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

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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.