Creating Academic Pathways in STEM (CAPS): A Model Ecosystem for Supporting Two-Year Transfer
1649201
An overview of the challenge for the CAPS project, with details on the first efforts to create community to discuss programming for the creation of pathways to support the transfer of 2-year community college students to a 4-year university to pursue STEM degrees.
Creating Academic Pathways in STEM (CAPS): A Model Ecosystem for Supporting Two-Year Transfer
1649201
An overview of the challenge for the CAPS project, with details on the first efforts to create community to discuss programming for the creation of pathways to support the transfer of 2-year community college students to a 4-year university to pursue STEM degrees.
Great idea to create pathways to support the transfer of 2-year community college students to 4 year university to pursue a STEM degree. I enjoyed the video and hope to build a similar program with security.
Janet Yowell
Lead Presenter
March 21, 2017 | 12:03 a.m.
Dr. Wesley, thank you. What do you mean, "with security"? Do you mean cyber security?
Jeanne Century
Facilitator Director/Research Associate Professor
March 20, 2017 | 01:37 p.m.
Hi Janet - Really enjoyed the video and how it clearly communicates the commitment that you all are enthusiastically taking on. You lay out several different kinds of activities including mentoring, internships and "cohorting activities." Could you tell us a little more about who will participate in the cohorting activities and what they look like?
Thanks, Jeanne
Janet Yowell
Lead Presenter
March 21, 2017 | 12:03 a.m.
Jeanne,
Sure. Cohort building will be a big focus for our project, as transfer students in the past have reported an unwelcoming environment.. that is tough to break into the routine and curtural patterns that help students achieve success. We'll offer on campus visits/activities while they are still at the community college to knit them to our 4-year university; will have current university students who are former transfer students mentor the new/prospective students; university faculty fairs; career exploration events; internship fairs, regular advising schedules, among other activities. There are many more potential events, and we will partner with existing transfer student-serving groups to maximize our on- (and off-) campus activities.
Any community college student who identifies as being interested in a STEM program at our 4-year university would be able to participate in the activities. On the university side, our project staff will participate, as well as university faculty and advisors will be engaged. Current university STEMS students (former transfer students) will participate on the university side.
Jeanne Century
Facilitator Director/Research Associate Professor
March 22, 2017 | 09:49 a.m.
Thanks for your response, Janet. Very helpful! So, are these called "cohort" activities because upon arrival (and even before) students will stay with the same groups throughout their experience in the 4-year university? Or is it more fluid than that (students participate in activities without being organized into specific groups that stay together)?
Janet Yowell
Lead Presenter
March 22, 2017 | 09:53 a.m.
Jeanne, yes, our plan is to keep them together for regular experiences as a group. Them getting to know/bond with each other is a key factor in their desire to feel knitted to the community and aid in their success.
And yes, they'll have the experiences even BEFORE they matriculate to 4-year university.
Mia Ong
Facilitator Senior Research Scientist
March 20, 2017 | 02:07 p.m.
Hi Janet. I agree that this is a great endeavor but I'd like to learn more details about what are your goals in terms of student transfers from UR groups in STEM? Are there specific numbers of students, groups, or STEM disciplines you are targeting? Where are you in terms of establishing partnerships with community colleges? Finally, how will you track and measure the success of the activities your video mentioned -- research opportunities, internships, mentoring, cohorting activities, etc.? I look forward to learning more. Thanks!
Janet Yowell
Lead Presenter
March 20, 2017 | 11:55 p.m.
Hi Mia,
Yes, we hope to double the number of 2-year community college transfer who matriculate at CU Boulder within a 5-year time frame. We get about 350 new transfers a year from Colorado community colleges (too small of a number!), with slightly less than 1/2 of those new admits declaring STEM majors.
We are targeting most sciences at CU Boulder, including integrative physiology, engineering, physics, biology, microbiology, computer science, among others; any student declaring one of our possible STEM majors will be a viable target for our project.
We do plan to track student GPA, retention and persistence in their STEM major, time to graduation, etc. We'll also monitor their academic progress, administer surveys, conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews to assess their satisfaction and likely persistence to graduation.
Let me know if I've left something out. Thanks for your question.
Mia Ong
Facilitator Senior Research Scientist
March 23, 2017 | 04:40 p.m.
Hi again, Janet. Thanks for clarifying the (ambitious!) goals of your project. I wish you great good luck. I'm very interested in the cohort building you've been describing in this thread. In terms of your cohort building and other support activities, will you be focusing on intersectionality at all, for example, attending to potentially unique experiences of women of color? Also, are you partnering with or tapping the insights of any of the fantastic people in the School of Education at CU Boulder who study aspects of STEM learning for URMs? Thanks!
