Establishing an Inter-institutional San Fernando Valley Collaborative to Improve STEM Transfer Student Support, Retention, and Graduation

该规划项目将通过支持加州州立大学、北岭大学(CSUN)和圣费尔南多山谷(SFV)的三所地区社区学院、洛杉矶教会学院、洛杉矶皮尔斯学院和洛杉矶山谷学院的高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生的留校和毕业，来促进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。这四个机构都是为拉美裔服务的机构(HSI)。在CSUN，56%的本科生是佩尔助学金获得者，超过50%的新生是从社区学院转来的。协作团队将确定战略合作伙伴关系、学生成功的障碍以及公平意识的倡议，以在从社区大学向四年制院校转型的关键时期支持低收入、历史上服务不足的大学生。该项目将促进在SFV的两年制和四年制高等教育机构之间加强STEM研究和教育基础设施的知识，SFV是洛杉矶三分之一以上拉丁裔人口的家园。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学位毕业率。目标包括在整个SFV建立一个利益相关者的领导团队，为低收入、历史上服务不足的学生拓宽进入STEM的途径。该团队将评估STEM转移、保留和毕业的需求和障碍。最终，该团队将制定一个未来的轨道3 S-STEM提案，具有股权思维的战略和严格的评估计划。学生在从社区大学迁移到四年制院校的过程中遇到了财务和社会文化障碍，必须适应新的期望和财务需求。转学学生占中大新生的大多数，这种转学冲击反映在STEM的学业表现和以复杂的方式承受解脱的坚持不懈上。本项目中提出的跨学科和跨机构合作伙伴之间的知识转移将有助于开发有针对性的工具和方法，以支持社区学院和四年制本科生。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 planning 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 California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and three regional community colleges in the San Fernando Valley (SFV), Los Angeles Mission College, Los Angeles Pierce College, and Los Angeles Valley College. All four institutions are Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). At CSUN, 56% of undergraduate students are Pell Grant recipients and over 50% of incoming students transferred from a community college. The collaborative team will determine strategic partnerships, barriers to student success, and equity-minded initiatives to support low-income, historically underserved college students during a critical period in the transfer from community college to 4-year institution. This project will advance knowledge in enhancing infrastructure for STEM research and education between 2-year and 4-year institutions of higher education in the SFV, home to over a third of the Latinx population in Los Angeles. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Objectives include building a leadership team of stakeholders across the SFV to broaden pathways to STEM for low-income, historically underserved students. The team will assess needs and barriers to STEM transfer, retention, and graduation. Ultimately, the team will develop a future Track 3 S-STEM proposal with equity-minded strategies and rigorous evaluation plan. Students experience financial and sociocultural barriers in relocating from a community college to 4-year institution having to adapt to new expectations and financial needs. Transfer students make up the majority of incoming students at CSUN and this transfer shock is reflected in STEM academic performance and persistence in complex ways that bear disentangling. The knowledge transfer proposed between interdisciplinary and inter-institutional partners in the current project will facilitate the development of targeted tools and approaches to support community college and 4-year undergraduate students alike. 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.