NSF Award
1540545
According to the American Geological Institute, the United States faces a potential shortage of 135,000 geoscientists by 2022, working in fields such as oil and gas production, mining, and environmental engineering. Increasing the number of students who start at a community college and continue to a 4-year degree in the geosciences can address this shortage. At Fort Lewis College, one-third of the 120 geology majors are transfer students, many of whom are first-generation college students, veterans, and/or Native Americans. However, these transfer students find it challenging to complete their degree in the expected two years after their Associates degree. This project is making it possible for transfer students to speed their time to graduation and enter the workforce in a more timely manner by supporting both their academic and social transition to a 4-year college.<br/><br/>This project is supporting the persistence and graduation of a cohort of Geology transfer students through their transition to Fort Lewis College (FLC), located in Durango, Colorado. The project consists of two groups of activities. (1) During off days within a 2-credit August field course, students go on field trips led by FLC faculty and meet with student support services on campus. The field trips allow the new students to meet faculty, reinforce skills and content knowledge from prior geology courses, introduce the new students to the local geology around Durango, and allow students to begin thinking about senior thesis projects that they could conduct with the faculty. The meetings with student support services help new students to navigate a new college; they include meetings with financial aid advisors, academic advisors, career services (including local geology alumni), cultural centers (Native American Center, El Centro de Muchas Colores), TRiO programs, student groups (American Indian Science and Engineering Socieity (AISES), the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), Geology Club, Women in Science Club), and local daycare and public schools. (2) Throughout the following academic year, students are supported academically, socially, and professionally through a series of activities. The students are supported academically and socially during their first semester by a senior geology major who serves as a tutor and as a connection to the social life of the department. They are supported professionally through funding to attend a Geological Society of America meeting and funding for senior thesis research.<br/><br/>The intellectual merit of this project is that it supports transfer students through a critical transition from a 2-year to a 4-year institution, and tests the effectiveness of field courses, tutoring, student services support, professional conferences, and undergraduate research funding in facilitating the academic and social integration of transfer students. The broader impact of this project is that, because Fort Lewis College is a Native-American-Serving, Non-Tribal College, a large proportion of Native American students (23% of incoming geology transfer students) and Hispanic students (11% of incoming geology transfer students) are being retained in a discipline that typically has a very low diversity.
