| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | February 27, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 21, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 1833718 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Monisha Pulimood
spulimoo@nsf.gov (703)292-4257 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $650,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $650,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2130 FULTON ST SAN FRANCISCO CA US 94117 (415)422-5203 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
2130 Fulton St San Francisco CA US 94117-1080 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | S-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
This project aims to contribute to the national need for highly qualified computer scientists. It will do so by supporting the success of twelve academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Computer Science. These students will receive four-year scholarships and participate in a suite of activities designed to promote the Scholars' engagement in the departmental, professional, and local communities. Project activities will include a pre-freshman immersive head start program, cohort enrollment in common courses, and mentoring by previous graduates of the computer science program. The Scholars will take a series of courses designed to support their academic and professional success. These courses include a first-year course that introduces Scholars to campus and community resources, a junior career-preparation course, and a computer science-focused service learning course. By alleviating the Scholar's need to work while in college, the scholarships will enable full participation in the project's opportunities for social connectivity, community engagement, and professional development.
It is expected that participation in the project activities will result in: higher retention and graduation rates of Scholars relative to their peers; improved perception of the Scholars about the field of computing and their own self-efficacy; and better preparation of the Scholars for computer science careers. Data on retention and graduation rates of the Scholars will be compared with those of the other students who entered the Computer Science major as first year students in the same year as scholars. Scholars will also participate in qualitative interviews that explore their experience in the Computer Science department and the activities supported by this project. Finally, scholars will participate in a series of surveys including a baseline survey with each cohort and surveys to evaluate each of the program activities. It is expected that the program activities will positively affect the scholars' perceptions of computer science and their overall experience. The project has the potential to advance knowledge about how providing students with structured opportunities to serve their communities can help computer science programs to retain, support, and educate students, including those from underrepresented populations. The curriculum developed by the project will be available for use by other institutions, thus broadening the potential impact of the project on computer science education. This project is funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income 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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The "Community Engaged Scholars in Computer Science" scholarship program provided academically talented undergraduate Computer Science majors at the University of San Francisco up to 4 years of scholarship and travel funding, as well as courses and activities designed to support their academic and professional success. The courses offered to scholars included a 1 week summer head start program, a 2 credit first-year elective focused on building CS community and skills, a 2 credit third-year career prep elective, a 2 credit third-year peer-led seminar, and an upper-division 4 credit community-engaged learning CS course that counted towards the CS major requirements. The activities offered included up to 4 years of scholarship funding, travel funding to a CS or tech-related conference, field trips to local tech companies, cohort enrollment in lower division CS courses, monthly check-ins or socials, one year of alumni mentoring, and ongoing faculty mentorship. Faculty mentorship included academic advising, reviewing resumes, writing recommendation letters, providing career advice, and assisting students post-graduation find a full-time position or apply for graduate school. The results from the program were disseminated in a published research paper, work-in-progress paper, birds-of-a-feather session, and multiple posters. Scholars that participated in the program had much higher retention rates, graduation rates, and job placement rates than CS majors nationally.
Last Modified: 03/31/2025
Modified by: Sophie J Engle
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