The Impact of Federally Funded Scholarship Programs on the Success of Transfer Students at a Public Engineering College

Nationally almost half of the students receiving baccalaureate degrees in science and engineering complete part of their education at a community college, and this statistic is expected to increase with the rising costs of attending a four-year public institution. The demographics of almost all four-year engineering programs fail to align with U.S. Census data for women and underrepresented minorities. Community colleges, on the other hand, serve a high number of these students. Programs designed to support community college student transition and graduation from four-year engineering programs will naturally increase the pipeline of diverse students entering the workforce. This paper will review the impacts of two National Science Foundation S-STEM (Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) grants on undergraduate minority engineering transfer student retention and development during the period 2007-13 in the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The programs were designed to overcome known barriers to persistence of transfer students from community college, including lack of engagement on campus, underdeveloped professional work ethic and goals, deficient study habits, fewer opportunities to gain practical competence/reflection on learning, and working for pay. The elements of the programs included cohorting, team-building, mentoring, tutoring, and advising, as well as monetary support in the form of scholarships. Compared to control groups, the cohorts participating in these programs showed significantly higher retention rates, a shorter time-to-degree, and higher placement rates in industry or graduate school. The College also experienced an increase in diversity and an expanded pipeline of students continuing on to graduate school. Key elements of the programs that lead to success will be highlighted and the challenges for attaining sustainability discussed. Introduction The College of Engineering (CoE) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst received two “Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” (S-STEM) grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) over the period 2007-13. Both grants focused on recruiting, retaining and graduating economically disadvantaged engineering transfer students; the second also introduced an emphasis on recruiting previous S-STEM Scholars into graduate programs within the CoE. Specific programs were designed to address known barriers to success in the target population. Through detailed student tracking, we were able to compare two summative metrics of academic success (graduation and job placement rates) between the SSTEM Scholars and the total transfer student population of CoE. Also, through a survey given to the Scholars annually, we were able to identify which S-STEM program elements were the most valued and utilize this insight for the design of future programs. Program Elements Funding. Two NSF S-STEM grants, with total funds in the range of $600,000 each, were received in succession. The first one, DUE-0728485, covered the period 2007-2013 (including a no-cost extension); we will refer to this as Grant #1. The second one, DUE-0965783, covered P ge 26543.2 the period 2010-2013; we will refer to this as Grant #2. The vast majority of funds in both grants were allocated to student scholarships, with roughly 10% allocated to administrative and student support services, as required by NSF guidelines. These administrative and support funds were used to fund many of the program activities described below. Populations. The program participants, referred to as S-STEM Scholars, were selected from the pool of transfer students who met the following qualifications: U.S. citizens or permanent residents, enrolled full-time in one of majors within CoE, demonstrate academic potential or ability, and demonstrate financial need (as defined by the US Dept. of Education rules for federal financial aid and implemented by the university’s financial aid office). Grant #1 supported 39 undergraduate students; 18% were female, 28% were members of an under-represented minority (URM) group, and one reported a disability. Grant #2 also supported 39 students; 18% were female and 39% were URM. Scholarships. S-STEM Scholars typically received two years of scholarship support in the amount of $8,000 per year. Continued support beyond two years was possible, subject to a review of academic progress and financial eligibility. Some students were offered less than two years of support due to limited availability of project funds near the end of a grant period, and a small number of students left the program. Activities. All S-STEM program activities were run or coordinated through the CoE’s Events Office with assistance from the Diversity Programs Office (DPO). The mission of the DPO is to provide academic and non-academic support to increase enrollment, retention, and graduation among under-represented minorities and women, but DPO services are available to all CoE students. The DPO collaborates with the university’s Learning Resource Center (LRC) to provide academic support services and essay writing support for scholarship, graduate school, and similar applications. The DPO also provides professional development workshops and networking events for students to interact with industry, alumni and faculty, and runs a robust K12 outreach program. Our activities were designed to overcome known barriers to persistence for our target population. “Compared to students who began and persisted at a single four-year institution, students who transferred to a four-year institution from a two-year institution tended to have fewer interactions with faculty and fewer educationally enriching activities such as internships, community service, and senior capstone courses”. Academic and career development support for the S-STEM students will shift with their needs. As noted by Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, “...we have to meet the students where they are: we have to give them personal attention. Programs that are structured this way see the value of personal attention at every stage of higher education and are committed to meeting students’ individual learning needs, which includes mentoring and tutoring”. Through our work with two S-STEM cohorts, we have identified early and intensive involvement of the S-STEM students with faculty and staff advisors as an integral part of a successful program. Other program elements we believe to be important are summarized in Table 1, organized by the five known barriers to persistence on which we focused. It should be noted that some of these elements were in place during Grant #1 and #2, while others are proposed initiatives for future S-STEM cohorts. P ge 26543.3 Engagement/Belonging. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs of the CoE and additional professional staff members met formally with the Scholars once a semester, providing an opportunity for students to talk about any issues as well as to learn about opportunities. In addition to providing basic program updates, these meetings facilitated peer-to-peer support amongst the Scholars. Proposed enhancements for “all hands” meetings include additional professional networking events to provide the S-STEM Scholars an opportunity to interact with faculty, upper-level undergraduates, and graduate student mentors in a more relaxed, informal environment. We believe that this meeting in a low-stakes environment leads to greater understanding of each student’s background and needs. In practice the professional staff saw students regularly in the DPO, which functions for students as a friendly, informal place to study, connect with peers and advisors, or simply relax. With such support immediately available, problems in transitioning (housing, financial aid, course selection, building study networks, etc.) and feelings of isolation are addressed more quickly. Another proposed enhancement is to assign each Scholar one of the co-PI or senior personnel on the S-STEM grant as their faculty advisor; these faculty are more aware of the unique issues facing URM students and will be able to provide more targeted one-on-one academic advising each semester.