Collaborative Research: TRAIN (TRAnsfer to Interdisciplinary Natural sciences): A Community College-University Consortium to Increase Community College Student Transfer and Success

Maricopa County Community College District, Tempe AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The TRAnsfer to Interdisciplinary Natural sciences (TRAIN) program supports students from community college through graduation from Arizona State University's New College.  TRAIN students begin with scholarships and a robust set of support structures at the community college, which follow them seamlessly through transfer to ASU.  Students are recruited from Phoenix, South Mountain, and Glendale Community Colleges (all HSIs), where approximately 85% identify as individuals traditionally underrepresented in STEM.   In addition to scholarship support, students benefit from engagement with faculty mentors, specialized advising, peer mentoring, tutoring, research experiences, and participation in cohort-based activities.  Authentic, career-focused experiences underpin the cohort formation; students are offered various opportunities, such as undergraduate research, internships, volunteer opportunities and field trips.  Students blog about these authentic experiences, relating them to their educational and career development.  Weekly blog comments by students and faculty mentors keep the cohort connected and help to develop a robust peer-teaching and support network.                 The TRAIN program will add to the collective knowledge in STEM education by utilizing a value-added model of programmatic analysis which will analyze the unique challenges faced by students underrepresented in STEM, and determine how interventions and support structures impact diverse students differently. A cost/benefit analysis of the support structures by sub-population will be undertaken and an analysis conducted to determine which yield the best returns on investment.  Broader impacts of TRAIN include the construction, evaluation and improved understanding of an innovative transfer pipeline between the nation's largest public university and one of its largest community college systems featuring several HSIs. This project could transform how community college students are supported during the attrition-prone transfer from two-year to four-year institutions.