The overall goal of the STAR project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving, engineering-bound undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The STAR project will enhance DACC-NMSU infrastructure through its focus on:
- Students’ cognitive and non cognitive development
- Collective mentoring involving PI’s, DACC and CoE faculty, and near-peer mentors
- Initiating and enhancing a concurrent DACC_NMSU CoE enrollment model
- Utilize data analytics to identify students’ academic performance in near real-time
- Involving students in existing opportunities to pursue internships and co-ops in industry, national laboratories, and universities
The STAR project will also add to the STEM literature by measuring the impact of the following:
- Metacognition-based study practices on GPA
- Engineering identity, Math grades, and near-peer advising on retention and graduation in engineering
- Summer Math Boot Camp (SMBC) and other program activities on Math grades
This STAR project is funded by the NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. Over its 5-year duration, the STAR project will fund at least 90 unique scholars transferring from DACC to NMSU to pursue a degree in engineering.
