California State University, Fresno's "Mentoring Math Scholars for Success" program will recruit academically talented, low income students and provide them with scholarships, plus supports that enable them to graduate in four years and successfully enter the workforce or graduate school. The program will guide the selected Scholars along an intense, 18-credit STEM course-taking pathway from their first year and presents them with problem-solving challenges to cultivate interest and readiness for advanced mathematics. Faculty mentors will support these academic challenges by cultivating and deepening the pre-research environment in the Scholars' first and second years, preparing them to succeed at research experiences and advanced courses in their junior and senior years.
Many of these problem-solving challenges will generate open-ended investigation to strengthen the Scholars' sense of mathematical proficiency and individual problem-solving skills. Also, these challenges will prepare them for mathematical jobs that require an inquisitive mind and the ability to communicate mathematics well, both orally and in writing. As the Scholars approach graduation, the faculty mentors will coach them in applying for jobs and graduate schools. Finally, industry partners will engage the Scholars early on with site visits to stimulate interest in career paths and to develop high value job skills, such as mock interviews. The program's mathematics education researcher will measure the effectiveness of each intervention, as well as the entire suite of interventions, to strengthen the Scholars' intellectual foundation and experience. The Math Department will institutionalize activities as the results merit and make them available to similar institutions nationwide, moving closer to the goal of supporting the nationally available pool of mathematics talent.
