This NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) project supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of South Alabama. Throughout its five years, this project will fund 48 unique students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, or computer engineering for up to three years. The students receiving the scholarships will be transfer students from regional community colleges, and programs will be implemented to support their transition, academic success, and professional development. The project will also include efforts to strengthen collaboration with feeder colleges that will both better serve students and build foundations for future recruitment and support efforts.
Students with financial need are attracted to community colleges because of the relatively low cost of education and proximity to home. Frequently, these students do not complete associate's degrees or transfer to a university to complete professional degrees because of financial obstacles. If they do transfer, adjusting to the university curriculum and environment is challenging and can inhibit academic success. Furthermore, not having completed gateway courses can extend time to graduation. To address these challenges, this project will incorporate the following: i) academic pathways to reduce the time to graduation for engineering transfer students, taking advantage of recent reverse-transfer agreements between the University of South Alabama and regional community colleges, ii) formalization of faculty and peer mentoring activities and reporting for standardization of implementation of advising and mentoring, and iii) concerted efforts to build communication and collaboration capacity with targeted regional community colleges, including recruitment visits, student advising, and annual faculty workshops. The project team will implement strategies, including a cohort-building seminar and team-based advising with faculty and peer mentors, to facilitate transfer student integration into the College of Engineering community. Further, the research team will investigate the effect of the evidence-based, yet contextually novel approach to advising on student academic and professional success.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
