The College is increasing the number of students graduating in STEM fields and better preparing these graduates for their careers or graduate school. The program targets talented but financially disadvantaged students with a special emphasis on women, minorities, and people with disabilities.
Activities include: mentoring, tutoring, internships, and research opportunities. There are also workshops that address such topics as graduate school exploration, professionalism, resume preparation, and research skills. By coordinating with local businesses and state agencies, new internship/research opportunities have been established. As a result of these activities, the project expects 100% of SSTEM program graduates to either enroll in graduate school or find employment.
The program is designed to support 20 participants during each year of the four-year project period. Program applicants are required to have a GPA of 3.0 or greater and must be formally accepted into one the following programs: Computer Science, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, or Biochemistry.
Intellectual Merit. This project advances knowledge and understanding in the STEM fields by diversifying the pool of young graduates and ensuring that they are well-prepared for the next step in their careers.
Broader Impacts. The project is designed to encourage active learning by promoting research and internship opportunities. The S-STEM project fits into the College's effort to increase both undergraduate student research and internship opportunities and can have a broad impact by matching the needs of the high technology workplace with well-prepared but traditionally underserved youth.
