Collaborative Planning Grant: Building Northwest Psychology Partnerships and Pathways for Talented Low-Income Psychology Students

该项目将通过加强合作和规划未来的Track 3 S-STEM提案，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，该提案将支持传统大学、西俄勒冈大学和俄勒冈州立大学有经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业。传统大学和西俄勒冈大学有才华的低收入家庭学生为他们的教育经历带来了独特的社区和文化联系。心理学在美国是一个很受欢迎的STEM专业，尽管一些低收入、高潜力的学生一开始并不认为自己是“科学家”，但他们被这门学科吸引的原因有很多。通常，他们在将研究设计、统计、人类思维和行为方面的基本可转移技能应用于与其社区有关的问题，包括与环境和气候科学有关的问题方面投入了大量资金。该项目将研究潜在学者的需求，并发展跨机构和社区伙伴关系，以制定适当的计划和支持，并将其纳入未来的第三轨道提案。该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。该项目有三个主要目标：1)利用和扩大三所高等教育机构之间现有的和新的联系；2)加强与社区团体的伙伴关系，帮助有才能的低收入学生取得成功；3)确定潜在学者的具体需求，强调他们的独特优势。具体目标包括与财政援助合作，了解各个地点的高经济需求是如何确定的；举行文化知情的焦点小组，从低收入、高潜力学生那里收集他们的需求和目标的信息；与俄勒冈州立大学的STEM学习研究中心合作，制定一项以未来学者群体为中心的研究计划；并与西俄勒冈大学评估中心协商制定评估计划。遗产大学、西俄勒冈大学和俄勒冈州立大学的奖励前拨款支持、文化顾问和其他校园合作伙伴将协助规划高质量Track 3 S-STEM提案所需的组成部分。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 strengthening collaborations and planning for a future Track 3 S-STEM proposal that would support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Heritage University, Western Oregon University, and Oregon State University. Talented low-income students at Heritage University and Western Oregon University bring unique community and cultural connections to their educational experiences. Psychology is a popular STEM major across the U.S., and although some low-income, high potential students do not at first think of themselves as “scientists”, they are attracted to the discipline for many reasons. Often, they are highly invested in applying the fundamental, transferable skills in research design, statistics, human thinking and behavior to problems related to their communities, including problems related to environmental and climate science. This project will examine the needs of potential scholars and develop cross-institution and community partnerships in order to develop appropriate programs and supports to be integrated into a future Track 3 proposal. The overall goal of this 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. The project has 3 main goals: 1) leveraging and expanding existing and new connections among the three higher education institutions; 2) strengthening partnerships with community groups relevant to the success of talented, low-income students; and 3) identifying the specific needs of potential scholars with an emphasis on their unique strengths. Specific aims include collaborating with financial aid to understand how high financial need is determined across sites, holding culturally informed focus groups to gather information from low income, high potential students on their needs and goals, collaborating with the STEM Learning research center at OSU to develop a plan for research centered on the population of prospective scholars; and developing an evaluation plan in consultation with the evaluation center at Western Oregon University. Pre-award grant support, cultural consultants, and other campus partners at Heritage University, Western Oregon University, and Oregon State University will assist in the planning of components necessary for a quality Track 3 S-STEM proposal. 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.