2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

BOARD 436: Challenges and Celebration a NSF S-STEM Supported Program

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

The NSF S-STEM “title”project (#), builds upon lessons learned from two successful S-STEM grant programs (# and #). “The College,” the designated college of technology in the “The University” (…) system and a Hispanic Serving Institution, ranks 21st among public schools and 24th in social mobility according to US News and World Report. Thirty percent (30%) of our students self-identify as Black (non-Hispanic), 33% as Hispanic, 20 % as Asian/Pacific Islander, 11% as White (non-Hispanic), 1% as Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 1% as Other. Eighty percent (80%) of incoming first-year students and 67% of continuing students receive need-based financial aid. Twenty-five percent (25%) of student’s report working 20 or more hours per week while more than 60% report household income less than $30,000. Improving retention and graduation to increase the participation of underrepresented minority (URM) or female students in STEM undergraduate and graduate programs and the New York City workforce is an essential programmatic goal, with the purpose of providing life-transforming socio-economic opportunities to our students that should lower the equity gaps in the wider community. Through this project’s multi-tiered support system, we were able to achieve the followings: 1. Significant retention rates of our Scholars at average, 2. Notable number of female Scholar recruitments varying between 48% to 68% between spring 2020 and spring 2022, 3. Recruitment of URM Scholars varies between 21% to 44%. It was observed that the URM students were affected more than their peers due to pandemic and more interventions needed than their peers. 4. About 77% Scholars reported (survey) involvement in scholarly research and/or internship activities. 5. Our Scholars graduated with considerably higher GPA than non-scholars. Six out of 10 (60%) S-STEM graduates received either Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, or Summa Cum Laude awards. Moreover, within the period of this grant, we had one scholar who was a Valedictorian and one - a Salutatorian. Both are females and one is a URM student. In this paper we will discuss challenges that we faced in the execution of the project pre- and post-COVID pandemic, how we responded to them, and the strategies that we found crucial for our program’s sustainability and improvement.

Authors

Dr. Urmi Duttagupta New York City College of Technology [biography]

Urmi Duttagupta is the Coordinator of the Computer Science Program and a Professor of the Mathematics Department at New York City College of Technology – City University of New York. She received a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics jointly from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from The Ohio State University. Her current research interests include parameter estimation via optimization, infectious disease modeling, applications of graph theory in biology and chemistry, and developing and applying bio-math related undergraduate modules in various SENCER related projects. She has several publications in peer-reviewed journals and is the recipient of several MAA NREUP grants, Department of Homeland Security grants, a SENCER leadership fellowship, and several NSF and PSC-CUNY grants/awards. She also has an extensive experience of mentoring undergraduate students in various research projects.
Nadia S Kennedy New York City College of Technology [biography]

Nadia Stoyanova Kennedy is an Associate Professor in Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics and Program Director of Mathematics Education. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mathematics from Sofia State University, Bulgaria. Between completing her master's and doctoral degree, she was a full-time high school mathematics teacher for 15 years, a curriculum developer and a student teacher mentor. Before joining City Tech, she held a faculty position at the Department of Mathematics at Stony Brook University. She was the founding director of the New York City Men Teach Program@Citytech (NYCMT) and directed the program from 2016 to 2019.

She has published 3 textbooks, one book, edited a special journal issue, and published over 45 refereed articles and chapters in numerous mathematics education journals, anthologies and conference proceedings. She has presented at more than 66 national and international conferences. She has acted as a consultant for the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) on curriculum, assessment, and examiner training since 2007.
Dr. Diana Samaroo [biography]

Diana Samaroo is a Professor in the Chemistry Department at NYC College of Technology (CUNY). She has experience in curricular and program development, as well as administration as the Chairperson of the Chemistry Department for six years. She serves as co-PI on several federal grants, which include NSF S-STEM and NSF HSI-IUSE grants. With a doctoral degree in Biochemistry, Dr. Samaroo’s research interests include drug discovery, therapeutics and nanomaterials.
Viviana Acquaviva New York City College of Technology
Dr. Armando Dominguez Solis

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