This scholarship program is supporting three cohorts of 12 students during their freshmen and sophomore years. The program is providing a free two-week orientation, an array of academic services, and opportunities for undergraduate STEM research. The program team includes faculty from every STEM discipline at the college, administrators, the director of learning programs, the director of career services, and an industry representative who is a member of the institution's Corporate Strategic Alliance.
The intellectual merit of this program lies in the strengthening of academic support programs to help students excel in STEM fields so that more diverse students complete a high-quality STEM degree.
The broader impacts relate to increasing the number of financially needy students who are being prepared to enter high-skill jobs in the workforce and dissemination of results from a study on students' sense of social connection as a result of the program activities.
