Developing Intensive Opportunities for Physics, Chemistry and Biology

在国家科学基金科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)项目的资助下，该项目将为20名在萨斯奎哈纳大学攻读物理、化学或生物学士学位的有经济需要的高成就、低收入学生提供奖学金。除了支持这些学生取得成功的编程外，该项目还将包括学生和行业之间的一系列圆桌讨论。该项目还将开发一个远程指导计划，将奖学金获得者与行业导师联系起来，这将对学生的成功产生积极影响，并有助于使STEM教育与STEM劳动力需求保持一致。该项目将招聘并向20名有经济需要的STEM学生提供奖学金，并争取在第五年年底前让20名奖学金获得者毕业。预计90%的学生将在毕业后八个月内被研究生项目录取或进入STEM专业的劳动力大军。该项目将开发针对奖学金获得者量身定做的具体方案，包括跨学科暑期桥项目、Susquehanna展望课程的专门部分、获得夏季研究机会的机会、学术成就中心内的STEM单元，以及包括与行业导师和其他受邀演讲者互动的跨学科研讨会课程。该项目还将与当地和地区劳动力组织(如宾夕法尼亚州中部劳动力发展委员会)进行一系列圆桌讨论，以更好地使STEM劳动力需求与STEM专业的供应相匹配。远程指导计划将在匹兹堡和费城大都市地区将学生与行业导师配对。导师和被辅导者不是面对面地见面，而是每月通过Skype或其他方式联系一次，讨论话题，包括学生的学习计划、研究经验和导师在行业中取得成功所依赖的战略。为了将萨斯奎哈纳大学等农村机构的学生与更偏远地区的行业合作伙伴联系起来，像拟议中的这样的远程指导计划是必要的。行业圆桌讨论和远程指导计划的成功将通过开放式访谈和定期调查相结合的方式进行衡量，这两项调查都将侧重于学生和行业合作伙伴对交换信息的质量的感觉，以及STEM学生进入行业或研究生项目的准备情况。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。

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will provide scholarships to 20 high-achieving, low-income students with financial need who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Physics, Chemistry, or Biology at Susquehanna University. In addition to programming that supports the success of these students, the project will include a series of roundtable discussions between students and industry. The project will also develop a tele-mentoring program to connect scholarship recipients with industry mentors, which can positively affect student success and help align STEM education with STEM workforce needs. The project will recruit and provide scholarships to 20 STEM students with financial need, and seeks to graduate 20 scholarship recipients by the end of year five. It is expected that 90% of the students will either be accepted into a graduate program or enter the workforce in their STEM major within eight months of graduation. The project will develop specific programming tailored to the scholarship recipients, including an interdisciplinary summer bridge program, a dedicated section of the Susquehanna Perspectives course, access to summer research opportunities, a STEM-based unit within the Center for Academic Achievement, and an interdisciplinary seminar course that includes interaction with industry mentors and other invited speakers. The project will also conduct a series of roundtable discussions with local and regional workforce organizations, such as the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board, to better align STEM workforce needs with the supply of STEM majors. The tele-mentoring program will pair students with industry mentors in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Rather than meeting in person, the mentor and mentee will connect monthly via Skype or other means once a month to discuss topics including the student's program of study, research experiences, and strategies the mentor has relied upon for success in industry. Tele-mentoring programs such as the one proposed are necessary to connect students at rural institutions, such as Susquehanna University, with industry partners at more distant locations. The success of the industry roundtable discussions and tele-mentoring program will be measured with a combination of open-ended interviews and periodic surveys, both of which will focus on the students' and industry partners' sense of the quality of information exchanged and the STEM students' preparedness to enter industry or a graduate program.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.