Life STEM-Planning Project: Streamlining the Biology Curriculum and Improving the Quality of Student Academic Preparation and Achievement

历史上的黑人学院和大学-本科课程为项目提供支持，以设计、实施和评估战略，这些战略可以导致全面的机构努力，以增加获得科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)本科学位的学生数量，并通过加强STEM教育和研究来提高他们的准备质量。莫里斯学院的这项为期两年的计划项目旨在消除“一刀切”的生物学课程，以开发职业指导途径，努力提高未达到代表性的学生的保留率和四年毕业率。为响应在STEM培养少数族裔和代表性不足学生的呼吁，该项目的目标是精简生物学课程，以1)在生物网络安全和生物学-法医学领域开发两个新的职业道路，以及2)增加第一代学生在生物课程中的入学人数，使他们能够在学术和职业上取得成功。这种部门间的合作以及地方和州机构的合作伙伴关系旨在增加STEM学生的入学人数，并为学生进入研究生院或直接进入STEM工作队伍做准备。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。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program provides support for projects to design, implement, and assess strategies that can lead to comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the number of students receiving undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and enhance the quality of their preparation by strengthening STEM education and research. This two-year planning project at Morris College seeks to eliminate the "one-size-fits-all" Biology curriculum to develop career directed pathways in effort to improve retention and 4-year graduation rates for under-represented students. In response to the call for action in the preparation of minority and under-represented students in STEM, the project objectives are to streamline the biology curriculum to 1) develop two new career tracks in Bio-Cyber Security and Biology-Forensics and 2) increase enrollment for first-generation students in the biology program, enabling them to succeed academically and professionally. This inter-divisional collaboration and local and state agency partnership is positioned to increase STEM student enrollment and student preparation for graduate school or direct entry into the STEM workforce.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.