Board 265: Enhancing the Transfer Experience through a Collaborative Cohort Program: the Culmination of a 5-year NSF S-STEM Program at a Community College

Claire L. A. Dancz; Elizabeth A Adams; Nihal Orfi; Emily Evans

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/46838

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Paper Authors

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Claire L. A. Dancz Clemson University orcid.org/0000-0003-4359-8041

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Dr. Dancz is the Associate Director for Instructional Innovation in the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University.

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Elizabeth A Adams P.E. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Dr. Elizabeth Adams is an Assistant Professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. She a civil engineer with a background in infrastructure design and management, and project management. Her consulting experience spanned eight years and included extensive work with the US military in Japan, Korea, and Hawaii. In 2008 Elizabeth shifted the focus of her career to education and academia, later receiving her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Arizona State University. Prior to her position at Cal Poly Dr. Adams taught engineering for 13 years in community colleges in Arizona and California. Her work highlights a commitment to undergraduate engineering education and its improvement through best teaching practices. Her research efforts are focused on increasing transfer student success.

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Nihal Orfi Fresno City College

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Dr. Nihal Orfi teaches full time as an Engineering faculty at Fresno City College. She obtained her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She has been actively involved in projects related to engineering education and enhancing the academic experience for engineering students. Her current focus has been on improving enrollment, retention, and persistence rates of traditionally underrepresented students in engineering programs.

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Emily Evans Magnolia Consulting

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Emily Evans, Ph.D., is a Researcher and Evaluator at Magnolia Consulting, specializing in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Dr. Evans has experience as a teacher, professional learning provider and researcher of formal and informal STEM education in a variety of settings and contexts.

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Abstract

This paper reports on the culmination of an NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) awarded to a two-year college located in a metro area with high rates of concentrated poverty and low levels of educational attainment. This two-year college is a minority-serving institution with curriculum to prepare students majoring in engineering to transfer and complete a baccalaureate degree at a four-year university. The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) was established in fall 2019 to award students majoring in engineering annual scholarships of up to $6000, depending on financial need. In addition to supporting students through scholarships, the program engages scholars in professional development activities inclusive of academic seminars, extracurricular events, and undergraduate research opportunities in collaboration with the local four-year university. The program also established a mentorship structure with faculty mentors, student peer mentors, and academic advising. In addition to supporting scholars at the two-year college, the ESP provides support for a portion of cohorts that have transferred to the local four-year university and remained connected to the program. To date, the ESP has awarded a total of 131 semester long scholarships; 16 in year one (2019-2020), 28 in year two (2020-2021), 35 in year three (2021-2022), including six transfers, 38 in year four (2022-2023), including eight transfers, and currently, for fall 2023, year five of the program, 14 students are supported, including 5 transfers. In year three, the ESP was awarded supplemental funding to support a larger portion of students and transfer cohorts; this helped reduce the financial burdens resulting from exacerbated financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic during years two and three of this project. This paper details the progress made towards the achievement of the program goals of creating a welcoming STEM climate at the two-year college, increasing the participation and persistence in engineering among economically disadvantaged students, and establishing transfer support to the local four-year university. Program evaluation findings have identified several opportunities for sustaining scholar transfer support outside of the financial support provided in the form of scholarships. These opportunities fell into two major themes: (1) peer-led transfer support inclusive of connecting transferred students and students preparing for transfer with emphasis on navigating different university structures, and (2) collaboration across engineering disciplines to develop and offer interdisciplinary undergraduate research and/or collaborative work on other projects. Furthermore, research findings from interviews with scholars provided additional context for taking action on program outcomes while also enhancing the understanding of how participation in a collaborative cohort experience can contribute to students’ membership within the STEM community and the construction of their own STEM identity. Although formal financial support sunsets during the final year of the ESP, program and research findings have identified programmatic elements that provide key support for students and can be sustained into the future. This paper reports on the program strategy for meeting the future needs of scholars at both the two-year college and the four-year transfer university.

Citation
Format

Dancz, C. L. A., & Adams, E. A., & Orfi, N., & Evans, E. (2024, June), Board 265: Enhancing the Transfer Experience through a Collaborative Cohort Program: the Culmination of a 5-year NSF S-STEM Program at a Community College Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://strategy.asee.org/46838

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper reports on the culmination of an NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) awarded to a two-year college located in a metro area with high rates of concentrated poverty and low levels of educational attainment. This two-year college is a minority-serving institution with curriculum to prepare students majoring in engineering to transfer and complete a baccalaureate degree at a four-year university. The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) was established in fall 2019 to award students majoring in engineering annual scholarships of up to $6000, depending on financial need. In addition to supporting students through scholarships, the program engages scholars in professional development activities inclusive of academic seminars, extracurricular events, and undergraduate research opportunities in collaboration with the local four-year university. The program also established a mentorship structure with faculty mentors, student peer mentors, and academic advising. In addition to supporting scholars at the two-year college, the ESP provides support for a portion of cohorts that have transferred to the local four-year university and remained connected to the program. To date, the ESP has awarded a total of 131 semester long scholarships; 16 in year one (2019-2020), 28 in year two (2020-2021), 35 in year three (2021-2022), including six transfers, 38 in year four (2022-2023), including eight transfers, and currently, for fall 2023, year five of the program, 14 students are supported, including 5 transfers. In year three, the ESP was awarded supplemental funding to support a larger portion of students and transfer cohorts; this helped reduce the financial burdens resulting from exacerbated financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic during years two and three of this project. This paper details the progress made towards the achievement of the program goals of creating a welcoming STEM climate at the two-year college, increasing the participation and persistence in engineering among economically disadvantaged students, and establishing transfer support to the local four-year university. Program evaluation findings have identified several opportunities for sustaining scholar transfer support outside of the financial support provided in the form of scholarships. These opportunities fell into two major themes: (1) peer-led transfer support inclusive of connecting transferred students and students preparing for transfer with emphasis on navigating different university structures, and (2) collaboration across engineering disciplines to develop and offer interdisciplinary undergraduate research and/or collaborative work on other projects. Furthermore, research findings from interviews with scholars provided additional context for taking action on program outcomes while also enhancing the understanding of how participation in a collaborative cohort experience can contribute to students’ membership within the STEM community and the construction of their own STEM identity. Although formal financial support sunsets during the final year of the ESP, program and research findings have identified programmatic elements that provide key support for students and can be sustained into the future. This paper reports on the program strategy for meeting the future needs of scholars at both the two-year college and the four-year transfer university.
AU  - Claire L. A. Dancz
AU  - Elizabeth A Adams P.E.
AU  - Nihal Orfi
AU  - Emily Evans
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 265: Enhancing the Transfer Experience through a Collaborative Cohort Program: the Culmination of a 5-year NSF S-STEM Program at a Community College
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/46838
ER  -