The University of St. Thomas (MN) has established partnerships with 10 Twin Cities metro area high schools to develop, pilot, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive strategy for increasing the number of undergraduate students seeking and completing degrees in STEM disciplines, especially the physical sciences and engineering. Project goals are to: 1) attract new students to STEM major degree programs, 2) increase the ethnic diversity of STEM students, and 3) enhance the retention of students in STEM programs by improving the quality of those programs in significant ways. Numerically, the project will recruit 100 new students into STEM fields over five years and, through improved retention, retain an additional 50 students in these programs. Specific programmatic initiatives deriving from our partnerships include: 1) a new Summer Academy for 20 incoming freshmen designed to provide students, especially women and students of color, with enhanced math and science background prior to beginning their STEM studies; 2) a variety of academic, social, and career oriented programming designed to foster community among STEM students and faculty; 3) two new, interdisciplinary January term courses that introduce students to STEM research, internships, and careers; 4) and faculty development workshops on integrating math into science courses, learning styles, transfer of learning, team teaching, and developing minority connections.
