The Chemistry First Scholars program will offer scholarships to 20 students, with financial need and academic merit, who are seeking to become successful chemists. The project will attract and support through to graduation at-risk, first-generation students in chemistry, thereby increasing the number of quality professional chemists, and the project team will continue to reach across campus and provide leadership to other STEM departments in promoting best practices for support systems for STEM students. Such practices include identification of Faculty Mentors to help students dentify individual chemistry career paths, opportunities, and professional programs.
The program will use a three-tiered, inclusive academic support program in the chemistry major, developed through institutionalization of efforts from a prior S-STEM project. The three-tiered student support structure will rely first on building a natural student cohort. A Chemistry Learning Community (CLC) will begin in the first year and last through to graduation. There will be a total of four CLCs over the project period. The three-tiered model follows best practices in supporting first generation students through all phases of their college career. The Chemistry First Scholars program will partner with the existing UNC Asheville Scholars Program to strengthen community among chemistry majors and to engage and support at risk, low income, first generation students. The Director of the Academic Assessment act UNC-Asheville, an independent evaluator, will coordinate the assessment the project. Success will be measured through the assessment and evaluation of student academic performance, project activities, and project deliverables. Project deliverables include the number of scholars funded, the total number of scholarships awarded, the graduation rate of scholars and career placement following graduation. To investigate the impact of the program on student retention, progress, and success in chemistry, relative to past years, the information and results gathered from the prior S-STEM project will serve as a pre-project baseline. In so doing, the project will contribute to a growing body of knowledge regarding attributes and practices of successful programs for students who demonstrate financial need.
