NSF Award
2322495
This project will contribute to the regional and national need for graduates in computing and data science and will increase both the retention and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation students in these majors at the University of Connecticut (UConn). Over the 6-year duration of the grant, three cohorts of students will be served, for a total of 28 S-STEM scholars over the project lifetime. Students in the project will participate in an introductory support course as first-year students. With the help of faculty and peer mentors, scholars will improve their research experiences, career readiness, and entrepreneurship; all of which will lead to positive post-graduation outcomes, including full-time employment or post-graduate studies. This project has the potential to expand access to higher education to a broad group of students and will also generate knowledge and best practices in supporting STEM majors in their programs of study. By partnering with local and regional companies that hire computing and data science majors, this project also fosters partnerships between academia and industry and supports the local and national workforce development efforts in computing and data sciences, areas critical to the national interest.<br/><br/>This project will recruit eligible students from eight majors across two schools at UConn and engage them in high-quality programming designed to improve retention and graduation rates, build community, promote STEM identity, and develop students’ competence through experiential learning opportunities. Students selected as S-STEM Scholars will engage with a variety of programming developed by the PIs. Working together and with a strong foundation in the literature, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), the School of Engineering (SOE), and the Institute for Student Success (ISS) will focus on three foundational activities: Cohort Formation, Discipline-Based Exploration and Academic Support, and Mentoring. These activities in turn support the three core values the project aims to instill in its S-STEM Scholars: Community, Identity, and Competence. At the heart of cohort formation is the S-STEM Student Success course that forms the framework of early engagement with S-STEM Scholars. This course will establish the S-STEM Scholars as a cohort and support students’ development of community and identity. The scholars will explore different pathways and skills development through research opportunities, internships or co-ops, and post-graduation preparation, all of which develop students’ competencies as STEM practitioners. All of these activities are documented via an e-portfolio that supports students’ construction of their knowledge and identity, while providing a robust tool for program evaluation and knowledge generation. 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.<br/><br/>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.
