This project is designed to provide scholarships to students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors over a five-year period. Students receiving these scholarships are majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, engineering, or computer science.
Intellectual Merit: The objectives are to recruit more students into the STEM disciplines, to provide elevated levels of support and opportunities for these students, to guide them towards graduation with an associate degree and into transfer programs allowing them the opportunity to receive their baccalaureate degrees, and to expand the support structures and enrichment activities developed by this project to be accessible to all STEM students. While the scholarship recipients are being selected by a committee from candidates identified from a state-wide recruitment plan, the primary focus is on applicants from the local region who have demonstrated academic potential and financial need. Recipients of the scholarships are each paired with a faculty mentor who works closely with them. Students are placed in cohort groups, taking as many classes as possible together. Enrichment opportunities include research experiences, department seminars, field trips, assisting in K-12 science/math classrooms, and social activities with departmental faculty.
The broader impact are threefold: 1) additional STEM professionals are graduating and accepting positions in the scientific community, 2) the enrichment programs developed by the project are being made available to other students, and 3) faculty collaborations across departments, institutions, government, and industrial/scientific partners are increasing.
