Developing STEM Identity Through Holistic Student Support and Engagement

该项目将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，支持吉尔福德学院有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业。吉尔福德学院是一所男女同校的文科院校，位于北卡罗来纳州格林斯伯勒，也是美国东南部唯一一所贵格会创办的学院。在为期5年的时间里，该项目将为10名攻读生物、化学或计算机技术和信息系统(CTI)学士学位的全日制学生提供长达4年的奖学金。该项目旨在通过将奖学金与参与各种机会的机会联系起来，提高学生在STEM领域的坚持性：同行和教师指导；本科研究经验；跨学科研讨会经验；校友演讲；实习机会；参加特定学科的会议；以及探索进入研究生院的途径。该项目的财政和综合队列资源将为学者提供在STEM研究和职业生涯中取得成功的机会、社区、动机和技能。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。有四个具体目标：(1)招收10名计划主修生物、化学和CTIS的低收入一年级学生，他们有很高的学术潜力和未得到满足的经济需求，分成两组，每组5人；(2)留住至少80%的学者到第二年；(3)至少75%的学者在预科五年内毕业；以及(4)在毕业后六个月内，100%的学者毕业生获得STEM工作或研究生院就业机会。对拟议工作的外部评估旨在加深对拟议学生资助的贡献的理解，这些资助与奖学金相结合，可以为文科院校增加低收入STEM学生的留校率和毕业率的目标做出贡献。产生的知识将通过会议、同行评议期刊、学生演讲和论文、机构媒体、网络研讨会、网站和其他论坛广泛传播，以启发和分享所学到的经验教训。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 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 Guilford College. Guilford College is a coeducational, liberal arts institution located in Greensboro, NC and the only Quaker-founded college in the southeastern United States. Over its 5-year duration, this project will provide scholarships of up to four years to 10 full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, or computing technology and information systems (CTIS). The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with opportunities to engage in a breadth of opportunities: peer and faculty mentoring; undergraduate research experiences; an interdisciplinary seminar experience; alumni speakers; internship opportunities; participation in discipline-specific conferences; and exploring pathways to graduate school. The project's financial and wrap-around cohort resources will provide scholars with the opportunities, community, motivation, and skills to be successful in their STEM studies and careers. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are four specific aims: (1) recruit 10 low-income, first-year students planning to major in biology, chemistry, and CTIS and who have high academic potential and unmet financial need into two cohorts of 5, (2) retain at least 80% of Scholars into their second year; (3) graduate at least 75% of Scholars within five years of matriculation; and (4) yield 100% of Scholar graduates securing STEM employment or graduate school placement within six months of graduation. The external evaluation of the proposed effort is aimed at deepening understanding of the contributions that proposed student supports, when paired with scholarships, can make to a liberal arts institution’s goals of increased retention and graduation of low-income STEM students. Knowledge generated will be widely disseminated through conferences, peer-reviewed journals, student presentations and papers, institutional media, webinars, websites, and other forums to inspire and share lessons learned. 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.