St. Mary's College of Maryland's STEM Navigator project is supporting 30 academically talented individuals who demonstrate financial need, with scholarships during their pursuit of STEM degrees. Ten scholars, in two 5-scholar cohorts, are receiving four consecutive years of support, beginning with their first year. Twenty scholars, in four 5-scholar cohorts, are receiving two consecutive years of support following their transfer as rising juniors from the College of Southern Maryland, the local community college.
To enable all of the Navigators to experience success, St. Mary's College of Maryland is building upon a largely pre-existing system of support structures, all designed to help students navigate with confidence, their transition from high school or community college to the academic culture of the host institution. These academic programs include Tresiman-style Emerging Scholars Programs (ESPs, based on the UC-Berkeley Calculus workshop model), customized Navigator seminars (facilitated discussions that support academic and social goals of the Navigators), enhanced summer research opportunities, and the matching of students to key personnel for coordination of mentoring, advising, learning plan development, and the tracking of progress. The initial St. Mary's ESP in mathematics has drastically improved the performance of historically underserved students in Calculus, and similar success is being found in the newer ESPs. The Navigator project is adding ESPs in Chemistry and in Physics.
To contribute to the diversification of the STEM workforce, St. Mary's College of Maryland is using previously developed ties with Cardozo High School of Washington, D.C., the Baltimore City Public Schools, and the College of Southern Maryland to encourage and enable previously underserved populations in the pursuit of high-quality STEM degrees. An articulation agreement with the College of Southern Maryland, already in place for computer science, is being expanded to include all STEM disciplines. The agreement allows students to apply for dual enrollment at the time of application for entrance to College of Southern Maryland and to complete their BA degrees in STEM disciplines at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
