strategies for building community among students, and the impact of those strategies on stem...
TRANSCRIPT
Strategies for building community among students, and the impact of those strategies on STEM retention. Discussion topics include strategies aimed at critical transition points where attrition or low academic performance is known to be high for certain groups (e.g., entering freshman, community college transfers, transition to upper division core, underrepresented engineering students).
NSF STEP Meeting 2014Learning Communities & Cohort Building
Breakout
Grant Vision and Mission Vision
Increase and improve undergraduate student recruitment, engagement, and retention in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics discipl ines, with an emphasis on women and
underrepresented students.
MissionThe STEP grant wi l l leverage existing campus services, build capacity, and implement new high-impact practices in order to increase the
number of women and underrepresented minority students
in the Col lege of EMS and to improve the yearly retention rates and graduation
rates of these populat ions.
Focus Areas
• K-12• Entering Freshmen• Existing Cohort Groups• Women in STEM• STEM Scholars• WiSTEM LLC• At Risk Students• DRIVEN Scholars• Collaborative Program students
STEP Grant Initiatives
• CenterPOINT• Special Programs Manager & Student Assistants• Career Advising Activities• Undergraduate Research & Travel Grants• WEMS Mentor Funding• Outreach Coordination• Success Skills class for incoming transfer students• Articulation agreements/Transfer student • Leverage and compliment existing cohorts and
programs
Cohort Capacity Building Strategies
• College Student Success Programs Department• Women in EMS Program• College Supplemental Advising Office• Menominee Nation Program
• Cohort Courses• Mentor Training• K-12 Outreach• SWE Collegiate Section• WEMS Mentor Center• Women in STEM Banquet• Academic Action Plans• Cross-Campus Shared Capacity Building• Women in STEM Class
Success• CenterPOINT usage & popularity• Women in College = 53% growth since 2010• Increased Departmental Infrastructure &
Branding• Institutionalization mechanisms• Build industry relationships• Campus collaboration• Advisory Board
• Gap Analysis• K-12 Relationships for underrepresented
students• Additional Grant applications
Swipe Statistics
Swipes
Unique Swipes
Sign-Ins
Unique Sign-Ins
Total Visitors
Total Unique Visitors – Combined swipe and sign-in
Sept. 1245 284 73 50 1318 306
Oct. 1937 476 215 122 2150 403
Nov. 1689 493 172 83 1861 319
Dec.* 1131 339 136 77 1239 356
Total 6002 568 198‡ 6568 634§
* Usage tracking for the month of December includes only December 1-20, due to the conclusion of the semester on December 20.
‡ Total Unique Sign-Ins were determined by combining the sign-in lists from September through December and removing duplicates.
§ Total Unique Visitors were determined by combining the swipe and sign-in lists from September through December and removing duplicates.
Obstacles• Marginalize/Minimize Student Success Programs• Faculty and Administrative buy-in• Expanding promising/best practices• Campus articulation processes• Debate vs. Dialogue; managing collaboration processes;
silos• Engaging URM and developing trust• Too many initiatives – managing priorities – value added
activities• Lack of understanding of institutionalization principles• Gender and cultural competency• Change agent burn out for personnel• Assessment & IRB