Four Corners STEM Success (FOCUSS) is a collaborative project between Fort Lewis College (a four-year public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado) and San Juan College (a two-year community college in Farmington, New Mexico), designed to increase the number of students in the Four Corners area who graduate with STEM degrees. San Juan College and Fort Lewis College are geographically close to one another (51 miles apart) and attract many of their students from the same region (western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and adjacent parts of Arizona and Utah). Furthermore, Fort Lewis College, which has a tuition waiver for all Native American students, is an excellent transfer destination for the large number of Native American students at San Juan College.
Intellectual Merit. The project consists of four activities: (1) a joint seminar series that brings career-oriented speakers to both institutions; (2) visits by Fort Lewis College STEM faculty and students to San Juan College, to encourage students at San Juan College to continue their education by transferring to Fort Lewis College; (3) an early undergraduate research program run jointly by both institutions; and (4) a tutor/mentor program for Fort Lewis College sophomores and new transfer students, designed to improve retention between first-year courses and upper-level courses at Fort Lewis College. These activities complement existing programs aimed at retaining first-year students and providing support to Native American and Hispanic students at both institutions, and providing undergraduate research experiences to junior and senior STEM majors at Fort Lewis College.
Broader Impact. The project is increasing the number of STEM students who continue from San Juan College to four-year programs, and is increasing the number of STEM majors who graduate from Fort Lewis College. At the same time, the project is increasing the number of underrepresented minorities who graduate with STEM degrees because both San Juan College and Fort Lewis College are designated Native American-Serving, Non-Tribal Institutions by the Department of Education, and serve student bodies that are 27% and 20% Native American, respectively.
