Implementation Projects in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate program provide support to design, implement, study and assess comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the numbers of students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research. This implementation project at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) seeks to build on a model that has proven successful in recruiting, retaining and graduating African-American undergraduates in STEM, to include a focus on veteran and Hispanic STEM students. Key activities are based on the existing UAPB STEM Academy Model with new evidence-based interventions to be researched and disseminated. The project is guided and informed by an on-going evaluation.
Specific objectives of the project are to: increase the enrollment, retention, and graduation rate of underrepresented minority students, including veterans in STEM disciplines; increase the number of veteran STEM scholars; increase the number of STEM students who pass Calculus I and II; increase the number of STEM scholars participating in internships; increase the number of UAPB STEM faculty participating in research and mentoring STEM scholars; and increase the number of STEM graduates who enter graduate school and receive graduate fellowships from NSF, other governmental agencies, and private foundations. The program will create support for strong student engagement through collaborative learning and research, enrichment of the mathematics curriculum and pedagogy, and campus research mentorship supplemented by summer internships. The project will assess the key components, while implementing interventions and modifications necessary to prepare the STEM scholars for the workforce and graduate school. This project can serve as a model for providing support to veteran STEM students and for purposefully recruiting and supporting Hispanic STEM students at a Historically Black University.
