The STEM Core Experience: Fostering STEM talent through community building and wellness support

该项目将为国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献，方法是支持高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生留在平头河谷社区学院(FVCC)并毕业。FVCC为进入高等教育机构的机会有限和社会经济机会有限的农村地区提供服务。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为30名正在攻读生物、化学、计算机科学、工程学、法医学、林业、地质学、数学和物理学副学士学位的全日制和兼职学生提供奖学金。一年级学生将获得最多三年的奖学金支持。该项目将通过一对一的教师指导和STEM学习社区培养学生的STEM认同感，从而提高学生的毅力并转学到四年制大学。学生还将有机会获得心理健康和健康指导，以帮助提高STEM的保留率和弹性。该项目将通过促进包容性课堂环境、支持学术成功和提高STEM劳动力技能，为学者、FVCC和整个地区带来直接好处。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。该项目旨在提高STEM学生的持久率、保留率、副学士毕业率和转化率，为他们未来的STEM职业生涯做好准备。该项目将利用一种综合的方法来支持学者，包括三个主要组成部分：奖学金、STEM身份和社区建设以及心理健康和健康咨询。奖学金将增加学生的偿付能力，减轻经济压力。该项目将建立STEM学习社区，包括共同的第一年课程和一个强大的STEM座谈会，以及一对一的教师指导。预计这些组成部分将培养STEM的认同感和归属感，这两者都是持久性和保持性的预测因素。学生还将与心理健康顾问联系，进行定期的健康辅导，目的是提高学生的韧性和幸福感。通过这些联合课程的提供，该项目有可能促进对STEM身份、心理健康以及在攻读STEM学位过程中的坚持性、保持性和弹性之间的联系的理解。该项目的结果也可能为当地高中和农村社区大学提供一个模式，希望通过心理健康支持来培养学生的成功。这些联系将由项目领导团队和外部评估员使用混合方法设计进行调查。该项目的成果将通过地方会议、区域和国家介绍以及在适当的期刊上发表，向所有适当的利益攸关方提供。传播工作将在FVCC、区域高中、社区论坛和其他适当的环境中进行。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入、有经济需求的低收入学业天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学业成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC). FVCC serves rural areas with limited access to institutions of higher education and socio-economic opportunity. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 30 unique full-time and part-time students who are pursuing Associate’s degrees in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, forensic science, forestry, geology, mathematics, and physics. First-year students will receive up to three years of scholarship support. The project will increase student persistence and transfer to 4-year colleges by cultivating students’ STEM identity through one-on-one faculty mentorship and STEM learning communities. Students will also have access to mental health and wellness coaching to help improve STEM retention and resiliency. The project will provide immediate benefits to the scholars, FVCC, and the region at large by fostering inclusive classroom environments, supporting academic success, and improving STEM workforce skills. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project aims to increase the persistence, retention, Associate’s degree graduation rate, and transfer rate of STEM students to better prepare them for future STEM careers. This project will utilize an integrated approach to supporting scholars with three primary components: scholarships, STEM identity and community building, and mental health and wellness counseling. Scholarships will increase student solvency and decrease financial stress. The project will establish STEM learning communities with common first-year courses and a robust STEM colloquium along with one-on-one faculty mentoring. Those components are expected to foster STEM identity and sense of belonging, both of which are predictors of persistence and retention. Students will also be connected to a mental health counselor for regular wellness coaching with the aim of increasing student resilience and sense of well-being. Through these co-curricular offerings the project holds potential to promote understanding of the connection between STEM identity, mental health, and persistence, retention, and resiliency in the pursuit of a STEM degree. Results of the project may also provide a model for local high schools and rural community colleges looking to foster student success through mental health support. These connections will be investigated by the project leadership team and the external evaluator using a mixed methods design. Results of this project will be made available to all appropriate stakeholders via local meetings, regional and national presentations, and publication in appropriate journals. Dissemination efforts will take place at FVCC, regional high schools, community forums, and other settings, as appropriate. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically-talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.