2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 338: NSF S-STEM: A Community College and University Partnership to Support STEM Student Success; Achievements and Challenges in the First Year of Implementation

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

The University [name of] Program is an NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) Track 3 (multi-institution) funded program built on the theoretical framework of legitimate peripheral participation with an emphasis on inclusivity, community, and belonging. The Program has increased Scholar retention, academic performance, and engagement with student support services relative to peers. The Program received renewed NSF funding in 2022 to expand the Program to include a collaboration between a local Two-Year Community College (TYCC) and the University (U) to create a seamless pathway for students from local high schools, through five TYCC STEM majors (Biology, Computer Science, Engineering Science, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Math) to the University, culminating in a STEM BA/BS degree and entry into a STEM profession. It will accomplish these goals by augmenting the original Program with components to address challenges specific to the Community College: a summer research experience, ALEKS for math placement support, joint Community College/University advising, and an annual Community College/University STEM faculty conference to strengthen curricular ties across institutions. The original Program developed and utilized five components at the 4-year institution: integrated support services, a STEM writing and metacognition seminar, dynamic hierarchical mentoring, financial support for Pell-eligible students, and a responsive program structure.

Both the University and Community College are located in a community in which >= 93% of high school students are minoritized in the sciences and >= 65% are low income. Our objectives are to: (1) shorten the length of time to earn STEM AS and BA/BS degrees, (2) increase feelings of belonging and identity with Community College and University, (3) increase identity and confidence as STEM students and professionals, (4) consistent engagement with student support services (e.g., academic success, career counseling and placement), (5) catalyze interdisciplinary and inter-institutional pedagogical collaborations, (6) identify curricular and co-curricular factors contributing to student success and career entry, (7) institutionalize sustainable, high impact practices, and (8) adapt and develop processes for other institutions to follow. The expanded Program will support 90 unique Scholars. The University Entryway will recruit STEM majors who were academically strong in high school and who initially underperform at the University. The Community College/University Entryway will recruit local, academically successful high school students. Our goal is to increase University and CC/U Scholar retention, transfer, and graduation rates by 25% relative to peers.
This work-in-progress paper will focus on the TYCC and importance of recruitment, perseverance, and retention/transfer rate to the University. It will detail the Program’s model and discuss the challenges and achievements of the first year of implementation of the community college cohort, summer research program, and the faculty collaborations between the institutions including the jointly hosted day-long faculty workshop.

Authors

Dr. Lynn A. Albers http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1436-0256 Hofstra University [biography]

Dr. Lynn Albers is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering of the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science at Hofstra University. Her previous academic contribution was as one of the founding five faculty/staff at Campbell University, helping the newly formed School of Engineering grow and establish roots in the community. A proponent of Hands-On Activities in the classroom and during out-of-school time programs, she believes that they complement any teaching style thereby reaching all learning styles. She earned her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University specializing in thermal sciences where her dissertation research spanned three colleges and focused on Engineering Education. Her passions include but are not limited to Engineering Education, Energy Engineering and Conservation, and K-20 STEM Outreach. Prior to matriculating at NCSU, she worked at the North Carolina Solar Center developing a passion for wind and solar energy research while learning renewable energy policy. She combined these passions with K-20 STEM Outreach while a National Science Foundation Fellow with the GK-12 Outreach Program at NCSU where she began Energy Clubs, an out-of-school-time program for third, fourth and fifth graders to introduce them to renewable energy.
Dr. Jessica Santangelo Hofstra University
Prof. Margaret A Hunter Hofstra University [biography]

Margaret Hunter,Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Engineering at Hofstra University in the Fred DeMatteir School of Engineering and Appplied Science. She has been teaching in the Civil Engineering program for 25 years. Her educational research focuses on broadening the participation in enigineering. This has included both formal and informal learning activites in pre-college, developing a course framework to aid faculty at 2 year institutions to encourage participation by women in STEM and currently involved in methods to improve retention in engineering.
Dr. John Carmine Vaccaro http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9827-2869 Hofstra University [biography]

John Vaccaro grew up on Long Island in Levittown, New York. After graduating with a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Hofstra University (â€™06), Dr. Vaccaro went on to earn his Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering in 2011 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti
Scott T Lefurgy Hofstra University
Jacqueline Lee Nassau Community College [biography]

Professor Jacqueline Lee is a Professor Emerita at Nassau Community College. She received her B.S. in Animal Science from Cornell University and her M.S. in Animal Industries from the Pennsylvania State University. Professor Lee’s current research interests focus on improving the college experience for STEM students at community colleges.
Rakhi Agarwal Nassau Community College

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