| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 5, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 5, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1940949 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Michael Davis
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $99,952.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $99,952.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
8470 N OVERFIELD RD COOLIDGE AZ US 85128-9030 (520)494-5044 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1475 N Scottsdale Road Suite 200 Scottsdale AZ US 85257-3538 |
| 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): | HSI-Hispanic Serving Instituti |
| 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
With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this conference aims to identify the unique challenges that rural HSIs face in developing effective STEM programs that have robust student enrollment. It will also promote effective solutions that address these challenges. Institutions of higher education in rural areas and small towns face challenges that are uncommon to peer institutions in larger cities. These challenges include access to high speed Internet, lack of hands-on workforce training or undergraduate research, challenges in recruiting qualified faculty, difficulty in meeting enrollment minimums for new STEM programs, and problems accessing federal funding dollars. Hispanic-Serving Institutions are seeking solutions to challenges that are unique to their status as HSIs. This conference will document the intersecting needs, barriers, successes, opportunities, and priorities of existing and emerging rural HSIs. The expected outcomes include models for partnerships and collaborations among geographically dispersed partners, frameworks for industry engagement, improved understanding of effective practices in STEM teaching and learning, improved understanding of cultural relevance for students in rural communities, and best practices and approaches that improve the success of rural HSIs in obtaining external funding.
The conference aims to lay a foundation for understanding challenges and potential solutions for rural HSIs that, when addressed, will increase quality of life and economic success for the people of these communities. The conference will build on the NSF-funded University of Arizona HSI Conference: Transforming STEM Education in Hispanic Serving Institutions - Regional Insights from the Southwest (NSF 1748526). The proposed three-day Rural STEM HSI Conference will examine themes in undergraduate STEM education including: (1) K-12, Two-Year, and Four-Year Partnerships; (2) Career and Workforce Preparation; (3) Innovative STEM Teaching and Learning; (4) Student Support Strategies; (5) Culturally Responsive Education; and (6) External funding. The results will be compared to those from the previous University of Arizona HSI Conference via a qualitative study that integrates within-case and across-case analytic strategies. This comparison will augment knowledge and understanding about the specific challenges and opportunities in STEM undergraduate education at rural HSIs. The conference will generate a report to provide guidance on how to best serve the needs of STEM students at rural HSIs. The conference results will be disseminated to governmental agencies and higher education organizations via presentations at regional and national conferences. The long-term impact of this work will be to help rural HSIs position themselves as drivers to increase access to high-quality educational opportunities and develop the STEM workforce that will impact rural economic prosperity. 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 achieve these aims.
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.
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.
Higher education opportunities, particularly in STEM, are a cornerstone for economic development and a means for students to make an impact on the communities in which they live. However, rural Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) experience challenges in accessing these opportunities due to their unique status as HSIs located in rural environments. To address these challenges, several HSIs and emerging HSIs (HSI/eHSIs) convened at a Rural HSI Conference that occurred virtually via Zoom in three, five-hour segments on September 23-25, 2020. This conference was designed to build a comprehensive picture of the challenges and possible solutions to STEM education at Rural HSIs. Participants discussed their shared needs, barriers, successes, opportunities and priorities related to STEM education in five conference tracks: Institutional Partnerships, Career and Workforce Preparation, Innovative Teaching and Learning, Student Support Strategies, and Cultural Responsiveness. Analyses of their recorded conversations and surveys identified nine major themes subdivided into focus areas that describe factors impacting rural HSI/eHSIs? ability to develop and sustain STEM programs, while also providing recommendations for addressing these challenges.
This conference convened 70 participants, and 12 facilitators, speakers, and conference coordinators. Thirty rural HSI/eHSIs were represented, 15 from two-year HSI/eHSIs and 15 from four-year HSI/eHSIs. The target audience included STEM faculty, staff and administration actively working in STEM education and workforce development in rural environments. Central Arizona College (CAC), a rural HSI in Coolidge, AZ, was the lead institution and chaired the conference. The University of Arizona (UA), an HSI in Tucson, AZ, contributed their 2017 HSI conference planning experience and data collection, management, reporting, and dissemination strategies (#1748526). The Center for Broadening Participation in STEM (new name for the Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM) at Arizona State University (ASU) hosted the conference. ASU is an emerging HSI and the Center is a leader in HSI and Rural College collaboratives (#1450661, #1929686, #1400687, #1902599).
The State of STEM Education in Rural Hispanic Serving Institutions, A Consensus Report serves as an executive summary of the major themes and focus areas that emerged from our analyses and are grouped by category: Student, Institutional, Student/Institutional, and Community. Priority areas needing focus are described in the report, and with corresponding recommendations, are available for interpretation and for HSIs/eHSIs to incorporate in their institutional planning to transform STEM education:
Student Category: STEM courses and programs, Experiential learning; Mentors and role models
Institutional Category: Hispanic Serving Institution Identity; Cross-institutional collaboration
Student & Institutional Category: Economic barriers; Technology; Institutional Data & Research
Community Category: External funding inequities
The Consensus Report can be found through this link:
https://centralaz.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Consensus-Report-NSF-Rural-HSI-STEM-Conference.pdf
Twenty Rural HSI Conference participants representing 14 institutions also attended a virtual Grantsmanship Institute four weeks after the Rural HSI Conference. The Grantsmanship Institute was designed for participants to identify partners and develop concepts for grant proposals that directly address the opportunities they uncovered about their institutions during the Rural HSI Conference.
Last Modified: 12/11/2021
Modified by: Caroline Vaningen-Dunn
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