At the Confluence: Supporting Critical Transitions for Graduate Students in Sustainable Watersheds Research

该项目将通过支持南伊利诺伊大学爱德华兹维尔分校(SIUE)高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生的留校和毕业，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。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为45名正在攻读环境科学、土木工程、生物学或化学研究生学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。研究生将获得为期两年的奖学金，以支持完成理科硕士学位。学者的研究将有助于利用当地和区域雇主经常寻求的各种跨学科方法和交叉技能，促进对可持续分水岭的科学理解。毕业生将准备应对人类对流域的修改和改变带来的重大环境挑战，包括气候变化造成的影响。学者将获得一套为过渡到研究生院并成为科学界成员的学生设计的联合课程支持，包括定向和专业研讨会、同行和教职员工指导、职业小组讨论和增强的课程工作。此外，这个研究生水平的项目作为一个已建立的坚持和保留的本科生模式的延伸具有重要意义。这个项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成情况。该项目的目标是：1)为在SIUE攻读硕士学位和进行分水岭科学研究的有学业天赋的学生提供奖学金支持；2)根据院校和科学界一体化的理论，提供一套综合的课程和联合课程活动，以支持学生过渡到硕士水平的教育；以及3)评估分水岭学者课程和联合课程活动模式，以确定帮助研究生在高等教育中实现关键过渡的关键要素。一项初步研究表明，SIUE研究生的经历与研究人员为本科教育提出的坚持和成功模式是一致的。为了提高对该模式有效性的理解，该项目将通过硕士水平的财政、课程和共同课程支持来适应和研究学术和社会融合。同时，该项目将为STEM教师提供全面招募、指导和支持硕士学生的技能。项目评估将确定流域奖学金获得者的数量收获，以及他们与进入班级的非参与者成员之间的差异，以及实施质量和忠诚度的定性证据。该项目模式和科学研究将引起STEM教育界和分水岭科学家的兴趣。因此，传播将包括各种专业会议、教育和科学期刊，以及一个机构主办的网站。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加获得STEM领域学位的低收入、有学术天赋、有经济需求的学生的数量。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业成功、留住、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优势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 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 45 unique full-time students who are pursuing a graduate degree in Environmental Sciences, Civil Engineering, Biology, or Chemistry. Graduate students will receive two-year scholarships to support completion of a Master of Science degree. Scholars’ research will contribute to the scientific understanding of sustainable watersheds using a variety of interdisciplinary approaches and cross-cutting skills frequently sought by local and regional employers. Graduates will be prepared to address the significant environmental challenges posed by human modifications and alterations to watersheds, including impacts resulting from climate change. Scholars will receive a suite of co-curricular supports designed for students transitioning to graduate school and emerging as a member of the scientific community, including orientation and professional workshops, peer and faculty mentoring, career panels, and enhanced coursework. In addition, this graduate-level project is significant as an extension of an established undergraduate model of persistence and retention.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project's goals are: 1) Provide scholarship support to academically talented students with unmet financial need to pursue their master’s degree at SIUE and conduct watershed science research; 2) Provide an integrated set of curricular and co-curricular activities, based on theories of institutional and scientific community integration, to support student transition to master’s-level education; and 3) Evaluate the Watershed Scholars model of curricular and co-curricular activities to identify key elements that help graduate students make critical transitions in higher education. A pilot study showed that SIUE graduate students’ experiences align with a persistence and success model proposed by researchers for undergraduate education. To advance understanding of the model’s validity, this project will adapt and study academic and social integration, through financial, curricular, and co-curricular supports, at the master’s level. Concurrently, the project will provide STEM faculty with skills to holistically recruit, mentor, and support masters’ students. Project evaluation will determine quantitative gains for Watershed Scholars and differences between them and non-participant members of their entering class along with qualitative evidence of implementation quality and fidelity. The project model and scientific research will be of interest to the STEM education community and watershed scientists. Thus, dissemination will include a variety of professional conferences, education and scientific journals, and an institution-hosted website. 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.