Washington Forestry Training Initiative

Green River Community College, Auburn WA

Investigators

Abstract

The Washington Forestry Training Initiative (WFTI) is responding to needs in the Natural Resources industry. It focuses upon students pursuing an applied baccalaureate STEM degree offered jointly by two Washington State public community colleges, Green River College and Grays Harbor College. The three objectives of the project are to (1) increase the enrollment and diversity of eligible students, to (2) implement and study the effectiveness of applied STEM learning practices to improve students' academic and career outcomes, and to (3) implement and sustain effective cohort-based activities for these students. The project is awarding 92 annual scholarships of up to $7,500. It is working to increase the retention rate of scholarship recipients (S-STEM Scholars) and increase their graduation rate. S-STEM Scholars will be mainly recruited from incumbent and displaced workers. S-STEM Scholars will be supported to achieve their goals of career placement or university transfer, through faculty advising and mentoring, academic tutoring, cohort-based activities, student support services, and professional development and networking events. The WFTI project will study the impact of applied learning, often cited as a distinguishing feature of applied baccalaureate degrees, upon student outcomes. This can inform colleges' implementation and expansion of applied baccalaureate degrees, which are a potentially transformative tool to broaden access to STEM careers, especially within low-income and under-represented communities. The project management team is led by STEM faculty and includes educational researchers and STEM administrators. External evaluation will assess the quality of the project study's design, implementation, analyses, and interpretation as well as the the implementation of the project's activities and outcomes. All measurement tools will either: (1) be previously developed and tested; then, revised and enhanced for this project; or (2) are nationally validated instruments, such as the Strengths Self-Efficacy Scale. Statistical analyses will include t-test, ANOVA or other methods as appropriate to ascertain significant differences across time or among student sub-populations. Data, reports, and successful practices generated by this project will be nationally disseminated to improve STEM education and to inform higher education policymaking.