Conference: Building an HSI Grantee Community of Inclusive Excellence

Saint Edward'S University, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) the Principal Investigators’(PI) conference will bring together current and potential Principal Investigator teams to engage in activities and conversations to promote effective strategies to improve undergraduate STEM education at Hispanic Serving Institutions and to build and maintain a PI community. Presently there are over 100 institutions throughout the United States involved in National Science Foundation HSI grant awards and this conference will provide the opportunity for PI teams to meet and to share grants’ goals, objectives, best practices, successes as well as challenges. The conference will provide a venue within an established welcoming format for 2.5 days of engagement in Texas in 2023. There will be 3-5 plenary sessions from experts in the field to increase knowledge on successful strategies. Formal and informal networking sessions will be scheduled to increase cooperation and to build a community of researchers. Possible formats for these will involve group sessions and poster presentations. In collaboration with the TX HSI Consortium, St. Edwards University proposes to support a Principal Investigator (PIs) meeting to provide current NSF PIs the opportunity to convene, learn, share and enhance their work. The conference will benefit from the established momentum of the Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium conference format to create a community of PIs motivated to make a positive impact on Hispanic STEM education. The evaluation plan will include pre and post-surveys to gauge the effectiveness of each of the sessions. A major output of the conference will be the final report which will be shared with all participants and with agency program directors in order to improve future meetings. This report will include successes as well as challenges gathered from surveys and sessions. A major outcome will be the continued collaboration of Texas HSIs with HSIs across the United States. Over 100 NSF PI teams from public and private, two- and four-year institutions from the US as well as other potential grantees will attend the conference. The conference will expand knowledge on minorities and STEM in the U.S. through the lens of Texas the second most populous state and has the second-highest enrollments of Hispanic students in post-secondary education in the country. Together both groups of STEM educators have the potential to improve STEM pedagogy success with NSF-funded efforts and new knowledge for millions of Hispanic students. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI program will also generate new knowledge on how to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate’s or baccalaureate degrees in STEM at HSIs. 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.