Urban STEM Collaboratory

The Urban STEM Collaboratory project supports academically talented students with demonstrated financial need through a scholarship program at three urban universities. Administrators and faculty from the colleges/schools of engineering and mathematics departments at the University of Memphis, the University of Colorado at Denver, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis are partnering to provide academic, social, professional and peer networking, career preparation, and scholarship support to deserving engineering and mathematical sciences majors across these three urban universities.

Project Goals:

• Increase at each institution the recruitment, retention, student success, and graduation rates of academically talented undergraduate mathematical sciences and engineering majors with demonstrated financial need;
• Implement ambitious but feasible strategies contributing to student academic success, development of STEM identity, and workforce readiness;
• Implement mechanisms to ensure substantial student participation in project activities through a special Badge system incentivizing participation;
• Implement activities for mathematics and engineering classes leading to a high probability of student success; and
• Determine effectiveness and impact of the project activities and strategies.

Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S STEM) program under Award No. 1833987. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.