To assist with the recruitment and retention of promising students in the Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics (CSEM) fields and to help improve the quality of their education, this project supports a scholarship program for students in the CSEM fields. The goal of the SDSU CSEMS project is to increase the number of students pursuing and successfully completing degrees in the CSEM fields, with special consideration given to women and minority students underrepresented in these areas.
To accomplish this goal, the Management Team has established the following objectives: 1. Advertise the CSEM scholarship opportunity and recruit 30 students in the CSEM fields who have demonstrated academic merit and financial need; 2. Promote high quality and sustained faculty-student relationships between the scholarship recipients and their faculty mentors and monitor student progress; 3. Increase the students' awareness of the academic support, career planning, and educational enhancement opportunities available to them and encourage them to utilize these resources and opportunities; 4. Increase the students' awareness of and interaction with the high technology industry and higher education.
To achieve these goals the CSEMS scholars each have extensive contact with faculty mentors who guide their proteges through the college experience. Under the direction of their mentors, scholars attend a variety of Educational Enhancement Activities designed to provide a mixture of practical knowledge, academic discourse, appreciation of the university, and global and community awareness. Each CSEM scholar also has contact with a member of the business and industrial community in order to gain insight into different degree-related careers that will be available to them. The SDSU CSEMS project has the potential to increase not only the number of financially needy and underrepresented students, but also the overall number of students majoring and graduating in high-demand technology-based fields.
