Diversity and Excellence in Food, Environment and Natural-resource Disciplines (DEFEND)

该项目将通过支持阿拉巴马农工大学（Alabama a&m University）表现出经济需求的优秀低收入家庭学生的保留和毕业，为满足全国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。阿拉巴马农工大学是一所历史悠久的黑人学院和大学（HBCU），位于阿拉巴马州的亨茨维尔。该项目为期五(5)年，将为30名攻读食品科学、环境科学和自然资源学科学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。阿拉巴马a&m大学的一年级学生以及劳森州立大学和卡尔霍恩社区学院的转学生将获得四年的奖学金。该项目旨在通过将奖学金与有效的支持活动联系起来，包括指导、服务学习、咨询、辅导、财务咨询、本科研究经历和参加学科特定会议，提高学生在STEM领域的坚持度。该项目还将支持课程改进，以提高STEM一年级学生的保留率。由于阿拉巴马a&m大学的学生中有很多来自STEM领域代表性不足的群体，因此该项目有可能扩大STEM领域的参与，并了解指导和个人发展计划如何有效地支持这一学生群体的保留和毕业。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。有三个具体目标：提高低收入家庭学生在农业与自然科学学院（CALNS）攻读学士学位课程的程度；提供课程和课外活动，通过让学生参与以证据为基础的丰富活动来提高学生的成功；并利用技术进行有意的评价和评估。在这个防御项目中概述的干预措施将财政资源与严格的指导和辅导支持结合起来，以防止整个学位课程的流失，并比较高中后暑期支持和学费支持在激励和留住非裔美国学生方面对社区大学转学学生的相对有效性。该项目比较了直接进入AAMU的高中生与社区大学转学的总体成功率，并比较了这些DEFEND学者与CALNS内其他学生的成功率。该项目有可能促进对哪些干预措施最有效地激励和留住非裔美国人和其他在STEM中代表性不足的群体的学生的理解。此外，该项目将增加代表性不足的学生的数量，这些学生将接受全球和有竞争力的培训，从而使STEM劳动力多样化。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 Alabama A&M University. Alabama A&M University is a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Huntsville, AL. Over its five (5) year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 30 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in food science, environmental science and natural resource disciplines. First year students at Alabama A&M University and Transfer students from Lawson State University and Calhoun Community College will receive 4-year scholarships. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with effective supporting activities, including mentoring, service learning, advising, tutoring, financial counseling, undergraduate research experiences, and participation in discipline-specific conferences. The project will also support curriculum improvements to improve first-year student retention in STEM. Because Alabama A&M University has a high population of students from groups underrepresented in STEM, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM fields and to learn how impactful mentoring and individual development plans support retention and graduation of this student population.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are three specific aims: to increase degree attainment by low-income students enrolled in BS programs within the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences (CALNS); offer curricular and co-curricular activities to increase student success by engaging them in evidence-based enrichment activities; and use technology for intentional evaluation and assessment. The intervention outlined in this DEFEND program combines financial resources with rigorous mentoring and tutorial support to thwart attrition throughout the degree program and compare relative effectiveness of post-high school summer support and tuition support among students transferring from community colleges in motivating and retaining African American students. This project compares the overall success rate of high school students directly entering AAMU to community college transfers and also compares the success rate of these DEFEND scholars with other students within CALNS. This project has the potential to advance understanding of which interventions are most effective for motivating and retaining African American and students from other groups underrepresented in STEM. Additionally, this project will increase the number of underrepresented students who are globally and competitively trained and subsequently diversify the STEM workforce. 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.