A U.S. News article on strategies to attract diverse students to STEM fields, and support their success in those fields, highlights the new STEM BUILD at UMBC program, which launched with its first cohort of students this fall.
STEM BUILD at UMBC provides a strong example of how U.S. universities are leveraging the power of community to recruit and retain student from all backgrounds (including women and minority students) in STEM majors at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. These program-based communities allow students to connect with peers who are pursuing similar majors and who are facing similar challenges.
STEM BUILD at UMBC is a student support initiative and research study funded by an $18 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). William LaCourse, dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) and principal investigator (PI) of STEM BUILD at UMBC, explained to U.S. News that the program draws on interventions that have been found to effectively support students in other UMBC initiatives. These include living-learning communities, peer mentorship, co-curricular programming—which all work to build community—as well as intensive advising and other supports.
“One of the things that I believe in and wanted to accomplish here is a program that takes what’s best out of [UMBC’s] scholars programs and move more toward the middle of the learning curve,” he said. “We drew from all of the different programs we have on campus, looking at what’s effective in teaching, what’s effective in advising” and more.
STEM BUILD at UMBC includes 20 undergraduate students, plus 29 students not enrolled in STEM BUILD, but who are also interested in STEM (participating in the research as a control group.) UMBC is collaborating on the initiative with five community colleges, Gallaudet University, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Read the full article, “Universities Collaborate to Attract Females, Other Minorities to STEM,” on U.S. News.
First image: The first cohort of BUILD Training Program Trainees with their UMBC staff coordinators at the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans (SACNAS) 2015 National Conference on October 31, 2015 at National Harbor, MD. Photo courtesy STEM BUILD at UMBC.
Second image: Victoria Baskerville and BUILD Training Program colleague, Isis Cabassa, preparing dilutions in their SCI 101L: Quantitative Reasoning – Measurement and Skills Laboratory class on September, 15, 2015. Photo by Laura Ott.
Tags: CNMS
