Together for the Planet 2.0: Community Environmental Scholars Program

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

The Community Environmental Scholars Program (CESP) will provide scholarships and cohort-based training and support for at least 36 low-income junior and senior students who are STEM majors and also enrolled in an Environmental Studies major or certificate. Via a weekly seminar taught by STEM faculty members, CESP connects students with their peers, links them to a network of CESP graduates, and provides avenues in the community for them to connect their passion for the environment with a commitment to service. To identify potential applicants, we work with our Office of Student Financial Aid, current CESP students, and the wider campus community. Via a campus scholarship portal, we receive applications fall and spring. Those accepted form a team (cohort) in the weekly seminar that takes on increasingly complex leadership roles over time. Ultimately, our goal is to improve the retention of our students in their STEM disciplines by offering relevant scientific content, opportunities to build confidence, and enhanced career skills that will allow them to work in diverse teams to address the real-world challenges faced the communities in which they live. While existing research already suggests that cohort-based programs improve student retention within STEM disciplines, there is little or no research that evaluates whether interdisciplinary STEM cohorts (such as those in CESP) can improve student performance, retention, and graduation rates. We will use statistical comparisons to investigate our diverse cohort design and determine if these important educational outcomes differ between our CESP students and a comparison group of STEM students who also enrolled in Environmental Studies but who did not participate in CESP. The results of our analysis will be shared with institutional peers at conferences and with the broader community through journal articles and public outreach.