BOARD # 454: S-STEM: Strengthening Education and Academic Development for Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional Students in the Engineering Field

Maile Sinclair-Baxter; Sanjukta Bhanja; Bernard L. Batson

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session II
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 6
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55835

Paper Authors

biography

Maile Sinclair-Baxter University of South Florida

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Assistant Director of Academic Advising. Graduated with a Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering as well as a Master in Engineering Management from University of South Florida.

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Sanjukta Bhanja University of South Florida

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Bernard L. Batson University of South Florida orcid.org/0000-0002-2230-0851

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Abstract

The TURNPIKE (Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional Student Pathways through Identity, Knowledge & Engagement) S-STEM project is a collaboration between a community college, Polk State College (PSC), and the University of South Florida (USF) College of Engineering (CoE). This community college is in a largely rural county with significantly higher poverty rates and lower education attainment rates compared to state and national averages. Many students from Polk State College are low-income, first-generation-in-college, and part-time. Most recently, during the 2022-2023 academic year, 58 percent of its first time, in-college, full-time students were awarded Pell grants, while 84 percent overall received some type (e.g., scholarships, loans, work-study, and grants) of financial aid [1]. Due to the financial challenges, non-traditional students often find it difficult to transfer to a four-year university to complete their studies. The students participating in the S-STEM program may receive up to $10,000 per year of scholarship depending on their unmet financial need. The duration of the scholarship support is two years at PSC and two years in USF. Overall, the objective of this program is to create a successful bridging pathway from associate to baccalaureate degree completion through curricular, co-curricular, social, and financial interventions for academically talented, low-income transfer students from community college to the University of South Florida. Addressing this targeted population, we focus on increasing the retention and graduation rates for financially challenging students [traditional and non-traditional students] pursuing engineering and computing degrees. Aligned with this goal, we seek to provide students access to co-curricular activities and university-wide resources that will enrich their education and career development.

The co-curricular supporting activities include learning teams/tutoring sessions, biweekly professional development meetings, and intrusive academic support through one-to-one personalized advising and mentorship. This paper outlines how implementing and developing these program's intervention activities, specifically learning teams/tutoring sessions and professional development meetings increases the retention of traditional and non-traditional students in engineering majors and their impact on the students’ education and academic development. In this paper, the students participating in our program are referred as scholars.

Citation
Format

Sinclair-Baxter, M., & Bhanja, S., & Batson, B. L. (2025, June), BOARD # 454: S-STEM: Strengthening Education and Academic Development for Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional Students in the Engineering Field Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55835

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The TURNPIKE (Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional Student Pathways through Identity, Knowledge &amp;amp; Engagement) S-STEM project is a collaboration between a community college, Polk State College (PSC), and the University of South Florida (USF) College of Engineering (CoE). This community college is in a largely rural county with significantly higher poverty rates and lower education attainment rates compared to state and national averages. Many students from Polk State College are low-income, first-generation-in-college, and part-time. Most recently, during the 2022-2023 academic year, 58 percent of its first time, in-college, full-time students were awarded Pell grants, while 84 percent overall received some type (e.g., scholarships, loans, work-study, and grants) of financial aid [1]. Due to the financial challenges, non-traditional students often find it difficult to transfer to a four-year university to complete their studies. The students participating in the S-STEM program may receive up to $10,000 per year of scholarship depending on their unmet financial need. The duration of the scholarship support is two years at PSC and two years in USF. Overall, the objective of this program is to create a successful bridging pathway from associate to baccalaureate degree completion through curricular, co-curricular, social, and financial interventions for academically talented, low-income transfer students from community college to the University of South Florida. Addressing this targeted population, we focus on increasing the retention and graduation rates for financially challenging students [traditional and non-traditional students] pursuing engineering and computing degrees. Aligned with this goal, we seek to provide students access to co-curricular activities and university-wide resources that will enrich their education and career development.

The co-curricular supporting activities include learning teams/tutoring sessions, biweekly professional development meetings, and intrusive academic support through one-to-one personalized advising and mentorship. This paper outlines how implementing and developing these program&#39;s intervention activities, specifically learning teams/tutoring sessions and professional development meetings increases the retention of traditional and non-traditional students in engineering majors and their impact on the students’ education and academic development. In this paper, the students participating in our program are referred as scholars.   

AU  - Maile Sinclair-Baxter
AU  - Sanjukta Bhanja
AU  - Bernard L. Batson
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - BOARD # 454: S-STEM: Strengthening Education and Academic Development for Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional Students in the Engineering Field
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/55835
ER  -