Collaborative Research: Exploring Sustainable Strategies to Support Success of STEM Students with Financial Need

在美国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，该项目将支持北肯塔基大学和费里斯州立大学表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生。在五年的资助期内，该项目将向288名低收入、成绩优异的本科生提供平均2500美元的奖学金，每所院校每年分四批发放36名学生。该项目将是两所规模相似但位置不同的公立大学之间的合作伙伴关系：北肯塔基大学位于人口超过200万的大都市区，而费里斯州立大学位于密歇根州的农村地区，人口不到11000人，距离最近的市区几乎有一个小时的路程。该计划旨在：将有经济需要的优秀学生的STEM入学率提高10%；第一年到第二年的保留率达到90%；与STEM学科和整个大学的类似人群相比，提高S-STEM学者的留校率和毕业率，特别是那些来自STEM中代表性不足群体的学者；记录北肯塔基大学干预措施的可持续性和可扩展性？已完成NSF资助；并确定跟踪STEM专业人员对S-STEM学者第一年至第二年保留率的有效性。该项目将以三个成功完成的国家科学基金资助项目的经验教训为基础，这些项目增加了获得STEM学位并进入劳动力市场或STEM研究生课程的低收入学术天才学生的招聘、保留和毕业。专业见习是一种成本效益高、可扩展的干预手段。该项目将调查这种以前未经测试的干预措施是否能对STEM保留率产生重大的积极影响。项目学者将参加入学指导、新生研讨会、学习社区、创业教育以及课外活动和丰富机会。学者招聘将依赖于每所大学的传统招聘方法，并在低收入和代表性不足的学生人数众多的地区进行有针对性的招聘。奖学金获得者将被分配给项目团队中的一名导师。每个学者将属于两个小组：一个小组将包括共享学习社区的学生，其中将包括一些非项目学者的学生；另一组将专门为项目学者提供，由12名学生组成，他们将集体或单独与同一名一年级导师会面。为了测试专业影子的效果，每年秋季都会有一组12名一年级学者进行影子培训；另一组由12名一年级学者组成的小组将在春季进行影子活动；而第三组12人将不会成为影子。辛辛那提大学评价服务中心将作为独立的外部评价机构来确定项目实现其目标的程度。在整个项目的生命周期中，北肯塔基大学和费里斯州立大学将在当地、全州和全国范围内传播“经验教训”。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 NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Northern Kentucky University and Ferris State University. Throughout its five years of funding, this project will provide scholarships averaging $2,500 to 288 unique low-income high-achieving undergraduates, in four annual cohorts of 36 students at each institution. This project will be a partnership between two similar-sized but differently situated public universities: Northern Kentucky University, located in a metropolitan region of more than two million people, and Ferris State University, located in a rural region of Michigan with a population of fewer than 11,000 people, almost one hour from the nearest urban area. The program aims to: Increase the STEM enrollment of high achieving students with financial need by 10%; Achieve a 90% retention rate in the transition from first to second year; Increase the retention and graduation rates of S-STEM scholars particularly those from underrepresented groups in STEM compared to similar populations in both STEM disciplines and the university as a whole; Document the sustainability and scalability of the interventions in Northern Kentucky University?s previously completed NSF grants; and Determine the effectiveness of shadowing STEM professionals on the first- to second-year retention rate of S-STEM Scholars.The project will build on the lessons learned from three successfully completed NSF grants that increased the recruitment, retention, and graduation of low-income academically-talented students who obtained degrees in STEM and entered the workforce or graduate programs in STEM. Professional shadowing is a cost-effective, scalable intervention. The project will investigate whether this previously untested intervention can have a significant, positive impact on STEM retention. Project scholars will participate in an orientation, a freshman seminar, a learning community, entrepreneurship education, and co-curricular and enrichment opportunities. Scholar recruitment will rely on each university's traditional recruiting methods augmented by targeted recruiting in areas with large populations of low-income and underrepresented students. Scholars will be assigned to a mentor from the project team. Each scholar will belong to two groups: one group will include the students in the shared learning community, which will include some students who are not project scholars; the other group will be exclusively for project scholars and will consist of 12 students who meet, collectively and individually, with the same first-year mentor. To test the efficacy of professional shadowing, each year a group of 12 first year Scholars will shadow in the fall; another group of 12 first year Scholars will shadow in the spring; and a third group of 12 will not shadow. The University of Cincinnati Evaluation Services Center will serve as the independent external evaluator to determine the extent to which the project achieves its objectives. Throughout the life of the project, both Northern Kentucky University and Ferris State University will disseminate "lessons learned" locally, statewide, and nationally.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.