Stony Brook University, in partnership with Nassau and Suffolk County Community Colleges is providing a scholarship and support program for 20 community college and 32 Stony Brook students each year who are majoring in CSEMS disciplines at these institutions. The goals of this project are to significantly increase the associate and bachelor degree production in CSEM majors and to help the Long Island Region meet a critical need for high technology and engineering employees. These goals are met by providing a comprehensive series of support services at both the lead and partner institutions that include tutoring, mentoring, internships, and career awareness activities. The project is bringing, through outreach, Stony Brook's existing freshman and sophomore seminars in academic success and research development skills to the community colleges. Students are encouraged to apply for internships provided through preexisting relationships with Long Island companies and Brookhaven National Laboratory. The program provides scholarship support for selected students enrolled as first-year students in all partner institutions, as well providing support for a seamless transition to students transferring from the CSEMS community college programs to Stony Brook's four-year CSEMS programs.
Students are selected through a competitive application process from the pools of economically disadvantaged students at each of the partner institutions. From within this pool, emphasis is given to underrepresented minorities, women, returning, transfer, and disabled students. A committee of representatives from each institution meets annually to select students; the offices of admissions, financial aid, and engineering at each institution share in promoting and recruiting students to the program. A unique aspect of this project is an Alumni Mentoring program with graduates who are currently employed in engineering and high tech companies on Long Island. The project includes a detailed assessment program that evaluates the effectiveness of the CSEM scholarships at attracting and retaining disadvantaged students.
