RAPID: STEM faculty support to address impacts from COVID-19 on Tribal Colleges and Universities Program institutions

部落学院和大学计划（TCUP）的一个目标是提高为美国土著学生服务的特定高等教育机构的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教学和研究能力。在这些机构扩大STEM课程的范围，可以扩大学生在STEM领域追求具有挑战性、回报丰厚的职业的机会，为可能具有文化意义的领域提供研究，并鼓励社区和世代对科学和数学教育的欣赏。通过保留有资质的STEM教师的人才，STEM教学能力的可持续性得到了显著提高。这个项目直接符合这个目标。2019冠状病毒病大流行对高等教育机构造成了重大干扰。对于部落学院和大学来说，其核心运营资金直接与学生入学率挂钩，入学率的下降等同于资金的损失。为了减轻流行病对STEM教学能力的不利影响，该奖项将支持Salish Kootenai学院一名全职STEM教师的工资和专业发展。这项TCUP STEM教师奖旨在帮助维持萨利什库特奈学院的STEM项目，因为学院从大流行的有害影响中恢复过来。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。

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Expanding the STEM curricular offerings at these institutions expands the opportunities of their students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be culturally significant, and encourages a community and generational appreciation for science and mathematics education. The sustainability of STEM instructional capacity gains is significantly enhanced by retaining the talent of credentialed STEM faculty. This project aligns directly with that goal.The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to institutions of higher education. For tribal colleges and universities, whose core operating funds are directly aligned with student enrollment, drops in enrollment equate to loss of funding. To mitigate against detrimental pandemic-related effects on STEM instructional capacity, this award will support the salary and professional development of one full-time STEM faculty member at Salish Kootenai College. This TCUP STEM Faculty award is intended to help maintain Salish Kootenai College’s STEM program as the college recovers from the deleterious impact of the pandemic.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.