Scholarships to Promote Retention and Graduation Rates in STEM Disciplines

STEM奖学金项目旨在增加来自代表性不足的群体的学士学位学生的数量，这些学生有资格参加国家的劳动力或继续在研究生院接受教育。为了实现这一目标，每年每学期有10名学生获得奖学金，这些奖学金直接抵消了该校许多有抱负的学生的经济需求。该项目的重点是保留，因此，从广义上讲，将研究和教育的结合作为核心指导原则。为了确保学者们的成功，该项目让他们参与最前沿的教育机会，并鼓励他们在学年期间在校园内和夏季校外参与大量的本科研究。这些学者通过教师和同伴参与以及职业咨询和建议获得教育和研究支持。学术支持项目，如补充指导和早期预警信号监测，被用来确保学生的成功。整合学者与互补性，现有的项目，如参加年度研究和创意活动研讨会，正在被用来促进学生的成长。出差参加专业会议的机会被认为是对学者的额外激励。该项目的重点是招收来自代表性不足的群体的学生，其中包括占亚利桑那州立大学学生总数92%的非裔美国人，他们希望主修分子生物学、免疫学、纳米生物技术、化学、物理、聚合物科学、计算科学或数学。

The STEM scholarship project is designed to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups with Bachelor's degrees and well-qualified to participate in the nation's workforce or to continue their education in graduate school. To achieve the goal, 10 students per semester are being awarded scholarships each year, scholarships that are directly offsetting the financial need that derails many such aspirants at this institution. The focus of the project is on retention, and as such, is using, in broad terms, the integration of research and education as the core guiding principle.To ensure scholars success, the project is engaging them in cutting edge education opportunities and is encouraging them to participate significantly in undergraduate research, both on campus during the academic year, and off-campus during summers. The scholars are receiving educational and research support through faculty and peer involvement as well as career counseling and advising. Academic support programs such as supplemental instruction and early warning signal monitoring are being used to ensure scholar success. Integration of the scholars with complementary, existing programs such as participation in the Annual Research and Creative Activity Symposium is being used to contribute to the growth of the students. Opportunities for travel to professional conferences are considered as additional motivation for the scholars.The project is focusing on recruiting students from underrepresented groups, including the 92% of ASU's student population that is African American, desiring to major in molecular biology, immunology, nanobiotechnology, chemistry, physics, polymer science, computational science, or mathematics.