NSF Award
2221138
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 Ohio Northern University (ONU). ONU is a private institution primarily serving students from the rural Midwest. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 15 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering. First-year students will receive four years of scholarships. Additionally, scholars will participate in cohort-building activities, including one lunch-and-learn workshop each semester. Topics for these workshops will include: academic success strategies, strengths perspective, mental health, and reflection exercises. Each student will be paired with a faculty mentor from their department. Mentors will participate in long-term professional development to help them better support scholars. Every scholar will be encouraged to supplement their education with experiential learning through internships or research. This project will provide valuable insight into how evidence-based interventions impact first-generation and rural students. <br/><br/>The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project has three student-centric goals: 1) Increase graduation and job placement rates, 2) Increase the sense of belonging in the College of Engineering and at ONU, and 3) Increase students’ self-efficacy as engineers. These goals will be achieved through scholarships and the implementation of evidence-based interventions that will engage students through personal relationships and high-impact educational experiences, such as undergraduate research. A novel aspect of the project is its attention to strengths-based education, which enables students to focus on their strengths and manage their weaknesses. Formative and summative evaluation will use institutional data, surveys, and interviews to track students' sense of belonging, identity, GPA, etc. The evaluator will also conduct interviews with faculty to assess the knowledge and implementation of inclusive pedagogies and evidence-based mentoring practices. The results of this assessment and the program in general will be disseminated with the broader community through presenting at the Ohio Engineering Deans Council, and by seeking publications in appropriate venues. 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.
