Southwest Ohio Scholars: (Re)defining Academic Belonging for Computer Science Students and Families

该项目将通过支持辛辛那提大学（UC）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，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。该项目为期六年，将为36名攻读计算机科学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。一年级学生将获得四年奖学金。西南俄亥俄学者计划（SOSP）的目标是吸引、留住和支持加州大学CS专业的低收入本科生，加州大学是辛辛那提最古老的高等教育机构，拥有44,000多名学生。与该校面向计算机科学专业学生的强制性合作项目相结合，这些学者有望获得完成学术生涯所需的经济资源。预计总共将有36名独特的奖学金获得者在CS领域获得服务。该项目将包括家庭在夏季的指导和桥梁项目，以更好地了解如何支持他们的学生的成功。该计划旨在重点提供学术、经济和社会支持，帮助这些学生在学业上取得成功，并最终进入劳动力市场，成为下一代计算机科学的领导者。最终目标是为CS学生营造一个支持性和包容性的环境，增强CS劳动力管道，并在更广泛的STEM社区中产生积极影响。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。该计划的三个主要目标是：(1)招收36名加州大学计算机科学专业的学者，(2)提高SOSP学者的第一年保留率，(3)提高SOSP学者的6年毕业率。该项目旨在加强该部门的文化，加强归属感，并将家庭作为大学社区的一部分。该项目侧重于兴趣建立过程的主要驱动因素：自我效能感、结果预期和愿望目标。数据收集将遵循短期和长期计划，以提供从第一年到毕业期间所提出的干预措施对SOSP学生表现的影响的纵向记录。该项目有潜力为STEM领域的教育研究做出贡献。项目团队计划进行三项研究，以探索低收入家庭的学生如何发展和维持他们对计算机科学的兴趣，以及什么样的环境和背景激励这些学生坚持并在计算机科学领域取得成功。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 supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at University of Cincinnati (UC). Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 36 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science (CS). The first-year students will receive 4-year scholarships. The goal of the Southwest Ohio Scholars Program (SOSP) is to attract, retain, and support low-income undergraduate students in CS at the UC, the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati with an enrollment of over 44,000 students. Paired with the university's mandatory co-op program for CS students, the scholars are anticipated to have the financial resources to complete their academic careers. A total of 36 unique scholarship recipients are anticipated to be served all together in the field of CS. The program will involve families in the summer orientation and bridge program to better understand how to support their student's success. This initiative seeks to focus on providing academic, financial, and social support to help these students succeed in their studies and eventually enter the workforce as the next generation of computer science leaders. The ultimate goal is to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for CS students, enhance the CS workforce pipeline, and drive positive impacts in the broader STEM community. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The program’s three main objectives are: (1) to enroll 36 scholars in UC’s CS major, (2) to increase first-year retention rates for SOSP scholars, and (3) to increase 6-year graduation rates for SOSP scholars. The project intends to strengthen the culture of the department, bolster attitudes of belonging as well as include families as part of the university community. The project focuses on the primary drivers of an interest-building process: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals of aspiration. Data collection will follow a short-term and long-term schedule to provide a longitudinal record of how the effects of the proposed interventions on SOSP scholars' performance from their first year to graduation. This project has the potential to contribute to educational research in STEM fields. The project team plans to conduct three studies to explore how students from low-income families develop and sustain their interests in CS and what circumstances and contexts motivate these students to persist and succeed in the CS field. 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.