Foundations for Success: Empowering Transfer Student Scholars for Graduation and STEM Career Readiness

该项目将通过支持特拉华谷大学（Delaware Valley University）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为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。特拉华谷大学是一所小型私立大学，特别强调自然科学和体验式教育。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为21名攻读生物学、化学、保护野生动物管理、环境科学和植物科学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。学生将获得为期两年的奖学金。该项目的目标是提高STEM转学生的保留率和毕业率，并通过特定学科的体验式学习机会为STEM劳动力和研究生教育做好准备。该项目将提供有针对性的新生指导、职业道路指导、教师和同伴指导。该项目也将有助于学生按时毕业，减少债务负担。该项目将加深对专门为转移STEM学者设计的干预措施的理解。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。该项目将为转学生提供课程路线图，以缩短毕业时间。当前社区大学学生的建议将确保他们在转学之前完成专业的基础课程。一个目标是促进对如何为学生提供归属感和增加他们毕业可能性的理解。以stem为重点的体验式学习机会在留校和毕业方面的有效性将通过《大学坚持度问卷》和一项“归属感”测量来确定。该项目的预期是，保留率，毕业率和归属感将产生积极影响。项目评估将调查哪些干预措施在提高学生的坚持和毕业率方面最有效。结果将提交给地区转学入学和咨询委员会，该委员会的任务是弥合两年制学校和四年制学校之间的知识差距。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 Delaware Valley University. Delaware Valley University is a small private university with a special emphasis on the natural sciences and experiential education. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 21 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Conservation Wildlife Management, Environmental Science, and Plant Science. Students will receive 2-year scholarships. The goals of the project are to increase the retention and graduation rate of STEM transfer students and prepare students for the STEM workforce and graduate education through discipline-specific experiential learning opportunities. The project will provide targeted new student orientation, career pathway mentoring, and faculty and peer mentoring. This project will also facilitate the on-time graduation of students with less debt load. This project will deepen the understanding of interventions designed specifically for transfer STEM scholars.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will provide curricular road maps for transfer students to decrease time to graduation. Advising of current community college students will ensure they complete foundational courses in their major prior to transfer. A goal is to advance the understanding of how to provide students with a sense of belonging and increase their likelihood of graduating. The effectiveness of STEM-focused experiential learning opportunities on retention and graduation will be determined via The College Persistence Questionnaire and a measure of “sense of belonging.” The expectation of the project is that retention, graduation rates, and sense of belonging will be positively impacted. Project evaluation will investigate which interventions were the most effective at increasing persistence and graduation rates of the scholars. Results will be presented at the regional Transfer Admissions and Advising Committee, with a mission of bridging the knowledge gap between two-year and four-year schools. 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.