McNeese State University, a regional university and the two-year institutions, Louisiana State University at Eunice and Lamar State College at Orange (Texas) are collaborating on the Com-STEM Project. The project is bringing a proactive, systemic approach to STEM education in southeast Texas over to south-central Louisiana. Out of state tuition is being waived for Texas residents in the Com-STEM project who qualify to transfer to McNeese State University.
Two components form the foundation for Com-STEM: 1) comprehensive recruitment and 2) faculty-led intervention designed to actively engage the students in their STEM education. Following a comprehensive recruiting program, students are enrolling at one of the partner institutions where they participate in a series of academically relevant activities designed to enhance academic excellence and student success. Early faculty intervention is resulting in greater success rates in "gatekeeper" courses. Intervention is taking the form of providing peer mentoring and tutoring, as well as faculty mentoring. Contributing to continued success are expanded undergraduate research and seminar programs, and the replacement of traditional scholarship award programs with a new academic excellence reward program based on documented academic involvement and student portfolios. The project is serving as a model of interstate cooperation benefiting residents of a regional area with shared characteristics irrespective of historic, but seemingly artificial boundaries.
