Yes: A Nsf S Stem Scholarship Program Experience At The University Of Central Florida
- Conference
- Location
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Louisville, Kentucky
- Publication Date
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June 20, 2010
- Start Date
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June 20, 2010
- End Date
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June 23, 2010
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Minorities in Engineering
- Page Count
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16
- Page Numbers
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15.1387.1 - 15.1387.16
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--15810
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/15810
- Download Count
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614
Paper Authors
Lisa Massi University of Central Florida
Lisa Massi is the Director of Operations Analysis for the UCF College of Engineering & Computer Science. She serves as the primary educational analyst for the College and is a Co-PI of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the "Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES) Scholarship Program." Dr. Massi's research interests include program evaluation, predictors of success in persistence to graduation and academic performance, entrepreneurial programs, and use of technology to improve operational
efficiencies.
Michael Georgiopoulos University of Central Florida
Michael Georgiopoulos is a Professor in the UCF School of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science and the PI of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the "Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES) Scholarship Program" as well as the NSF-funded STEP program entitled "EXCEL:UCF-STEP Pathways to STEM: From Promise to Prominence." Dr. Georgiopoulos' research
interests lie in the areas of machine learning, neural networks, pattern recognition and applications in signal/image processing, communications, medical field, manufacturing, transportation engineering, amongst others. Dr. Georgiopoulos is a Director of the Machine Learning Laboratory at UCF .
Cynthia Young University of Central Florida
Cynthia Young is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics in the UCF College of Sciences and a Co-PI of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the "Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES) Scholarship Program" as well as the NSF-funded STEP program entitled "EXCEL:UCF-STEP Pathways to STEM: From Promise to Prominence." Dr. Young's research interests are in the mathematical modeling of atmospheric effects on laser beams. She currently has projects with the Office of Naval Research and the Naval Research Laboratory investigating atmospheric propagation in the marine environment.
Alfred Ducharme University of Central Florida
Alfred Ducharme is Assistant Dean for Distance and Distributed Learning in the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science and manages the
Center for Online and Virtual Education (COVE) which he established. Dr. Ducharme is a Co-PI of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the
"Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES) Scholarship Program." Dr. Ducharme has worked for several companies from 1995 to 2002 in the Boston area
accumulating 26 U.S. and International patents. His research interests are fiber optics and LED.
Cameron Ford University of Central Florida
Cameron Ford is Associate Professor in the Management Department in the UCF College of Business and the founder and director of the UCF Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He is a senior personnel of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the "Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES) Scholarship Program." Dr. Ford's research interests are processes associated with organizational creativity, innovation, opportunity recognition, and new venture emergence. He is also on the editorial boards of Journal of Creative Behavior and Creativity and Innovation Management.
Kim Small University of Central Florida
Kim Small serves as a Coordinator for Academic Support Services for the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science and is responsible for advising undergraduate students in the college, coordinating college retention programs, and coordinating the college scholarship program. She is a senior personnel
of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the "Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES)
Scholarship Program" and the YES advisor. Mrs. Small's interests lie in the areas of retention and transition for FTIC and transfer students.
Patrice Lancey University of Central Florida
Divya Bhati University of Central Florida
Divya Bhati serves as Assistant Director of Operational Excellence and Assessment Support where she supports all assessment efforts for academic programs and administrative units. Dr. Bhati is an assessment specialist for the
the NSF-funded S-STEM program at UCF entitled the "Young Entrepreneur and Scholar(YES) Scholarship Program" as well as the NSF-funded STEP program entitled "EXCEL:UCF-STEP Pathways to STEM: From Promise to Prominence." Dr. Bhati's research interests include assessment of student learning outcomes, teaching and learning, survey design and research methodology, application of technology in classroom settings, and research related to human
performance.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
YES: A NSF S-STEM Scholarship Program Experience at the University of Central Florida
Abstract
According to a study conducted by J. D. Angrist (MIT) and colleagues1 involving 1,600 students at a large Canadian university (the equivalent of an American state university with heavily subsidized tuition), the combination of participation in (a) a scholarship program and (b) academic support services resulted in higher grade achievement and retention for females (but both males and females used support services and peer advising at higher rates), compared to groups of students who participated in either (a) or (b) but not both. A report by the Educational Policy Institute2 lists financial aid as one critical factor that affects the decision to pursue a college degree and success in degree attainment for minorities. This paper reports the progress of a persistence-to-graduation scholarship program funded under the National Science Foundation Scholarships (NSF) in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. We named our program YES (Young Entrepreneur and Scholar) scholarship program.
The goal of YES is to enable academically talented, financially needy students to enter the workforce (Entrepreneurship Path) or to pursue a graduate degree (Research Path) following the completion of a baccalaureate degree in a targeted STEM discipline. This goal is facilitated through scholarships offered by the program to qualified student participants in the last two college years (maturing years – juniors and seniors), a mentorship program (faculty and industry mentors), and enhanced educational opportunities (Distinguished Speaker seminar series, Symposium, learning community). The program continues the efforts of and recruits from another NSF-funded program, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion (STEP) program, which focuses on the first two student college years (early years— freshman and sophomore) and has been successful in retaining STEM students at significantly higher rates than academically similar STEM students at the university. YES, in its first year of operation, has succeeded in attracting significantly higher percentages of females (46%) and under-represented minorities (69%) than the STEM population at the University of Central Florida (UCF); 54% are first in their family to earn a bachelor’s degree; and 54% are in the Research Path and 46% in the Entrepreneurship Path. This paper will focus on the details of the program infrastructure, recruiting strategies that we have pursued, assessment instruments that we have developed to evaluate the program’s accomplishments, and student experiences in the program to date.
Background
The University of Central Florida is the largest university in the state and the third largest in the nation in terms of student enrollment3 (over 53,000 students in Fall 2009). An incoming student can easily be overwhelmed and get lost in the crowd. In 2006, the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (in the College of Engineering & Computer Science) and the Math Department (in the College of Sciences) received five-year funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEP) program which we call EXCEL. EXCEL was designed to increase student success in the first
Massi, L., & Georgiopoulos, M., & Young, C., & Ducharme, A., & Ford, C., & Small, K., & Lancey, P., & Bhati, D. (2010, June), Yes: A Nsf S Stem Scholarship Program Experience At The University Of Central Florida Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--15810
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