NSF Award
1744731
America's two-year colleges (2YCs) educate a substantial and rapidly growing number of undergraduate students, including a significant number of students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Furthermore, the racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity of students served by 2YCs make these institutions key entry points to STEM fields for students who have been historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines. But, while National Science Foundation (NSF) programs that increase representation in STEM are open to 2YCs, 2YC faculty often lack the experience, resources, and institutional support to effectively compete for these program grants. The Promoting STEM Education at Two Year Colleges (PSE2YC) project will facilitate meritorious proposal writing among 2YC faculty teams for NSF STEM related program funding.<br/><br/>The PSE2YC project consists of a proposal writing workshop and mentoring program for 50 2YC STEM faculty members. The project design addresses barriers faced by 2YCs to participation in Advanced Technological Education (ATE) and Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) program competitions, and the low number of 2YC applicants and awards. This project builds on previous projects that facilitated 2YCs in preparing meritorious proposals for NSF grant competitions by targeting two programs that specifically reduce barriers encountered by 2YC students: the ATE program, which supports development of two-year degrees leading to jobs in high-technology fields, and the S-STEM program, which awards scholarship support and provides supportive cohorting activities for STEM majors. The workshop and two-year mentoring by experienced principal investigators and mentors will strengthen individual and institutional capacity to pursue proposal-based projects in America's two-year colleges. The key outcomes will include an increase in the number of competitive ATE and S-STEM proposals submitted by 2YC institutions and a stronger STEM grant writing culture for 2YCs. Overall, this project will contribute to the national agenda of strengthening the STEM workforce by empowering more STEM faculty and two-year institutions to compete for meritorious NSF awards.
