S-STEM SUCCESS: Supporting Undergraduates through Curricular and Co-Curricula Engagement and Student Scholarships

该项目将通过支持路易斯安那理工大学高成就、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。在为期五年的时间里，该项目将为40名正在攻读八个工程学科之一的学士学位的独特的全日制学生提供奖学金：生物医学、土木、化学、网络、电气、工业、机械和纳米系统工程。一年级学生将获得最多四年的奖学金支持。该项目旨在通过将奖学金资金与学术和职业准备经验相匹配，提高本科工程专业学生的保留率，同时减少毕业后的债务。特定学科的教师导师将通过领导专业发展研讨会在鼓励和授权学者取得成功方面发挥关键作用，因为他们是学生的官方学术顾问。这个项目将增加学者和教职员工之间的社区感。由于路易斯安那理工大学工程与科学学院为工程一年级学生提供的基于需要的奖学金很少，该项目有可能极大地扩大STEM领域的参与度。定向的学术支持、职业准备活动、更深入的社区和教师指导的共同意义将使大学和更大的STEM教育社区了解增加留学生的有效做法。该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学位完成率。这项研究的参与者有四个直接的结果：(1)减少经济压力，(2)提高学业进步，(3)坚持毕业，(4)进入劳动力大军或STEM领域的研究生院项目。此外，还有两个间接的结果：(1)增加了对选定职业领域的信心；(2)增加了对学术能力的信心。被选中参与该项目的学生学者将在他们第一年学习的秋季季度之前确定。丰富活动将被战略性地排序，以满足学者们在即将毕业时不断变化的需求。第一年将专注于社区建设、学术卓越、专业发展和职业应用。二年级将继续提供学术支持活动，同时纳入更多关于实习和暑期研究项目的讨论。三年级的活动将转向职业准备，同时保持社区建设和学术卓越的资源。最后，随着学生完成学业，职业准备和生活技能将成为四年级的重点。这个项目的范围将包括研究正在进行的、特定学科的教师指导对学术进步的影响，以及探索学术社区对学生信心和留存的影响。该项目的成果将通过会议报告、同行评议的会议出版物、期刊文章和研讨会向STEM教育界公布。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。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 Louisiana Tech University. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 40 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in one of eight engineering disciplines: biomedical, civil, chemical, cyber, electrical, industrial, mechanical, and nanosystems engineering. First-year students will receive up to four years of scholarship support. This project aims to increase retention rates of undergraduate engineering students while also decreasing debt upon graduation by pairing scholarship funds with academic and career readiness experiences. Discipline-specific faculty mentors will play a critical role in encouraging and empowering the scholars to success by leading professional development seminars as they serve as official academic advisors for the students. This project will increase a sense of community among both scholars and faculty. Because the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech University offers very few needs-based scholarships to first-year engineering students, this project has the potential to greatly broaden participation in STEM fields. The combined significance of directed academic support, career readiness activities, deeper community, and faculty mentorship will inform the University and the greater STEM education community on effective practices to increase retention.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are four direct outcomes for the participants in the study: (1) reduction in financial stress, (2) improved academic progress, (3) perseverance to graduation, and (4) a path to enter the workforce or a graduate school program in a STEM field. Additionally, there are two indirect outcomes: (1) increased confidence in chosen career field and (2) increased confidence in academic ability. Student scholars selected to participate in the project will be identified prior to the Fall Quarter of their first year of studies. Enrichment activities will be strategically sequenced to meet the evolving needs of the scholars as they move toward graduation. The first year will focus on community building, academic excellence, professional development, and career applications. The sophomore year will continue providing academic support activities while incorporating more discussion on internships and summer research programs. Junior year activities will shift towards career preparation while maintaining resources for community building and academic excellence. Finally, career preparation and life skills will be the focus of the senior year as students complete their degrees. The scope of this project will include studying the effect of ongoing, discipline-specific faculty mentorship on academic progress as well as exploring the impact of academic community on student confidence and retention. Results of this project will be made available to the STEM education community through conference presentations, peer-reviewed conference publications, journal articles, and workshops. 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.