Promoting STEM Degrees and Careers through a Natural Science Scholar Program

这个S-STEM项目每年为休斯顿大学克利尔湖分校STEM专业的高水平学生提供16个奖学金。UHCL学生作为大三学生入学，STEM项目设计得很好，以服务于社区大学转学学生。这些奖学金将提供给有学术天赋的低收入本科生，他们正在攻读生物、化学、环境科学和物理学位。加州大学伯克利分校的STEM研究为低收入和代表性不足的学生进入与科学相关的职业提供了一条天然的渠道。这个S-STEM项目不仅是对S-STEM先前针对计算和数学专业的项目的补充，而且也是在先前项目中吸取的经验教训的基础上进行的。该项目的智力价值是通过以下功能实现的：招聘活动、教师参与多种能力、同行和职业指导、自然科学学者组织、研究经验的机会、强调发展沟通技能、通过与当地高科技实验室和行业的伙伴关系获得职业曝光率，以及一套明确定义的衡量标准来评估和提高项目效率。通过教育和多样化为STEM工作做准备的劳动力来实现广泛的影响。学者在社区大学、地方会议和专业科学组织的全国会议上展示他们的经验成果，也将产生更广泛的影响。已有计划在STEM专业学会的会议和期刊上介绍项目成果，并通过项目网站向公众提交报告。

This S-STEM project provides 16 scholarships per year to upper-level STEM majors at the University of Houston, Clear Lake. UHCL students enter as juniors, and the STEM programs are well designed to serve community college transfer students. The scholarships are being made available to academically talented, low-income undergraduate students pursuing degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, and Physics. STEM studies at UHCL provide a natural pipeline for low-income and underrepresented students to enter science-related careers. This S-STEM project not only complements a prior S-STEM project for computing and mathematics majors but also builds upon lessons learned from the prior project. Intellectual merit of the project is realized by features that include recruitment activities, faculty involvement in several capacities, peer and career mentoring, a Natural Science Scholar Organization, opportunities for research experiences, an emphasis on developing communication skills, career exposure via partnerships with local high technology laboratories and industries, and a well-defined set of metrics to evaluate and improve project effectiveness.Broader impacts are realized by educating and diversifying a workforce prepared for STEM jobs. Broader impacts will also result from scholars presenting results of their experiences at community colleges, local conferences, and national meetings of professional science organizations. Plans exist to present project outcomes at meetings of professional STEM societies and in journals as well as reports to the public via the project website.