Ensuring STEM Student Success Through an Integrative Support Program

该项目将通过支持在阿德尔菲大学（AU）有经济需要的优秀低收入学生的保留和毕业，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。作为纽约大都会区的一所综合性大学，阿德尔菲大学地理位置优越，对高学历STEM劳动力的需求日益增长。阿德尔菲奖学金获得者将主修生物学、生物化学、化学、计算机科学、环境科学、数学或物理学，并将获得四年本科教育的财政支持。在6年的项目中，该项目将为25位独特的学者提供财政支持以及学术和课外支持活动，以提高这些学生的保留率、成功率和毕业率。通过全面的方法，学生将发展必要的技能，在工作中取得成功。该项目的工作将包括创新的招聘策略，包括与当地几所高中合作，这些高中有很大一部分学生有资格获得免费午餐。一旦进入阿德菲，学生将受益于一个多层次的、协作的指导网络模式，包括同龄人、校友和教师导师。学生将通过队列活动，包括研究非盟建立的环境可持续性问题的跨学科项目，培养对STEM劳动力重要的技能。学生还将通过两次暑期研究奖学金和参加科学会议获得关键的研究技能。毕业后，学生将准备进入研究生课程或当地的STEM劳动力。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。为了实现这一点，项目将追求几个额外的目标。第一个目标是招募25名不同的STEM学者，分为两组，并实施一套基于证据和创新的学术和课外活动，以支持、留住和毕业这些学者。第二是通过项目评估，通过使用混合方法技术来分析、提供形成性反馈，并深入了解项目的个人和集体支持活动对学生的保留、参与、成功和毕业的有效性，从而为知识库做出贡献。第三是将这些学生在毕业后安置到STEM劳动力或STEM研究生项目中。为了实现这些目标，该项目将与当地几所高中和当地STEM雇主合作，包括布鲁克海文国家实验室、ThorLabs和Photonix。在阿德尔菲大学社区内，该项目将与大学的指导和学术指导项目合作。第四个目标是发展一个可持续和可复制的国家模式，并传播该模式的成果，以告知其他寻求支持有才华的低收入STEM学生的高等教育专业人员和机构。这项工作的发现和成果将通过支持STEM学生的虚拟会议在区域传播，并通过在会议上的演讲和同行评审期刊上的出版物在全国传播。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 Adelphi University (AU). As a comprehensive university in the NY metropolitan area, Adelphi is well-situated in a geographic region with a growing need for a highly educated STEM workforce. The Adelphi scholars will major in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, mathematics, or physics and will be awarded financial support for the four years of their undergraduate education. Over the 6 years of the project, the project will support twenty-five (25) unique scholars with financial support as well as academic and co-curricular support activities to increase the retention, success, and graduation of these students. Through a holistic approach, students will develop the necessary skills to be successful in the workforce. The work of this project will include with an innovative recruitment strategy including partnerships at several local high schools that have a large proportion of students who qualify for free lunch. Once at Adelphi, students will benefit from a multi-tiered, collaborative mentoring network model including peer, alumni, and faculty mentors. Students will develop skills important for the STEM workforce through cohort activities including an interdisciplinary project to study environmental sustainability issues established by AU. Students will also acquire key research skills through two summer research fellowships and attendance at scientific conferences. Upon graduation, students will be prepared to enter either graduate programs or the local STEM workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. To accomplish this, the project will pursue several additional goals. A first goal is to recruit a diverse set of 25 STEM scholars in 2 cohorts and to implement a suite of evidence-based and innovative academic and co-curricular activities to support, retain, and graduate these scholars. Second is to contribute to the knowledge base through project evaluation by employing mixed-methods techniques to analyze, provide formative feedback, and gain insights into the effectiveness of the project's individual and collective support activities for retention, engagement, success, and graduation of students. Third is to place these students upon graduation into the STEM workforce or STEM graduate programs. To help achieve these goals, the project will partnerships with several local high schools and local STEM employers including Brookhaven National Labs, ThorLabs, and Photonix. Within the Adelphi University community, this project will partner with University's mentoring and academic coaching programs. A fourth goal is to develop a sustainable and replicable national model, and to disseminate results from this model, to inform other higher-education professionals and institutions seeking to support talented, low-income STEM students. The findings and outcomes of this work will be disseminated regionally through a virtual conference on supporting STEM students and nationally through presentations at conferences and publications in peer-reviewed journals. 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.