Integrative approaches to advancing retention, engagement, and graduation in STEM students across a multi-campus open-access institution

该项目将有助于对受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需要，通过支持高成就，低收入的学生在北格鲁吉亚大学表现出经济需要的保留和毕业。 北格鲁吉亚大学（UNG）是一所多校区大学，是全国六所高级军事学院之一，是国家指定的领导机构。 在六年的时间里，该项目将为至少31名正在攻读生物学、化学、工程学、数学和物理学副学士和学士学位的全日制和非全日制学生提供奖学金。 一年级和二年级的学生将获得长达四年的奖学金支持。 该项目旨在通过提供奖学金沿着以研究为基础的支持实践，包括学习社区，队列，第一年的STEM研讨会，密集的教师指导，强大的学生支持服务，本科生研究参与，专业发展和实习机会，来提高学生在STEM领域的保留率和持久性。该项目还将帮助学生确定与他们的技能，兴趣和就业市场相一致的职业机会，同时为他们提供必要的专业发展以实现这些目标。 这些活动旨在促进STEM专业的持续发展，同时汇集来自各个学科的教师和学生，分享教育和研究经验，以扩大STEM劳动力，使其拥有多样化的高度参与的个人。从这项工作中产生的知识将有助于促进对教师指导，制定个人学习计划和早期接触本科生研究经验等活动如何支持STEM专业的保留和毕业率的理解。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入，高成就的本科生的STEM学位完成率。这一目标将通过以下目标实现：1）成功招募学生，并在计划的第一年后保留至少80%; 2）在STEM劳动力中实现至少90%的就业率，STEM学士学位课程（对于那些获得副学士学位），或接受进入STEM研究生课程; 3）至少75%的学士学位学生在5年内毕业，副学士学位学生在3年内毕业。 该项目将研究学生参与本科研究的重要性和有效性，其中很少有人知道，因为它涉及到跨多校区机构的各种人群的保留和研究生的成功经验。 通过调查UNG的多站点S-STEM项目之间的差异，该项目将评估如何更好地帮助STEM学生完成学位。 该项目将促进对各种学生群体中导致STEM持续存在的主要指标的了解。 该项目将由一名外部评估员进行评估，项目结果将在区域、国家和/或国际会议上传播。 该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。 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术成功，保留，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价值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 the University of North Georgia. The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a multi-campus university, one of six senior military colleges in the nation, and is a state-designated leadership institution. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to at least 31 unique full and part-time students who are pursuing both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics. First and second year students will receive up to four years of scholarship support. This project aims to increase student retention and persistence in STEM fields by providing scholarships along with research-based support practices including learning communities, cohorts, a first-year STEM seminar, intensive faculty mentoring, robust student support services, undergraduate research involvement, professional development, and internship opportunities. The project will additionally assist students with identifying career opportunities that align with their skills, interests, and the job market while providing them with the necessary professional development to reach those goals. These activities are designed to promote continuance in a STEM major while bringing together faculty and students from various disciplines to share educational and research experiences to broaden the STEM workforce with a diverse set of highly engaged individuals. Knowledge generated from this effort will be instrumental in advancing understanding of how activities such as faculty mentoring, developing individual learning plans, and early exposure to undergraduate research experiences support the retention and graduation rates of STEM majors.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives: 1) successful recruitment of students and retention of at least 80% after the first year of the program; 2) attain a placement rate of at least 90% in the STEM workforce, STEM bachelor’s program (for those obtaining an associate’s degree), or acceptance into a STEM graduate program; 3) graduate at least 75% of all students pursuing bachelor’s degrees within 5 years and 3 years for those pursing associate’s degrees. This project will study the importance and effectiveness of student participation in undergraduate research experiences in retention and post graduate success of which little is known as it related to various populations across a multi-campus institution. By investigating differences among UNG's multi-site S-STEM project, the project will evaluate how to better assist a breadth of students in STEM to degree completion. This project will advance knowledge on the leading indicators in various student populations that lead to STEM persistence. This project will be evaluated using an outside evaluator and the results from this project will be disseminated at regional, national and/or international conferences. 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.