Scholarships, Academic, and Social Supports to Provide Low-Income Transfers Students Opportunities for Nurtured Growth in AI

奖学金、学术和社会支持为低收入转学生提供促进人工智能发展的机会

• 批准号: 2321986
• 负责人: Mubarak Shah
• 金额: $ 249.05万
• 依托单位: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-15 至 2029-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2321986&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Scholarships; Academic; Social; Supports; Provide

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 the University of Central Florida (UCF). As one of the largest universities in the nation, UCF is among the top three institutions enrolling transfer students and is recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to fifty unique full-time students who are pursuing Bachelor of Science (BS) or Master of Science (MS) degrees in the artificial intelligence (AI) fields of Computer Science, Computer Vision, Computer Engineering, Data Analytics, and Statistics & Data Science. With BS+MS programs in place, many of these students will be able to complete an MS degree in just 12 months after completion of a BS degree. All scholarship recipients will enter the program as transfer students entering the university and will receive support until graduation. These students are at a critical phase in their academic careers, at a time when obstacles of many varieties have the greatest potential to cause students to reconsider their paths, becoming vulnerable to attrition. Each program participant is given a faculty mentor, who has expertise in his/her field of study, and a peer mentor, who is near graduation for a degree in that field. The mentors serve as a personal guides for the student as he/she navigates unknown territory at a new institution and begins challenging coursework. Scholarships provide freedom to focus on studies, without the additional burden of finding ways to pay for it. Altogether, the support of a scholarship, a mentor, and a community of like-minded students, promises to reduce the obstacles students face, keep them interested in their field of study, and motivate them to excel academically. Students will be streamlined into existing research groups or industrial internships or REUs, which will later be used to place qualified students into the workforce.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need. The specific aims of the project are to (i) ensure scholars are retained past the first year, (ii) ensure scholars persist and complete a BS degree in high-need fields of AI, and (iii) substantially increase the number of MS degrees in AI fields. To achieve the project goals, we will (a) provide transfer students a strong sense of belonging and establish their identities as AI scholars, (b) develop scholars’ proficiency in AI through mentoring and advanced coursework, with potential for research and internships, and (c) provide clear pathways to MS degree completion with financial support. The expected outcomes are 90% retention rate past the first year, 90% participation rate in internships or research projects, and 60% acceptance rate into MS degree programs in AI fields. To ensure the project remains on track for achieving its goals, an external evaluator will monitor the selection and recruitment process, along with graduation and retention rates, as well as student and mentor activities. Program results will be disseminated through the program webpage, reports at conferences and article publication. 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.

该项目将通过支持中佛罗里达大学 (UCF) 保留和毕业那些成绩优异、有经济需要的低收入学生，满足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。 作为全美最大的大学之一，UCF 是招收转学生的前三名院校之一，并被公认为西班牙裔服务机构。 该项目为期五年，将为 50 名正在攻读计算机科学、计算机视觉、计算机工程、数据分析以及统计与数据科学等人工智能 (AI) 领域理学学士 (BS) 或理学硕士 (MS) 学位的独特全日制学生提供奖学金。有了 BS+MS 课程，这些学生中的许多人将能够在完成学士学位后的短短 12 个月内完成硕士学位。所有奖学金获得者都将作为转学生进入大学，并获得支持直至毕业。这些学生正处于学术生涯的关键阶段，此时各种各样的障碍最有可能导致学生重新考虑他们的道路，从而很容易受到自然减员的影响。 每个项目参与者都有一名在其研究领域拥有专业知识的教师导师，以及一名即将获得该领域学位的同伴导师。当学生在新机构探索未知领域并开始具有挑战性的课程作业时，导师将充当学生的个人指南。奖学金提供了专注于学习的自由，而无需寻找支付方式的额外负担。 总而言之，奖学金、导师和志同道合的学生社区的支持有望减少学生面临的障碍，保持他们对学习领域的兴趣，并激励他们在学业上取得优异成绩。学生将被精简到现有的研究小组或工业实习或 REU，这些小组随后将用于将合格的学生安置到劳动力队伍中。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、成绩优异的学生完成 STEM 学位。 该项目的具体目标是（i）确保学者在第一年之后继续留任，（ii）确保学者坚持并完成人工智能高需求领域的学士学位，以及（iii）大幅增加人工智能领域硕士学位的数量。 为了实现项目目标，我们将（a）为转学生提供强烈的归属感并确立他们作为人工智能学者的身份，（b）通过指导和高级课程提高学者对人工智能的熟练程度，并具有研究和实习的潜力，以及（c）在财政支持下提供完成硕​​士学位的明确途径。 预期成果是第一年的保留率达到 90%，实习或研究项目的参与率达到 90%，人工智能领域硕士学位课程的录取率达到 60%。 为了确保项目继续实现其目标，外部评估员将监督选拔和招聘过程、毕业率和保留率，以及学生和导师的活动。 计划结果将通过计划网页、会议报告和文章出版来传播。 该项目由 NSF 科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加具有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生获得 STEM 领域学位的数量。它还旨在改善未来 STEM 工作者的教育，并产生有关低收入学生的学业成功、保留、转学、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价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。