Renewable Energy Materials Scholars STEM (REMS-STEM)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester MA

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the Renewable Energy Materials Scholars STEM (REMS-STEM) project is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). REMS-STEM will contribute to the important work of providing new pathways for students entering the STEM workforce with undergraduate degrees. Specifically, this project will provide scholarships to 20 low-income, academically-talented, underrepresented students who transfer from community colleges to WPI to complete bachelor's degrees in the field of renewable energy materials. Expected outcomes of this S-STEM Track 2 project include an exemplary degree attainment rate for REMS-STEM scholars (90% in two years and 100% in three years)and an increase in the number of low-income students who attain employment or pursue graduate research in a clean energy technology field. The primary goal of the project is to overcome the known barriers to community college students in completing a four-year degree in STEM education. REMS-STEM will provide wrap-around support services to funded students, including: a combined approach towards curriculum enrichment; applied research opportunities; hierarchical mentoring; and career-development services. The REMS-STEM program will provide enhanced career development support by including entrepreneurial mindset training through a student-centered pedagogy and by facilitating the access of REMS-STEM scholars to a network of national and regional partnerships. The project will rely on existing WPI support systems but also provide a significant faculty mentoring program for REMS-STEM scholars. The project will produce knowledge about the effectiveness of the supports for the S-STEM scholars, particularly in the area of mentoring, where the faculty will mentor advanced students who will mentor early undergraduate students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.