NSF Award
1458847
The overall goal of the Idaho State University's Energy Systems Scholars (ESS) project will be to recruit, retain, and graduate 35 academically promising students and place these graduates in high skill/high wage jobs in energy and related fields. The project will serve students with significant financial need from Idaho and surrounding states. This scholarship initiative will be managed by the Energy Systems Technology and Education Center (ESTEC), a provider of energy education that prepares individuals for careers as technologists. ESTEC received an ATE project award in 2007 that helped to launch the energy education center, which operates in close collaboration with the Idaho National Laboratory. ESS is an initiative that will broaden the participation of students in two-year energy systems programs. <br/><br/>Key support services for ESS participants will be: 1) 1-1 faculty mentoring for scholars; 2) a Personal Effectiveness Program; 3) ENERGIZE ESS group meetings to address academic and professional issues/opportunities; 4) 1-1 matching of scholars with ESTEC alumni using a distance mentoring system; 5) expanded work experience opportunities; 6) supported energy conference attendance; 7) participation in an enterprise development seminar; and 8) career placement assistance. The project will increase the visibility and influence of S-STEM graduates seeking energy-related careers. The ESS program will focus on increasing the average mathematics strength of ESTEC students and expanding the number of ESTEC graduates from surrounding states. Efforts to recruit underrepresented populations to STEM-related energy systems programs will create more role models and mentors, and will help to increase the diversity of the energy workforce. ESTEC industry advisory council will help disseminate the results of the project. Content will be placed in STEM education and related journals, websites, blogs, and social media. Formative and summative evaluation efforts will identify key challenges, lessons learned, and promising practices that will serve to enlarge the knowledge base regarding the attributes of successful scholarship programs that are tied to regional industry needs.
