Catalyst Project: STEM-Business Focused Sustainable Financial Technology – Clean Technology (Sustainable FinTech-CleanTech) at the University of the District of Columbia

催化剂项目支持历史悠久的黑人学院和大学致力于建立教师的研究能力，以加强科学、技术、工程和数学本科生的教育和研究。预计该奖项将进一步提高教职员工的研究能力，改善学院的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。哥伦比亚特区大学(UDC)的这个项目包括支持开发金融技术-清洁技术证书。拟议的工作有可能与其他高等教育机构和当地的K12系统建立伙伴关系。预计参与的学生将为增加金融科技清洁技术员工队伍的多样性做出贡献。加州大学戴维斯分校以商业为中心的可持续金融技术-清洁技术(可持续金融科技-清洁技术)项目的总体目标是为该校商科和工程学本科生介绍和提供一个创新的、跨学科的“可持续金融科技-清洁技术”证书课程，商科、科学、技术、工程和数学专业(STEM)都可以使用。该项目的具体目标是：(1)开发一个创新的、跨学科的可持续发展的金融科技-清洁技术证书课程，面向商科和STEM本科生；(2)丰富和提高本科生和教职员工在金融科技-清洁技术课程中的研究能力；以及(3)通过与当地高中和社区大学的接触，让加州大学华盛顿特区的学生参与可持续发展的金融科技-清洁技术证书课程。该项目将使用混合方法，强调学生调查、观察、焦点小组和面试方案，以评估预期的项目结果。该项目的潜在贡献和影响包括为哈佛大学商学院的工程和商业本科生开发尖端的金融科技-清洁技术证书计划，导致代表不足的群体参与这一学科；通过开发可在其他机构效仿的企业应用教学材料(例如，SAP通过SAP大学联盟计划开发的企业资源规划软件)，加强不同重点领域的教育和研究；来自代表不足群体的学生和教师之间的研究合作；利用和建立UDC与学术界、产业界和政府的伙伴关系；通过在同行评议的会议和学术期刊上介绍和发表项目成果，向更广泛的社区传播项目成果。该机构范围内的金融科技-清洁技术证书项目具有造福工程和商业专业学生的潜力，并为全国其他类似机构提供了一个经过验证的可复制的模式。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并已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。

Catalyst Projects provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities to work towards establishing the research capacity of faculty to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. This project at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) includes support for the development of a Financial Technology-Clean Technology certificate. The proposed work has the potential to establish partnerships with other higher education institutions and the local K12 system. It is expected that participating students will contribute to increasing diversity in the FinTech-Cleantech workforce. The overarching goal of the STEM-Business Focused Sustainable Financial Technology – Clean Technology (Sustainable FinTech-CleanTech) project at the UDC is to introduce and provide Business and Engineering undergraduate students at UDC with an innovative and interdisciplinary “Sustainable FinTech-CleanTech” certificate program available to both Business as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors. Specific objectives of the project are: (1) to develop an innovative and interdisciplinary Sustainable FinTech-CleanTech certificate program open to business and STEM undergraduates; (2) to enrich and enhance undergraduate student and faculty research capacity in FinTech-CleanTech curriculum; and (3) to engage UDC students in Sustainable FinTech-CleanTech certificate program through outreach to local high schools and community colleges. The project will utilize a mixed-method approach that emphasizes student surveys, observations, focus groups, and interview protocols for assessing the desired project outcomes. The potential contribution and impact of the project include the development of a cutting-edge FinTech-CleanTech certificate program for Engineering and Business undergraduates at UDC, an HBCU, leading to the participation of underrepresented groups in this discipline; enhancement of education and research in diverse focus areas by developing instructional materials for enterprise applications (e.g., enterprise resource planning software by SAP through SAP University Alliances Program) that can be modeled at other institutions; research collaborations among students and faculty from underrepresented groups; leveraging and building UDC’s partnerships with academia, industry, and government; and dissemination of project results to the broader community by presenting and publishing project outcomes in peer-reviewed conferences and scholarly journals. The institution-wide FinTech-CleanTech certificate program has the potential of benefitting engineering and business students and providing a validated replicable model for other similar institutions in the nation.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.