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1. Using Financial Support to Create a Learning Community Among Diverse Community College STEM Students

   Enriquez, A. G.; Lipe, C. B. (June 2012, ASEE annual conference & exposition)

   Although many California Community College students from underrepresented groups enter college with high levels of interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the majority of them drop out or change majors even before taking transfer-level courses due to a variety of reasons including financial difficulties, inadequate academic preparation, lack of family support, poor study skills, and inadequate or ineffective academic advising and mentoring. In 2009, Cañada College, a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution in the San Francisco Bay Area, received a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant to develop a scholarship program for financially needy community college students intending to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. In collaboration with the College’s Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program – an academic, personal, and professional support structure has been designed and implemented to maximize the likelihood of success of these students. This support structure aims to create a learning community among the scholars through a combination of academic counseling and mentoring, personal enrichment and professional development opportunities, and strong academic support services. This paper describes how faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, student organizations, and partners in industry, four-year institutions, and professional organizations can be involved in creating an academic infrastructure that promotes academic excellence, leadership skills, and personal and professional growth among the diversity of financially needy STEM students in a community college. 

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2. Work in Progress: Impacting Engineering First-year Student Retention Through a Nonconventional Engineering Learning Community

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35647  

   Bartolomei-Suarez, Sonia; Jimenez, Manuel; Guillemard, Luisa; Suarez, Oscar; Santiago-Román, Aidsa; Santiago, Nayda; Lopez del Puerto, Carla; Quintero, Pedro; Cardona-Martínez, Nelson; Valentin, Anidza (June 2020, 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

   This work in progress explores the impact of activities developed to improve students’ persistence in engineering undergraduate programs as part of a five-year NSF grant. The Program for Engineering Access, Retention, and LIATS Success (PEARLS), has been running for one year in the College of Engineering (CoE) in our institution attempting to increase persistence, retention and graduation rates, and professional success of low-income, academically talented students (LIATS). This paper describes the design of a novel engineering learning community (ELC) introduced as part of the PEARLS project interventions. The ELC is fostered through activities included in a course designed for PEARLS first-year students. During the course, first-year and senior students engaged in different ways: through senior design and capstone projects, peer demonstrations of team projects, and lab visits. We discuss the course structure, activities, and early findings of its implementation. 

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3. S-STEM First Year Progress: Baylor Engineering and Computer Science Scholar's Program

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--42065  

   Thompson, Michael; Spence, Anne; Skurla, Carolyn; Sandvall, Emily; Pouso_Morales, Andrea (August 2022, ASEE Conferences)

   This paper reports first-year progress of the Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Scholars Program at Baylor University, an NSF S-STEM project supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need pursuing B.S. degrees in Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science. Over five years the project funds four-year scholarships for 22 students across two cohorts of 11, paired with orientation, a seminar series, required faculty mentoring, peer and alumni mentoring, undergraduate research support, professional development, and tutoring. A distinguishing feature is the use of EAB's Navigate platform for tracking student progress, coordinating care, and applying predictive analytics to inform timely interventions. The project also investigates how student perceptions of success factors align with those attributed by faculty/mentors and predictive analytics, and whether such "big data" tools are perceived as helpful. First-year accomplishments are reported across recruitment (adapted for COVID-19), Navigate setup, scholar orientation and activities, and a qualitative research study examining student fit, institutional fit, and student identity, with progress mapped to each project objective. 

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4. BOARD # 329: Bridging the Innovation Gap: Advancing STEM Education to Meet Workforce Needs and Improve Retention (S-STEM)

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--55696  

   Schubert, Karl; Gattis, Carol; Delgado_Solorzano, Xochitl; Popp, Jennie; Cao, Chunhua; Massey, Leslie; Carter, Thomas (June 2025, ASEE Conferences)

