Collaborative Planning Grant: Bridging Rural Access in Virginia – Building Partnerships for STEM Pathways

协作规划补助金：架起弗吉尼亚州农村的桥梁 — 为 STEM 途径建立伙伴关系

• 批准号: 2221391
• 负责人: Alix Fink
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: Longwood University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-15 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2221391&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Planning; Grant; Bridging; Rural

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by strengthening collaborations and planning for a future Track 3 S-STEM proposal that will support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, Danville Community College, Longwood University, Virginia Western Community College, and two additional Virginia Community College System institutions. To address the nation’s and Virginia’s increasing demand for STEM professionals and, at the same time, consider the unique needs of rural communities, these institutions will develop a detailed plan to support students in rural Virginia as they earn their associate’s degrees and transition to earn their STEM bachelor’s degrees. In this one-year planning period, the project will work to strengthen existing partnerships and hold a collaborative STEM Summit focused on rural students. The Track 3 S-STEM proposal that will arise from this effort will be informed by high school and industry partners. This future proposal will also include rigorous research and evaluation efforts aimed at assessing project outcomes and generating important new knowledge for the STEM education community. The project team will build on the strong foundation of Virginia’s statewide transfer initiative and emphasize the importance of both expanding transfer pathways and increasing rural student opportunities and accomplishments in the STEM fields. The overall goal of this planning project is to strengthen collaborations and prepare for a future Track 3 proposal to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Aspiring STEM students in rural communities face challenges that include unreliable access to high-quality internet, unequal access to advanced high school coursework, and financial obstacles for many families, school systems, and communities. This project will engage students, faculty and staff members, high school teachers, and industry partners to better understand the strengths, needs, and challenges of low-income students in Virginia’s southern and southwestern communities. Faculty and staff members will work to identify specific and achievable strategies for engaging aspiring STEM students. The project will design a Track 3 S-STEM proposal that includes rich support services for community college students, provides significant scholarship funding, and facilitates scholars’ transfer to a four-year STEM program. 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.

该项目将通过加强合作和规划未来的Track 3 S-STEM提案，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，该提案将支持在Dabney S.兰开斯特社区学院、丹维尔社区学院、朗伍德大学、弗吉尼亚西部社区学院、以及另外两所弗吉尼亚社区学院系统院校。为了满足国家和弗吉尼亚州对STEM专业人员日益增长的需求，同时考虑到农村社区的独特需求，这些机构将制定一项详细的计划，以支持弗吉尼亚州农村学生获得副学士学位并过渡到STEM学士学位。在这一年的规划期内，该项目将努力加强现有的伙伴关系，并举办以农村学生为重点的STEM合作峰会。从这项工作中产生的Track 3 S-STEM提案将由高中和行业合作伙伴提供信息。未来的提案还将包括严格的研究和评估工作，旨在评估项目成果，并为STEM教育界创造重要的新知识。项目团队将以弗吉尼亚州全州转学计划的坚实基础为基础，强调扩大转学途径和增加农村学生在STEM领域的机会和成就的重要性。该规划项目的总体目标是加强合作，并为未来的第三轨道提案做好准备，以提高具有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。农村社区有抱负的STEM学生面临着各种挑战，包括无法可靠地接入高质量的互联网，无法平等地获得高级高中课程，以及许多家庭、学校系统和社区面临的经济障碍。该项目将吸引学生、教职员工、高中教师和行业合作伙伴，以更好地了解弗吉尼亚州南部和西南部社区低收入学生的优势、需求和挑战。教职员工将努力确定具体和可实现的策略，以吸引有抱负的STEM学生。该项目将设计一个Track 3 S-STEM提案，其中包括为社区大学生提供丰富的支持服务，提供大量奖学金资助，并促进学者转入四年制STEM项目。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。