Josh Freeman
Guest
March 21, 2017 | 10:39 p.m.
Great video. Can't wait to learn more about what you are learning
Janet Yowell
Lead Presenter
March 21, 2017 | 11:16 p.m.
Thanks Josh!
Janice Jackson
Facilitator education consultant
March 23, 2017 | 03:06 a.m.
Janet, building a bridge between between CC and 4-year institutions offers an opportunity to build bridges that will increase the success of transfer students. The use of cohorts will need to be facilitated. What plans do you to develop collaboration among the cohort members? There is much that can be learned from your work. I look forward to hearing about your work in the future.
Dr. Wesley
Great idea to create pathways to support the transfer of 2-year community college students to 4 year university to pursue a STEM degree. I enjoyed the video and hope to build a similar program with security.
Janet Yowell
Dr. Wesley, thank you. What do you mean, "with security"? Do you mean cyber security?
Jeanne Century
Director/Research Associate Professor
Hi Janet - Really enjoyed the video and how it clearly communicates the commitment that you all are enthusiastically taking on. You lay out several different kinds of activities including mentoring, internships and "cohorting activities." Could you tell us a little more about who will participate in the cohorting activities and what they look like?
Thanks, Jeanne
Janet Yowell
Jeanne,
Sure. Cohort building will be a big focus for our project, as transfer students in the past have reported an unwelcoming environment.. that is tough to break into the routine and curtural patterns that help students achieve success. We'll offer on campus visits/activities while they are still at the community college to knit them to our 4-year university; will have current university students who are former transfer students mentor the new/prospective students; university faculty fairs; career exploration events; internship fairs, regular advising schedules, among other activities. There are many more potential events, and we will partner with existing transfer student-serving groups to maximize our on- (and off-) campus activities.
Any community college student who identifies as being interested in a STEM program at our 4-year university would be able to participate in the activities. On the university side, our project staff will participate, as well as university faculty and advisors will be engaged. Current university STEMS students (former transfer students) will participate on the university side.
Jeanne Century
Director/Research Associate Professor
Thanks for your response, Janet. Very helpful! So, are these called "cohort" activities because upon arrival (and even before) students will stay with the same groups throughout their experience in the 4-year university? Or is it more fluid than that (students participate in activities without being organized into specific groups that stay together)?
Janet Yowell
Jeanne, yes, our plan is to keep them together for regular experiences as a group. Them getting to know/bond with each other is a key factor in their desire to feel knitted to the community and aid in their success.
And yes, they'll have the experiences even BEFORE they matriculate to 4-year university.
Mia Ong
Senior Research Scientist
Hi Janet. I agree that this is a great endeavor but I'd like to learn more details about what are your goals in terms of student transfers from UR groups in STEM? Are there specific numbers of students, groups, or STEM disciplines you are targeting? Where are you in terms of establishing partnerships with community colleges? Finally, how will you track and measure the success of the activities your video mentioned -- research opportunities, internships, mentoring, cohorting activities, etc.? I look forward to learning more. Thanks!
Janet Yowell
Hi Mia,
Yes, we hope to double the number of 2-year community college transfer who matriculate at CU Boulder within a 5-year time frame. We get about 350 new transfers a year from Colorado community colleges (too small of a number!), with slightly less than 1/2 of those new admits declaring STEM majors.
We are targeting most sciences at CU Boulder, including integrative physiology, engineering, physics, biology, microbiology, computer science, among others; any student declaring one of our possible STEM majors will be a viable target for our project.
We do plan to track student GPA, retention and persistence in their STEM major, time to graduation, etc. We'll also monitor their academic progress, administer surveys, conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews to assess their satisfaction and likely persistence to graduation.
Let me know if I've left something out. Thanks for your question.
Mia Ong
Senior Research Scientist
Hi again, Janet. Thanks for clarifying the (ambitious!) goals of your project. I wish you great good luck. I'm very interested in the cohort building you've been describing in this thread. In terms of your cohort building and other support activities, will you be focusing on intersectionality at all, for example, attending to potentially unique experiences of women of color? Also, are you partnering with or tapping the insights of any of the fantastic people in the School of Education at CU Boulder who study aspects of STEM learning for URMs? Thanks!
Josh Freeman
Great video. Can't wait to learn more about what you are learning
Janet Yowell
Thanks Josh!
Janice Jackson
education consultant
Janet, building a bridge between between CC and 4-year institutions offers an opportunity to build bridges that will increase the success of transfer students. The use of cohorts will need to be facilitated. What plans do you to develop collaboration among the cohort members? There is much that can be learned from your work. I look forward to hearing about your work in the future.
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.