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The Alternative Pathways to Excellence (APEX): Engineering a Transfer-Friendly Experience program at the University of St. Thomas is an NSF S-STEM 25-514 Track 2 project, award number 2130042. The aim of the grant is to build a foundation for non-traditional students and transfer students through recruitment, academic support, community-built retention efforts, student success, networking, graduation, and post-graduation placement in industry and/or graduate school. Key to the efforts is development of the support system for high academic potential students from low-income households through removal of systematic curricular barriers, strong empowerment through a community of peers, hidden curriculum mentoring from culturally informed faculty, industry coaching, and up to $10,000 annual scholarships. The inaugural APEX scholar cohort enrolled in Fall 2022. The effectiveness research examines data related to enrollment, retention, and success metrics for students in engineering, specifically comparing these factors among engineering transfer students and the APEX scholars group. Although not all APEX students are transfer students, the program targets the transfer student population by creating new pipelines from five community college partners. This paper reviews key comparison data points, quantitative analysis of this data, qualitative analysis of student feedback, and demonstrates the initial success of the program.
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Board 184: A Layered Mentoring Approach for Engineering Excellence
The Alternative Pathways to Excellence (APEX) Program at the University of St. Thomas, funded by NSF as an S-STEM Track 2 project, aims to solidify transfer pathways, and assist Engineering students by providing financial, academic, and practical support. The successful integration of transfer students into engineering programs presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for higher education institutions. The APEX program offers a spectrum of student support services, both structured and informal mentoring, curricular and co-curricular supports, and collaborative activities. The program is designed to forge accessible pathways into engineering careers for students with high academic potential, who are facing financial constraints by granting annual S-STEM scholarships to a select group of students. This paper describes a layered mentoring approach adopted by our team that encompasses both pre-application and post-application phases. We explore the pivotal roles played by peers, faculty members, and industry advisors in mentoring aspiring engineers through their educational journey. The paper describes the support structures and strategies implemented before students apply to engineering programs, shedding light on how early mentoring can influence students' preparedness and motivation to pursue engineering degrees. This paper also reports on the ongoing mentoring and support mechanisms vital for transfer students during their engineering studies. Peer mentoring, faculty mentoring, and industry advisor mentorship are all integral components of this stage. Furthermore, the paper discusses the training routines and strategies employed to prepare faculty, industry advisors, and peer mentors for their roles in supporting engineering students. This training ensures that mentors are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to guide students effectively, foster their academic growth, and nurture their professional aspirations.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2130042
- PAR ID:
- 10561797
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland, Oregon
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The Alternative Pathways to Excellence (APEX) program at the University of St. Thomas is an NSF funded S-STEM Track 2 project that seeks to strengthen efforts to recruit and retain STEM transfer students by integrating financial, academic, and practical supports. The APEX program provides student support services, formal and informal mentoring, curricular and co-curricular supports, and cohort building activities all formulated to create accessible pathways into engineering careers for a population of academically talented students with low income and high unmet financial need. The goals of this program are to increase recruitment by partnering with five regional community colleges, to award S-STEM scholarships of up to $10,000 annually to cohorts of 4-6 students each year, to increase retention by developing retention-friendly supports, and to graduate APEX scholars who go on to meaningfully contribute to fueling innovation in industry and/or academic post-graduate study. Generation of knowledge is based on studying the APEX program as a model and evaluating qualitative and quantitative data surrounding students’ successful transitions to a four-year institution. Program evaluation is focused on understanding how well APEX recruitment strategies contribute to increasing the number of low income and underrepresented students who transfer into the University of St. Thomas Engineering program and understanding the extent to which retention efforts are most beneficial to retaining students. In this work, we showcase initial program activities, and the initial results based on the first year of study and our first cohort of scholars.more » « less
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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.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46748
