Scholarship, Learning Community, Mentoring, and Strengths-Based Campus

Bemidji State University, Bemidji MN

Investigators

Abstract

A significant national need exists to increase substantially the number of American scientists and engineers. This project at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota, addresses this need by providing academic and financial support to students pursing degrees in science and mathematics at that institution. The goal of the program is to impact the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce by providing scholarships for talented students who demonstrate financial need. Bemidji State University (BSU) provides scholarships to academically promising STEM students with financial need, and supports them with a broad range of services. It is expected that this program will help STEM majors to succeed in their studies, complete their degrees, and go on to either advanced study in STEM fields or to immediately enter and thrive in the STEM workforce. The goals of the project are to increase the number of STEM students at BSU by ten percent and to increase the six-year graduation rate of STEM students. The planned duration of the project is five years. Through its partnerships with four tribal colleges within the state, BSU is also well-positioned to increase the number of Native American STEM graduates in the STEM disciplines. An adequate STEM workforce is critical to the future economy of the United States. A critical step in securing the economic strength of the nation is to graduate a larger number of capable U.S. students with STEM degrees. The project pursues an approach to enhancing graduation and retention rates based on research that shows that a combination of support services and financial aid is highly effective in improving STEM student success. The project also utilizes several existing support structures that are in place at the university. Support structures include one-on-one tutoring, peer mentoring, and financial literacy workshops. New support structures include a STEM Scholars Learning Community and faculty mentoring of STEM scholars. The project also employs the StrengthsQuest approach to identify student interests and abilities. StrengthsQuest is an online assessment to help identify individual abilities and preferences and to align career options with these preferences. This resource assists students in identifying their talents and carrying out career explorations. The project will assess the impact of using StrengthsQuest as part of its STEM student support services. The project team believes this information will be helpful to other post-secondary institutions, as they look for new and better ways of supporting STEM students. The project includes a plan for evaluation which will assess impact of the interventions on an annual basis and at the end of the effort. The project team has identified specific, measurable objectives that will help determine the extent to which the project has been successful in meeting its goals. Measurable objectives include STEM student retention; graduation rates; job placement data; and effectiveness of student participation in the support activities. The project provides additional outcomes of interest concerning Native Americans and STEM careers. Given the relationships between BSU and the Native American community, the lessons learned from this project will inform practices in serving Native American populations throughout the United States. Project results will be disseminated to STEM educators at the local, regional, and national levels.