Opportunities for STEM Achievement (OSA)

Mercy University, Dobbs Ferry NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Opportunities for STEM Achievement (OSA) program at Mercy College, a federally-designated Hispanic Serving Institution, will award scholarships of $4,000 to incoming freshmen and transfer students and scholarships of up to $6,000 per year to continuing students pursuing degrees in: Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, and Mathematics. OSA will serve a population of academically talented, financially needy students who are often first-generation and largely underrepresented in these fields. The goal of the program will be to assure that at least 85 percent of OSA scholars graduate in in four or five years. The OSA program will result in an increase of the number of individuals prepared for entry into the STEM workforce and able to pursue graduate education in STEM disciplines. The OSA program will build on the successes of three former NSF grants. OSA scholars will receive personalized advisement along with an Individual Achievement Plan designed to improve persistence; faculty-mentored research and opportunities to present at conferences; seminars and career exploration presented by external professionals; traditional support services including professional and peer tutoring to increase academic achievement; and assistance with career preparation for immediate entry in STEM employment or admission to graduate school. Annual assessments, facilitated by an external evaluator, will measure scholar graduation rates and will also inform changes that may need to be made in OSA's design during implementation. Lessons learned and effective practices that emerge from the program evaluation data will be disseminated to the STEM education community and help enlarge the knowledge base regarding attributes and practices of successful scholarship programs of this type.