The Department of Biology is collaborating with the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Sam Houston State University to continue their prior S-STEM project. The project is selecting 9 students from the freshman or sophomore classes, 9 students from combined junior and senior classes, and 9 graduate students each of the four years, to received scholarships of $3,000, $6,000 or $7,250 respectively. These scholarships are proving to be effective in enabling students to complete degree programs in a timely manner by allowing the students to reduce their work-for-pay hours. The students are using this 'extra time' to enrich their education through interdisciplinary experiences including research, mentoring, and professional development. The program is aligned with the workforce needs both in the region and nationally. To ensure student success, PEERS offers scholars a number of services including: mentoring from faculty, graduate students, and industry representatives; ad hoc tutoring; professional development seminars; welcome activities; participation in both a local and a national meeting; and access to additional support services.
The project is building on effective practices learned in the prior project that demonstrated the value of increased attention to mentoring, tutoring by more advanced students, the value for career development opportunities, explicit attention to community building, and interdisciplinary undergraduate research experiences. Recognizing increased need with the biotechnology area, the PEERS program is focussing on the intersection of biomathematics and biostatistics.
As 35% of SHSU students are members of an underrepresented group, and the majors in the STEM disciplines at SHSU are at least as diverse, the project is succeeding at broadening the participation of such groups in the STEM workforce. Through their deliberate and calculated actions, the project is also succeeding at increasing the numbers of scholars transitioning to graduate school.
