SUCCESS-LEADERS: Leading Educational and Academic Directions to Enhance Retention in STEM

在美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）项目的资助下，SUCCESS-LEADERS正在为低收入家庭的学生提供支持，这些学生有经济需求，并有在联合学院STEM学科取得成功的学术希望。S-STEM第二轨道项目在五年内资助了20名攻读数学、科学、工程或计算机科学学士学位的学生。该项目将从农村地区招收学生，并为来自资源不足的农村高中的有学术天赋的学生提供奖学金。该项目将增加联合学院STEM专业学生的入学人数，并显著提高这些学生的保留率；因此，更多的人将毕业并进入STEM劳动力市场。“成功领袖”项目的学者将获得多种不同方式的支持，包括获得行业经验、从事STEM领域的研究工作，以及在大学期间加入一个支持他们的社区。主要研究人员将使用回顾性纵向研究的证据来评估联合学院以前和现在由NSF - stem资助的旨在保留科学和工程学科中高危人群的计划的长期影响。SUCCESS-LEADERS项目将通过开发、完善和实施以学习者为中心的实践，进一步加强联合学院在科学和工程领域的课程设置和课外丰富项目，提高对影响低收入、高危人群留任和职业道路的因素的理解。success - leaders奖学金获得者将获得为期四年的奖学金援助和个性化支持，以满足他们独特的教育和经济需求。该项目的总体目标是：1)增加有学术天赋、有经济需要的学生的申请和录取数量，主要来自资源不足的农村高中；2)通过专门解决学习机会有限的学生面临的挑战，提高这些学生在联合大学STEM领域的保留率和成功率；3)增加工程、物理、数学和计算机科学领域的女性人数，以及所有学科中代表性不足的群体；4)通过学院的行业指导计划，为学生提供早期的研究机会、与行业的联系和实习机会、出国留学和领导力培训，为学生提供加强教育的机会；5)通过促进富有成效的师徒关系，改善本科教育体验，促进专业进步，以解决和克服STEM中典型的人员流失问题。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。

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, SUCCESS-LEADERS is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Union College. This S-STEM Track 2 project is funding a total of 20 students over five years who are pursing a bachelor's degree in Mathematics, Science, Engineering, or Computer Science. The project will recruit from rural areas and provide scholarships for academically-talented students from under-resourced, rural high schools. The project will increase the number of Union College's STEM majors coming into the school and increase significantly the retention of these students; thus many more will graduate and enter the STEM workforce. SUCCESS-LEADERS scholars will be supported in several different ways, including access to experiences in industry, working on research in STEM areas, and belonging to a community to support them during their college years. The principal investigators will use evidence from a retrospective longitudinal study to assess the long range impact of Union College's prior and current NSF S-STEM-funded initiatives designed to retain at-risk populations in science and engineering disciplines.The SUCCESS-LEADERS project will further strengthen Union College's curricular offerings and co-curricular enrichment programs in science and engineering by developing, refining and implementing learner-centered practices that advance understanding of the factors affecting retention and career pathways of low-income, at-risk populations. SUCCESS-LEADERS scholars will be provided four-years of scholarship aid and individualized support to help achieve success by meeting the educational and financial needs unique to their situation and background. The overall goals of the project are to: 1) increase the number of applications and admissions from academically-talented students with demonstrated financial need, drawing primarily from under-resourced, rural high schools; 2) improve retention and success of these students in STEM fields at Union by specifically addressing the challenges faced by students with limited academic opportunities; 3) increase the number of women in engineering, physics, mathematics and computer science, and underrepresented groups in all disciplines; 4) provide students with opportunities to enhance their education through early introduction to research opportunities, connections to industry and internships through the College's Industry Mentoring Program, study abroad, and leadership training; and 5) improve undergraduate educational experiences and promote professional advancement by facilitating fruitful mentoring relationships in order to address and overcome typical areas of attrition in STEM.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.