E2S5 Project (Environment, Engineering, Sustainability Science Student Success Scholarships)

Greenfield Community College, Greenfield MA

Investigators

Abstract

The E2S5 (Environment, Engineering, Sustainability Science Student Success Scholarships) Project is aimed at encouraging high academic achievement, promoting experiential learning and internship opportunities that will supplement students' scientific foundation at Greenfield Community College. The program will also encourage student outreach and community service and will prepare recipients for careers or continued studies in STEM-related fields. E2S5 is designed to support students in four STEM disciplines at the college and incorporate experiential learning and internships as student learning outcomes. Four disciplines will be targeted in this project: Engineering, Environmental Science, Farm and Food Systems, and Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency. The program emphasizes recruitment of qualified students to these disciplines, and will build on other college initiatives designed to support STEM students and increase retention. E2S5 is also designed to facilitate next steps for students to enter the workplace or to continue to baccalaureate granting institutions. Towards this end, the project will build on existing opportunities for experiential site-based learning and internships to deepen science discipline understanding and will provide pathways to jobs or transfer. Internships will provide students with the best possible experiential learning. They will provide local businesses and agencies with student energy and expertise, and will help prepare students to become responsive to the need for more American scientists and engineers in the workforce. The college will use S-STEM grant funds to provide a total of 102 scholarships over a five-year period. Scholarship criteria are well defined and inclusive to reach broadly into the diverse student body that populates these programs. Funding plans will be structured to include as many qualified students as possible. An extensive student support system, including advising and coaching, tutoring and academic support, experiential learning, internship opportunities, career and transfer counseling, and community building special events will be built and scholarship recipients will be expected to participate. Goals of the project include well-defined and significant improvement in persistence rates. By the end of the grant period, the PI expects that 95% of the students will either find discipline-related employment or transfer into a related discipline at a baccalaureate granting institution. In terms of the broader impacts, the program will emphasize the priorities of integrating teaching and experiential research and learning, promoting diversity, and encouraging scientific understanding that benefits society. Dissemination of results to the outside community will primarily be accomplished through presentations at discipline specific conferences and at conferences that focus on student learning. Internally, dissemination will be through presentations to faculty as professional development workshops that focus on learning communities, engaging students in science, problem-based learning, and peer-led team leadership. Findings will help broaden the higher education enterprise's understanding of the attributes and practices of programs that are successful in promoting academic opportunity and quality for students with financial need.