学和社区合作伙伴之间的互利和公平合作为中心，这将使学者、社区和大学受益，并促进对以社区为基础的方法（包括有意义的社区参与）如何影响学者在STEM领域的坚持和成功的理解。该项目还将调查教师导师如何参与实践社区，分享和讨论成功的指导策略，包括文化知情实践，在他们对学生的指导和建议中体现出来。本研究还将探讨这些教师指导策略对学者的归属感和STEM自我效能感的影响，这是支持STEM坚持的品质。实现项目目标和目的的进展将由外部评估人员每年进行评估，该评估人员将提供定期的形成性反馈。这一投入将由一个内部咨询委员会和一个外部咨询委员会进行补充，该委员会由投资于项目成功的个人组成，并提供额外的观点，以帮助将项目的倡议制度化。调查结果将在适当的期刊和会议上以及通过网络传播。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 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 San Diego. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide scholarships of up to four years to 16 full-time students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in STEM. Student majors will include behavioral neuroscience, biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, environmental and ocean sciences, mathematics, and/or physics. The entering first-year Scholars will be recruited from partnering community organizations that serve populations of students who are eligible for the S-STEM program. The project aims to increase the success of these Scholars by leveraging community engagement, along with individualized faculty mentoring. Scholars will also have opportunities such as access to research experiences and internships, and to community- and career-building activities. The project seeks to advance knowledge about the effectiveness of these activities on students' sense of belonging and STEM self-efficacy. The project will create and assess the effectiveness of institutional changes in the admissions process and institutional supports for the Scholars. Examples of notable institutional supports include development of a "Flourishing in STEM" student success course and a "Changemaking in STEM" course to encourage scholars to apply their STEM knowledge to issues affecting their communities. The project is centered on a mutually-beneficial and equitable collaboration between the University and community partners that will benefit the scholars, the community, and the University, and advance understanding of how a community-based approach, including meaningful community engagement, affects the scholars' persistence and success in STEM. The project will also investigate how the participation of the faculty mentors in a community of practice to share and discuss successful mentoring strategies, including culturally-informed practices, manifests itself in their mentoring and advising of students. It will also investigate the effects of these faculty mentoring strategies on the scholars' sense of belonging and STEM self-efficacy, which are qualities that support persistence in STEM. Progress toward achieving the project's goals and objectives will be evaluated annually by an external evaluator who will provide regular formative feedback. This input will be complemented by both an internal advisory board comprised of individuals invested in the success of the program, and an external advisory board to provide additional perspectives to aid in institutionalizing the project's initiatives. Findings will be disseminated in appropriate journals and conferences and through an online presence. 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.