   To enhance the United States’ competitiveness in STEM fields, the University of Arkansas created the NSF-funded program, Closing American’s Innovation Gap through Collaboration with Industry (INNOV), to equip low-income students with innovative skills and improve their retention and success in STEM disciplines. The program combines academic innovation opportunities, scholarships, and retention programming, targeting Pell Grant recipients with high potential. INNOV aims to cultivate a cohort of STEM graduates through a curriculum that integrates innovation methodologies and practical industry experience. INNOV consists of several key components. Curricular components include a credit-bearing bridge program conducted prior to their first fall semester, and a year-long sequence of innovation courses featuring industry-partnered projects, and innovation-themed field trips. The non-curricular aspect includes a residential living-learning community, peer and professional mentoring, faculty guidance, and team-building exercises, all designed to foster student success. Scholarships provide up to eight semesters of financial support, reducing economic barriers for participants. The program accepted 28 students. Currently, the first cohort are seniors, and the second cohort are juniors. Scholars enter the program with a high school GPA of 3.50 or higher and ACT composite scores between 23 and 27 (SAT 1130-1300). INNOV has achieved an 89% retention rate across two cohorts, a significant success in supporting this population in their STEM pursuits. Insights into the program’s impact on participants’ innovation training and satisfaction with the program are gained from the end of academic year anonymous response surveys. Separate analyses from the junior and sophomore year surveys are provided in the paper. Pooling the INNOV sophomore and junior survey data from May 2024, of the 20 respondents (11 sophomore, 9 junior), 90% reported feeling more comfortable expressing their ideas, and 95% felt more confident taking risks. Furthermore, 90% indicated that the innovation courses were valuable for their future educational and career goals, while 75% credited the program with enhancing their creativity and innovative thinking. Surveys also highlighted the importance of INNOV's non-academic support. Of respondents, 85% felt that the Path program, which provides mentoring and peer support, was essential in promoting their sense of belonging, and 95% felt it helped them be more academically engaged. They emphasized that Path was integral to their motivation, with 85% affirming that it helped them continue in their chosen STEM degree program. Additionally, the program’s cohort-building activities and faculty-student interaction were crucial in maintaining students’ academic focus and commitment. These findings demonstrate the program’s success in creating a supportive and inclusive environment that fosters both academic and personal growth. In conclusion, INNOV has effectively combined innovation education with comprehensive support mechanisms to prepare low-income students for success in STEM fields. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, industry engagement early in their academic careers, and a strong academic support system, INNOV has made a significant impact on retention, academic performance, and future aspirations. These results provide a roadmap for future initiatives aimed at improving retention in STEM disciplines, particularly among students from low-income backgrounds. Acknowledgment This material is based upon work supported by the National Science under Grant No. 2030297. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 

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5. Enhancing the Success of Minority STEM Students by Providing Financial, Academic, Social, and Cultural Capital

   Enriquez, A. G.; Lipe, C. B.; Price, B. (June 2017, ASEE annual conference & exposition)

   Research has shown that student achievement is influenced by their access to, or possession of, various forms of capital. These forms of capital include financial capital, academic capital (prior academic preparation and access to academic support services), cultural capital (the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors related to education which students are exposed to by members of their family or community), and social capital (the resources students have access to as a result of being members of groups or networks). For community college students, many with high financial need and the first in their families to go to college (especially those from underrepresented minority groups), developing programs to increase access to these various forms of capital is critical to their success. This paper describes how a small federally designated Hispanic-serving community college has developed a scholarship program for financially needy community college students intending to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. Developed through a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant, the program involves a collaboration among STEM faculty, college staff, administrators, student organizations, and partners in industry, four-year institutions, local high schools, and professional organizations. In addition to providing financial support through the scholarships, student access to academic capital is increased through an intensive math review program, tutoring, study groups, supplemental instruction, and research internship opportunities. Access to cultural and social capital is increased by providing scholars with faculty mentors; engaging students with STEM faculty, university researchers, and industry professionals through field trips, summer internships, professional organizations, and student clubs; supporting student and faculty participation at professional conferences, and providing opportunities for students and their families to interact with faculty and staff. The paper details the development of the program, and its impact over the last five years on enhancing the success of STEM students as determined from data on student participation in various program activities, student attitudinal and self-efficacy surveys, and academic performance including persistence, retention, transfer and graduation. 

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