The Brooklyn Gateway is a collaboration between a two-year college, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, and a four-year college, Brooklyn College, to improve undergraduate student retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. It responds to national concerns about the need to increase the number of undergraduate students obtaining degrees in STEM areas, as well as the local college-level concern about high attrition in entry-level science courses.
Intellectual merit: The project responds to major issues that lead to success or failure in the early stages of STEM majors' training including student skills in and content knowledge of science; peer and social support issues; financial and time management issues for students who must work; and faculty issues related to computer technology and pedagogy. The project uses a number of methods to foster student success in earning a college degree in a STEM area: a winter/summer science immersion program with a research component, Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) workshops and peer tutoring, web- and technology-enhanced course supports, and financial incentives.
Broader impact: The project serves as a model for other academic institutions trying to address similar concerns. The evaluation process includes measuring course performance, attitudes and perseverance toward STEM degrees. The summative evaluation assesses five-year increases in retention and graduation rates, which are anticipated to be 30%, at the collaborating colleges. The dissemination process includes activities designed to make other branches of CUNY, as well as other institutions, familiar with the project, and features local seminars and colloquia, publications, and a capstone conference.
