Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships Program

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The University of California at Berkeley Center for Underrepresented Engineering Students (CUES) is administering the "CSEMS at Cal" program under the NSF Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships Program. "CSEMS at Cal" is awarding scholarships of $2,500 per year to forty economically disadvantaged students, who are being referred to as Cal-CSEMS Scholars. Recruitment of the Cal-CSEMS Scholars is targeting three groups: 1) incoming freshmen, 2) incoming transfer students, and 3) continuing students at the junior level. This group includes students from majors in Berkeley's College of Engineering, chemical engineering majors in the College of Chemistry, and students in the computer science or mathematics majors in the College of Letters and Science. All students targeted for the scholarships demonstrate financial need and are being verified by Berkeley's Financial Aid Office. Students are being chosen by a committee, which is employing a comprehensive approach in evaluating each student's academic merit and professionalism. There is an increasing shortfall in the number of qualified students able to fill the need for computer science and engineering professionals in the workforce. Students' financial troubles are increasingly likely to interrupt and delay their degree completion. Currently, 60% of Berkeley students demonstrate some type of financial need, and are receiving need-based support in order to attend college. Financial need is perhaps a more serious impediment to timely completion of engineering degrees because the technical course load is often not compatible with long hours of outside work. The "CSEMS at Cal" program is allocating support to financially needy students to assist them in completing their Bachelors of Science degrees in engineering and computer science fields. The "CSEMS at Cal" scholarships are key incentives for attracting and retaining a talented undergraduate engineering student population. A special emphasis is being placed on recruiting underrepresented students, currently the object of the College of Engineering's outreach and recruitment activities in the CUES Office. Although CUES' expertise is in working with underrepresented student groups, the academic services, counseling and advocacy offered by CUES programs are equally useful and appropriate for students from low-income, majority groups. Cal-CSEMS scholars are participating in a variety of retention-related activities tied to the existing CUES student support infrastructure. This includes faculty advising, academic excellence workshops, tutoring, mentoring, advising, internships in industry and/or research experience, and assistance with graduate school applications or job placement. A unifying theme of the "CSEMS at Cal" program is to increase student retention by helping each student develop into a committed member of the engineering and academic community. The "CSEMS at Cal" program is providing an important opportunity to extend CUES practices, academic activities and diversity training to a wider base of students and faculty. The Cal-CSEMS scholars is also providing a vehicle to strengthen CUES' relationships with its industry partners; namely by increasing the number of students CUES can refer for hiring opportunities.