STEM Honors, Study Abroad, and Scholars Programs (STEM HSASP)

Galveston College, Galveston TX

Investigators

Abstract

Galveston College, a Hispanic Serving community college, will improve educational opportunities for low-income, academically talented students by creating a new honors program, a new study abroad program, and a new scholar's program to support STEM majors from their first year through transfer to a four-year institution. The honors program will develop academic and nonacademic skills using curricular and co-curricular initiatives, to increase student success at Galveston College and after transfer to a four-year institution. The study abroad program, with opportunities typically not available to STEM community college students, will to develop students into a more globally literate STEM workforce. The S-STEM Scholars at Galveston College will financially support 52 students for two years. To study the impact of the Honors, Study Abroad, and Scholars Programs, a mixed method research and evaluation approach will be employed. The investigators will measure a number of variables including financial support, workload, and participation in co-curricular activities. This approach will allow the investigators to make evidence-based improvements to better achieve, sustain, and share successes. The programs are designed to (1) broaden participation in STEM fields at the community college level; (2) be sustainable at Galveston College; and (3) be replicable at similar institutions.