Building a Sense of Belonging for Talented, Low-Income Students through Engagement

该项目将通过支持达科他州立大学（DSU）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，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。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为12名攻读人工智能、计算机科学、网络运营或数学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。DSU是南达科他州立大学系统的技术校园，拥有国家安全局和国土安全部与该项目的重点学科相关的三个著名的指定。根据学生的经济需要，学生每年将获得高达15,000美元的奖学金，为期五年。夏季桥梁项目、学习表和本科生研究研讨会是这个项目的主要计划活动。目前在DSU合格奖学金专业就读的学生中，每五名学生中就有一名符合佩尔助学金资格，这为潜在的学者提供了大量人口，并证明了该项目在DSU和更广泛的劳动力中扩大STEM领域参与的潜力。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目将有助于满足国家对高级计算、人工智能和网络安全（网络操作）等高科技领域合格专业人才的需求。这些领域都有极高的需求，是国家安全和国内劳动力其他关键部门的关键优先事项。该项目将收集数据，以探索学者需要从支持机制中获得什么，以及他们希望如何提供支持。这将有助于建立一个更符合学生需求和偏好的支持网络。预计将支持机制与学者的需求相结合将导致更多的参与，这将反过来提高毕业率和学生的整体成绩。招聘工作包括与参加奥格拉拉拉科塔学院暑期IT学院的美国本土高中生、拥有国家密码大学学分的退伍军人以及拥有州长网络学院学分的南达科他州农村高中生进行接触。项目成果将广泛传播给希望为低收入学生提供有效支持的机构和专业人士，特别是农村机构和为重要土著人口服务的机构。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，旨在增加有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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。

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 Dakota State University (DSU). Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to twelve unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Cyber Operations, or Mathematics. DSU is the technology campus in the South Dakota Board of Regents State University system and holds three prestigious designations from the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security relating to the project's focal disciplines. Students will receive scholarships of up to $15,000 per year for up to five years, depending on their financial need. A summer bridge program, study tables, and an undergraduate research seminar are the key planned activities of this project. One out of every five students currently enrolled in the eligible scholarship majors at DSU are Pell Grant eligible, which provides a substantial population of potential scholars and demonstrates the project's potential to broaden participation in STEM fields at DSU and in the wider workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project will help address the national need for qualified professionals educated in highly technical fields including advanced computing, artificial intelligence, and network security (cyber operations). Each of these areas are in extremely high demand and are critical priorities for national security and other critical sectors of the domestic workforce. This project will collect data to explore what scholars need from support mechanisms and how they want that support delivered. This will allow the creation of a support network that better aligns with students' needs and preferences. It is expected that aligning support mechanisms with scholars needs will result in increased participation, which will in turn improve graduation rates and overall student outcomes. Recruitment efforts include engaging with Native American high school students participating in the Oglala Lakota College Summer IT Institute, veterans with National Cryptographic University credits, and rural South Dakota high school students with credits from the Governor’s Cyber Academy. Project outcomes will be disseminated broadly to institutions and professionals looking to develop effective supports for low-income students in STEM, particularly rural institutions and those that serve significant indigenous populations. 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.