2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

It has been shown that students that participate in undergraduate research experiences (URE) are more likely to want to attend graduate school [1] and that participation gives the student a deeper understanding of the topic, confidence in their research skills and confirmation of their chosen STEM career [2]. Shaping Experiential Research for Veteran Education (SERVE) program was established to provide U.S. military veterans initially with an opportunity to receive undergraduate research experience, and later, scholarships to assist them in pursuing a graduate degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field while also providing a way for them to continue serving our country. The SERVE program is differentiated from other URE programs in the fact that it is a partnership between two universities, the University of Tennessee and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and that the veteran participants are enrolled in an exchange program where they travel to the other participating university during the summer. The SERVE program also provides mentorship training for the students and faculty as well as team building and other social opportunities for the participants.

Methods. The evaluation of the program is a mixed methods study that aims to provide information to the investigators to make improvements to the program. The research includes multiple types of data such as surveys and interviews with the student veteran participants, graduate student mentors, faculty mentors and program directors. To access the quality and impact of the research experiences, veteran student participants were interviewed, and surveys were conducted at pre-, mid- and post experience intervals. To compare the resources available at the different universities, program documentation was assessed from publicly available resources and the program directors and graduate students. Focus group interviews were held at the end of the summer.

Results. During the summer of 2021, three veteran students from the University of Tennessee and three veteran students from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte participated in the SERVE REU exchange and six additional veterans conducted home university research experiences while still participating in SERVE events. In 2022, one veteran student from each university participated in the exchange program and one additional student conducted home university research experience. For the exchange program, the veteran REU students spent ten weeks at the opposite university and were paired with faculty mentors with existing DoD research funding and research teams. The students and faculty were also paired with a project co-mentor from the Naval Research Lab who provided additional guidance on the topic and its direct naval applications. The combination of relevant research and strong support infrastructure was designed to provide motivation to those participating veterans to consider graduate school and returning to service as a civilian in the DoD STEM workforce pipeline. Overall, the students had a positive learning experience throughout the program and built new mentorship networks. Challenges and shortcomings were addressed and used to update the program in year two. COVID-19 added additional challenges with scheduling, travel, veteran student recruiting and faculty participation, all of which will be outlined and discussed.