Fostering Equity, Support, and Community for Underrepresented STEM Students

在国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)计划的资助下，该项目名为“为代表性不足的STEM学生培养公平、支持和社区”，将为在威拉米特大学STEM学科取得成功的有经济需求和学术承诺的低收入学生提供支持。该项目将在五年内为正在攻读生物、化学、计算机科学、工程预科、数学或物理学士学位的STEM学者提供12个四年奖学金。作为该计划的一部分，另外18名STEM研究员将获得一系列旨在帮助他们在STEM取得学术坚持和成功的学术和共同课程支持。这些活动包括队列建设活动、联合注册STEM入门课程、强化教师指导、近同行指导、STEM主题住宿社区、校园领导职位、研究和实习机会，以及有针对性地接触、准备和规划STEM研究生教育和职业机会。STEM奖学金计划的目标包括：1)提高低收入STEM学生的录取率、保留率、成就率、归属感和毕业率；2)提高低收入和代表性不足的学生在制度界定的STEM障碍课程中的坚持性和表现；3)减轻全日制、低收入STEM学生面临的经济负担，并为他们提供有意义的机会获得相关的有偿学术和专业经验；4)确保STEM学生带着个性化的计划离开，以指导他们毕业后的追求；以及5)加强对低收入、第一代和历史上代表不足的STEM学生需求的机构理解，以确定哪些循证实践最适合在威拉米特大学永久实施。在为STEM学者提供学术奖学金的同时，将为STEM学者和研究员提供有针对性的学术和学生支持干预，贯穿他们的学士学位经历。该项目的调查结果将公之于众，以便分享将有助于未来STEM工作人员和领导者教育的最佳做法。

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the project entitled, "Fostering Equity, Support, and Community for Underrepresented STEM students" will provide support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Willamette University. The project will fund 12 four-year scholarships over five years for STEM Scholars who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, chemistry, computer science, pre-engineering, mathematics, or physics. As part of the program, an additional 18 additional STEM Fellows will have access to a series of academic and co-curricular supports designed to help them achieve academic persistence and success in STEM. These include cohort-building activities, co-enrollment in introductory STEM courses, intensive faculty mentoring, near-peer mentoring, a STEM-themed residential community, on-campus leadership positions, research and internship opportunities, and targeted exposure, preparation, and planning for STEM graduate education and career opportunities. Objectives of the STEM Scholars program include 1) increasing the recruitment, retention, success, sense of belonging, and graduation rates for low-income STEM students; 2) improving low-income and underrepresented students' persistence and performance in institutionally-defined STEM barrier courses; 3) reducing the financial burden faced by full-time, low-income STEM students, and providing meaningful opportunities for them to gain relevant paid academic and professional experience; 4) ensuring that STEM students leave with a personalized plan to guide their post-baccalaureate pursuits; and 5) improving institutional understanding of low-income, first-generation, and historically under-represented STEM students' needs in order to determine which evidence-based practices are best suited to be permanently implemented at Willamette University. In conjunction with academic scholarships for STEM scholars, targeted academic and student support interventions will be provided to both STEM Scholars and Fellows throughout their baccalaureate experience. Findings from this project will be made available publicly, allowing for the sharing of best practices that will contribute to the education of future STEM workers and leaders.