Truman State University's NSF-PRISM program, "Scientists Prepared, Engaged, Enriched, and Challenged Through Research Activities" (SPECTRA), seeks to increase the number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors. Faculty members from mathematics, biology, and chemistry will be involved. The goal is to enhance the interdisciplinary, research-based experiences for undergraduates and to create a cross-disciplinary learning community. Students' experiences will include (1) a summer bridge course before their first semester (2) a new freshman seminar which will orient students to the University and to STEM degrees in an integrative fashion, (3) a second-semester Inquiry Seminar which will prepare students for independent research and (4) support for conducting research with faculty. SPECTRA will providing focused support for early-career students and will enhance their opportunities to participate in integrative STEM learning experiences both through new courses and through academic-year research experiences. Scholarships will attract students to STEM degrees and support them as they work through their major degree programs. A special pathway course for potential majors will be offered to first-time freshman in the summer before their first regular semester of courses. Tutoring support and academic interventions will be used to assist students in their pathway courses.
The SPECTRA program will create a community that will attract STEM majors and increase the number of STEM graduates. The SPECTRA program will also work with our community college partners to develop pre-STEM and 2+2 programs to help decrease the time-to-STEM-degree for community college students who transfer to Truman, and it will provide pre-STEM students with scholarships to encourage them to transfer.
