Broadening Participation in CCLI: a Workshop and Mentoring Program for Two-Year College Faculty, July 2010, Reno, Nevada

St. Catherine University, Saint Paul MN

Investigators

Abstract

The Nation's two-year colleges (2YCs) educate a substantial and rapidly growing number of undergraduate students, including a significant number of students in STEM fields. Furthermore, the racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity of students served by 2YCs make these institutions key entry points to STEM fields for students who have been historically underrepresented. While 2YCs serve large numbers of STEM students, the number of NSF Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) proposals from and awards to these institutions remains disproportionately low. This project is developing and implementing a grant writing workshop and mentoring program for STEM faculty from 2YCs. Project components are designed to address the barriers to participation in CCLI faced by 2YC faculty and, as such, to address the disproportionately small number of CCLI awards made to these institutions. The overall goals of the project are to broaden awareness of the CCLI program as a resource for 2YCs and to increase the number of CCLI awards to these institutions. A specific focus of the project is on faculty from rural 2YCs that have not had previous NSF funding. By enhancing participation of target faculty in the CCLI program, the project is directly impacting 2YC faculty and students through improved curricula, pedagogy, and instrumentation. Furthermore, by broadening the CCLI community to include institutions not previously represented, the project is seeking to further facilitate collaboration between 2YCs and the broader undergraduate STEM community.