Montana Minds provides four-year renewable scholarships for 18 students majoring in chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science, and software engineering at Montana Tech. Working with the federally funded and state administered program Gear Up, Montana Minds is recruiting students from Montana high schools (including Native American high schools) where students have been traditionally underrepresented in college and particularly underrepresented in the STEM disciplines.
Special features designed to help insure the success and perseverance of Montana Minds student scholars include enrollment in targeted Learning Communities to foster cohesiveness, enrollment in a College Success course to sharpen study skills, advising within a discipline by a single faculty member, the use of student mentor/tutors to build community among the scholars, and encouraged participation in disciplinary based student clubs. Broadening and enriching experiences that expand and stimulate the disciplinary horizons of Montana Minds student scholars include travel to visit national science and engineering laboratories, mentored attendance at a national meeting, and exposure to the methods, community values, and ethics of scholarly activity through undergraduate research where students work with faculty and other students in teams attacking authentic questions and problems.
Student scholars are encouraged to return to their home communities to tell their stories and stimulate other high school students to follow in their paths. Montana Minds is sharing the model and best practices nationally through presentations at professional association meetings and publications. Feedback from this dissemination, in addition to continuous informal and annual formal assessment, assures that the project is meeting its goals of preparing and educating students for future successful careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
