Collaborative Planning Grant: Bridging Rural Access in Virginia – Building Partnerships for STEM Pathways

该项目将通过加强合作和规划未来的轨道3 S-STEM提案，支持达布尼·S·兰开斯特社区学院、丹维尔社区学院、朗伍德大学、弗吉尼亚西部社区学院和另外两所弗吉尼亚社区学院系统机构留住并毕业有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生，以满足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。为了满足全国和弗吉尼亚州对STEM专业人员日益增长的需求，同时考虑到农村社区的独特需求，这些机构将制定一项详细的计划，支持弗吉尼亚州农村地区的学生在获得专科学位和过渡到STEM学士学位时提供支持。在这一为期一年的规划期内，该项目将努力加强现有的伙伴关系，并举办一次以农村学生为重点的合作STEM峰会。这项努力将产生的S-STEM第三轨道提案将由高中和行业合作伙伴提供信息。这项未来的提案还将包括严格的研究和评估工作，旨在评估项目成果并为STEM教育界创造重要的新知识。该项目团队将建立在弗吉尼亚州全州范围内转移计划的坚实基础上，并强调扩大转移途径和增加农村学生在STEM领域的机会和成就的重要性。这一规划项目的总体目标是加强合作，并为未来的第三轨道提案做准备，该提案旨在提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率。农村社区有抱负的STEM学生面临着各种挑战，包括不可靠的高质量互联网接入，不平等地获得高级高中课程，以及许多家庭、学校系统和社区面临的经济障碍。该项目将使学生、教职员工、高中教师和行业合作伙伴更好地了解弗吉尼亚州南部和西南部社区低收入学生的优势、需求和挑战。教职员工将努力确定吸引有抱负的STEM学生的具体和可实现的战略。该项目将设计一个S-STEM第三轨道方案，该方案包括为社区大学生提供丰富的支持服务，提供大量奖学金资金，并促进学者转到四年制STEM项目。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学术天才学生的数量。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 strengthening collaborations and planning for a future Track 3 S-STEM proposal that will support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, Danville Community College, Longwood University, Virginia Western Community College, and two additional Virginia Community College System institutions. To address the nation’s and Virginia’s increasing demand for STEM professionals and, at the same time, consider the unique needs of rural communities, these institutions will develop a detailed plan to support students in rural Virginia as they earn their associate’s degrees and transition to earn their STEM bachelor’s degrees. In this one-year planning period, the project will work to strengthen existing partnerships and hold a collaborative STEM Summit focused on rural students. The Track 3 S-STEM proposal that will arise from this effort will be informed by high school and industry partners. This future proposal will also include rigorous research and evaluation efforts aimed at assessing project outcomes and generating important new knowledge for the STEM education community. The project team will build on the strong foundation of Virginia’s statewide transfer initiative and emphasize the importance of both expanding transfer pathways and increasing rural student opportunities and accomplishments in the STEM fields. The overall goal of this planning project is to strengthen collaborations and prepare for a future Track 3 proposal to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Aspiring STEM students in rural communities face challenges that include unreliable access to high-quality internet, unequal access to advanced high school coursework, and financial obstacles for many families, school systems, and communities. This project will engage students, faculty and staff members, high school teachers, and industry partners to better understand the strengths, needs, and challenges of low-income students in Virginia’s southern and southwestern communities. Faculty and staff members will work to identify specific and achievable strategies for engaging aspiring STEM students. The project will design a Track 3 S-STEM proposal that includes rich support services for community college students, provides significant scholarship funding, and facilitates scholars’ transfer to a four-year STEM program. 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.