NSF GRANTS TO IMPROVE STEM LITERACY AND SUCCESS IN STEM CAREER PATHS FOR NON-STEM MAJORS AND HISPANIC STUDENTS

MONTCLAIR STATE GREEN TEAMS RECEIVE $2.6M IN NSF GRANTS TO IMPROVE STEM LITERACY AND SUCCESS IN STEM CAREER PATHS FOR NON-STEM MAJORS AND HISPANIC STUDENTS

By Mary Barr Mann, Montclair State University

Montclair State University administrative and educational leaders have secured $2.6 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) grants for innovative internship programs designed to connect students and their families to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – or STEM.

The key to the projects is the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies (PSEG ISS) Green Teams program. For the past four summers, the Green Teams have provided a training ground and diversity pipeline for long-term professional development in STEM education by bringing together talented, transdisciplinary teams to design and deliver innovative sustainability solutions for a range of public and private organizations. The Green Teams strive to elevate awareness of sustainability opportunities and potential at the local, national and global levels.

$2M Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Grant

The first award is a $2 million NSF Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) grant, the University’s first HSI grant. The grant program, titled “Partnered Internships: Including Families, Faculty, and Industry in STEM Education to Improve Success in STEM Career Pathways,” began June 1, 2020, and is led by PSEG ISS Director Amy Tuininga. It will allow the Green Teams program to better engage Hispanic STEM students with hands-on, experiential learning opportunities – and extend these learning opportunities to their families and corporate and community partners. The leadership team includes Sociology Department Chair Yasemin Besen-Cassino, College of Science and Mathematics Dean Lora Billings, and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Nina Goodey as co-principal investigators. In addition, Assistant Vice President for Hispanic Serving Initiatives Katia Paz Goldfarb will participate as senior personnel.

The study funded by the HSI grant will span five years and is designed to uncover the process of student decision-making, and the potential biases and perceptions of STEM education and careers.

To understand why students choose and remain in STEM majors, the grant team will be conducting focus groups and surveys with families, students, faculty and industry partners.

$600K Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Grant

The second NSF award is a $600,000 Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant titled “Developing STEM Literacy and Career Paths through Inclusive Team Internships,” that will begin September 1, 2020. The program, led by Goodey, is designed to improve STEM literacy for students who are nonSTEM majors through their participation in the Green Teams. The interdisciplinary leadership team includes Tuininga and Elizabeth Emery, professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, as coprincipal investigators.