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Board 131: PEEPS S-STEM Partnering with Americorps CSU STEM VISTAs

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topic

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--29922

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/29922

Download Count

397

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Paper Authors

biography

Lizabeth T. Schlemer California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Lizabeth is an Associate Dean and a professor at Cal Poly, SLO in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. In her current role so advocates for access and equity for undergraduates at the university. She has been teaching for 25 years and has continued to develop innovative pedagogy such as project based, flipped classroom and competency grading. Through the SUSTAIN SLO learning initiative she and her colleagues have been active researching in transformation in higher education.

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biography

Jane L. Lehr California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Jane Lehr is Chair of the Women's & Gender Studies Department and Professor in Ethnic Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is also Faculty Director of the Cal Poly Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority and Underrepresented Student Participation in STEM Program. She previously served as elected co-chair of the Science & Technology Taskforce of the National Women's Studies Association, and as a Postdoctoral Research Officer at the Centre for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) at King's College, University of London. Her graduate training is in Science & Technology Studies and Women's Studies at Virginia Tech.

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Emily E. Liptow California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Emily Liptow currently works at a tech startup accelerator in Cleveland OH where she manages a coworking space and promotes community and diversity in the city's entrepreneurship ecosystem. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where she was involved with a variety of diversity and inclusion efforts in the College of Engineering ranging from student support programs, faculty bias awareness trainings, and inclusive cultural change. Prior to her work at Cal Poly, received a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio State University, where she was also very involved with social justice initiatives.

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Monica Lauren Singer AmeriCorps VISTA

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Monica Singer is an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives within the college of engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. There she received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with minors in Gender, Race, Culture, Science & Technology and Child Development. She is currently a research assistant in the Advancing Cultural Change lab on campus studying students’ lived experiences with a focus on STEM disciplines. Her research interests include masculinity and implicit bias in academia (specifically in the STEM fields).

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Katherine C. Chen Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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Dr. Katherine C. Chen is the Executive Director of the STEM Education Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Her degrees in Materials Science and Engineering are from Michigan State University and MIT. Her research interests include pre-college engineering education and equity in education.

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Abstract

We are in the 4th year of a 5 year NSF S-STEM grant called PEEPS (Program for Engineering Excellence for Partner Schools). The scholarship program was designed to support students from high schools that are under-resourced, "Partner Schools," to obtain an undergraduate engineering degree at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Students receive up to $10,000/year in financial aid. The program was modeled after the Posse Foundation Scholarship program. At our university, students formed a cohort being scheduled into engineering major and support courses together during their first two years. Students also engaged in monthly advising sessions, tutoring services, engineering success courses, group socials and engineering outreach activities. Currently, we are aiding students in developing professional mentorships to aid in career choices.

Throughout the grant, we have had an AmeriCorps CSU STEM VISTA members supporting the effort in a variety of ways. There have been three different VISTAs and each has brought a strength to the program. VISTA members coordinated social events and academic tutoring. They mentored and helped students maneuver the university system. The VISTAs are supported through the California State University's Chancellors Office. This paper will outline the logistics and mechanism for the involvement of the VISTA members and their individual contributions to the NSF Grant effort.

We strongly believe other grantees should investigate the availability of this rich and diverse community of volunteers as we believe the current S-STEM grant was very much enhanced by their ongoing participation

Schlemer, L. T., & Lehr, J. L., & Liptow, E. E., & Singer, M. L., & Chen, K. C. (2018, June), Board 131: PEEPS S-STEM Partnering with Americorps CSU STEM VISTAs Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29922

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