The Queens Borough Bridge, a consortium among Queensborough Community College, Queens College, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, is increasing the enrollment, retention and graduation of STEM students by incorporating design issues that have been shown to contribute to success in the early stages for STEM majors. This includes research experiences beginning in students'' first year and extending throughout their undergraduate careers; a peer support component that engages students in research and education using small cohorts to build camaraderie and commitment to STEM; personal attention through faculty mentoring; Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) Workshops; peer tutoring and advisement; and bridges to the next level to smooth pathways to baccalaureate degrees. The project is also engaging in targeted recruitment via existing high school programs and continuous evaluation of each project component.
The broader impact includes serving as a model for other two-year/four-year partnerships, particularly within CUNY, the nation''s largest public urban university. This model is useful given the role of community colleges in STEM talent expansion with an average of 44% of science and engineering graduates attending community colleges. The project''s design and outcomes are being shared through colloquia and publications, existing regional and national networks, links with professional societies, and made available to institutions across the state and nation via the Internet.
This STEP-I grant was awarded to Queensborough Community College CUNY (Paris Svoronos, PI and Melvin Gorelick, co-PI), Queens College CUNY (Thomas Strekas, co-PI) and Brookhaven National Laboratory. The intent was to increase enrollment of Queensborough STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students and provide them with a seamless transfer to the four-year institution of their choice – although Queens College was the preferred institution. The project used the following methods to achieve this goal: a) Undergraduate Research in Chemistry and Biology by Queensborough Students. Although student research opportunities existed, this grant supported an increase in mentors from approximately 10 faculty mentors and 20 students to an average of 25 faculty mentors and 60 students per annum. As a result, the average number of student presentations at professional conferences increased to approximately 100 per year, including: National American Chemical Society (ACS) Meeting (5 years), ACS Regional Meetings (9 times), the ACS-NY section URS (8 years), the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium (3 years) and the Yale NERM Meeting (once). b) Group Tutoring at Queensborough by Exceptional Honors Students. This tutoring has produced an increase in the course passing rates and in the impressive ACS assessment exam scores, a factor that has been embedded in the final grade of every student. In 95% of the cases the average score for every chemistry course was higher than that of the ACS National Average – derived from the scores of four-year college institutions. c) Outside Speakers Presenting Their Research Findings to our students in a toned down version. The requirement for the submission of a written summary of the talk has increased students’ interest and involvement during the seminar, and improved their scientific writing skills d) Student Presentations at Workshops, Honors Classes and the New Annual QCC Honors Conference. These events provided students with the opportunity to make oral presentations of their work. The number of student presentations has reached approximately 100 per year. e) Summer Internships with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the New York City-Division of Environmental Protection (NYC-DEP). At the NYC-DEP, students were exposed to the rigor of measuring the amount of bacteria, toxic metals and excessive chlorine in water. At the FDA, they learned to calculate the amount of pesticides and other unhealthy compounds in imported food. These methods have motivated many students to continue in the STEM and Health Sciences. All but one of the Chemistry research students (99%) have either graduated or transferred to a four-year college with a minimum of 40 credits. More than 80% of the Biology research students have followed the same course. As a result of program participation, several students had sufficient research resumes to earn highly competitive paid NSF-sponsored summer internships in prestigious universities (Cornell University (2), Princeton University (1), Georgetown University (1), Iowa State University (1), Rutgers University (1), South Dakota State University (1), Hope College (1), Binghamton University (4) and Stony Brook University (2)). In the last few years faculty members from Physics and Engineering have joined the program. Their students were also involved in research supported by this grant and have successfully presented their findings at conferences, expanding the goals and outcomes of the project. After earning a BS in Chemistry, Biology, or Biochemistry, several of the program’s students have continued with postgraduate studies. Three former students are expected to earn STEM PhD’s in 2015, while many others have either continued with their Master's degree or have joined the workforce. The ratio of female to male research students is at least 2:1, - a significant achievement for this project. This grant has effectively changed the culture and perception of Queensborough Community College CUNY. It has created a solid cohort of students who, regardless of their country of birth, economic circumstances, disability, national origins, race or gender have the research and communication skills necessary for success in a STEM field. With the success of its students, external perceptions of Queensborough’s Chemistry and Biology Departments improved, and Queensborough was asked to host one ACS-Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting and two ACS-NY Section Undergraduate Research Symposia on campus – which it did successfully.
