High-Impact STEM Learning at TXST

HIGH-IMPACT STEM LEARNING AT TEXAS STATE

This is Texas State

200+ Degree Programs

98 Bachelor’s 91 Master’s 14 Doctoral

• Two campuses

• 38,000 + students

• TXST named one of the nation’s Best Colleges for 2022 by Princeton Review

• 95% of our students are from Texas

• 44% of undergraduates are first-generation college students

• $110 M+ in research expenditures in 2022

• Hispanic-serving institution with a majority-minority (56%) student population

• #1 university in Texas for helping at-risk students graduate

• #13 in the U.S. for bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanic students

• #24 in the list of national four-year public institutions enrolling and graduating women in computer science and engineering

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is a method of hands-on teaching and learning where students learn to apply academic content by creatively solving real-world problems with innovative design-based thinking to prepare students for future career opportunities.

Texas State University is at the forefront of advancing STEM-related research, education, and academic resources for students and society. For example, we are partnering with NASA to develop STEM educators; we are developing a new STEM Building in the emerging Science and Engineering Neighborhood that came about in large part due to preexisting trends at Texas State; and Texas State is conducting highimpact research and learning focused on solving real-world problems.

Texas State is inviting supporters of STEM education to invest in our capacity to educate the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians. With over 100 scholarships, faculty, and research endowments for STEM and over 60 non-endowed gift funds and STEM research grants already committed in funding, Texas State is seeking to raise funds for more STEM scholarships and an additional $137.4 million needed for the new STEM building through philanthropic funds.

Generación STEM at Texas State

• Generación STEM uses a proactive, wrap-around approach to enhance undergraduate STEM student success through multiple initiatives.

• Success coaching and advising will provide individualized student support for incoming freshmen and transfer STEM students.

• Generación STEM will support students through the transfer navigation process by enhancement of existing and initiation of new transfer articulation agreements with 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).

• Generación STEM aims to enhance STEM-based career attainment through the development of workbased learning experiences and professional development programming for students that includes in-demand business skill-building and curricular alignment.

• One of the main aims of the Generación STEM program is to offer professional development to STEM faculty in culturally responsive teaching methods with an overall goal of improving student engagement and learning outcomes in STEM courses.

• The Generación STEM Workforce Advisory Council is comprised of Texas State faculty and Texas State alumni professionals working in STEM fields. Council members share their expertise and recommendations to help our project expand work-based learning opportunities and develop skills-training workshops for Texas State STEM majors to ensure that our students are well prepared for employment in high-demand STEM occupations.

HIGH IMPACT STEM LEARNING

Like Texas, our university is growing. We have added students and degree programs, built state-of-the-art facilities, and raised our STEM education and research profile. Texas State University is a national research university on the path to achieving the R1 Carnegie classification. The process will include earning access to the state’s National Research University Fund. TXST has already surpassed the research expenditure metric with $110 million in research expenditures in 2022, which is comparable to other Carnegie R1 institutions in the country. Recognizing the importance of STEM education in preparing the increasingly diverse generations that will make up the American workforce, Generación STEM was created to improve STEM student success at Texas State, primarily for Hispanic and low-income (HLI) students who will become the nation’s next scientific and technical professionals.

HIGH IMPACT STEM RESEARCH

Texas State has a reputation for conducting high-impact research focused on solving real-world problems. The many highlights in the research and scholarly mission include: a major new award from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), resourcing of a new Comparative Research Facility to support biomedical research with animal models of human disease, an increased research partnership with Jacobs Engineering/NASA, and the launch of a public-private R&D initiative called CIEDAR. This past three years, the university received many grants to support STEM education, innovation, and research, including the following representative high-impact awards:

• The U.S. Department of Education’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) STEM and Articulation Program awarded Texas State $1 million for the Generación STEM

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Texas State $1 million to improve graph literacy-or the ability to comprehend, interpret, and use graphical representations

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Texas State $843,000 million to support Black and Hispanic women entering the STEM fields.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration awarded Texas State $2.9 million for a NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Texas State $449,100 to Identify Computation Thinking Precursors

• The National Science Foundation awarded $2.5 million to Texas State for Engaging Faculty Community for Student Success

• The National Science Foundation awarded Texas State$361,874 for Collaborative Research: Retention, Persistence, and Effectiveness of STEM Teachers in high-need School Districts

NEW STEM BUILDING

The new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Building on the San Marcos Campus will house the computer science and mathematics departments. It will become the latest addition to the Science and Engineering “neighborhood” that includes Ingram Hall, the Supple Science Building, and the Roy F. Mitte Building. (proposed 154,00 GSF)

STEM PARTNERSHIPS

Alkek One Micro-Credentialing Program

To help Texas State University students gain and demonstrate in-demand digital technology skills, University Libraries has teamed up with NASA and the LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research to launch the Alkek One Micro-Credentialing Program. The program, which is being offered at no charge, offers micro-credentials or digital badges that can be added to resumes, portfolios, and LinkedIn profiles. Alkek One Micro-credentials are being offered to those who complete requirements in any of five STEM areas:

• Blender 3D Bootcamp

• Design to Fabrication

• Discovering GIS

• Introduction to Video and Audio Editing

• Unity XR Development

LBJ Space Health Inclusion Partnership (SHIP) Project

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) at Baylor College of Medicine in consortium with Caltech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have partnered with Texas State University in support of the LBJ Space Health Inclusion Partnership (SHIP) Project.

• The $300,000 partnership is part of TRISH’s Diversity Partnership Solicitation Program. The program is an important aspect of TRISH’s ongoing commitment to increasing engagement from underrepresented groups in the field of space health research.

• LBJ SHIP will design and implement a comprehensive development program grounded in Texas State’s existing knowledge, expertise, and role as a NASA partner.

MEETING THE DEMAND FOR STEM CAREERS IN TEXAS

Texas is expected to have the second-highest percentage of the nation’s future STEM job opportunities, and the Texas Education Agency provides guidelines and expectations about what high-quality STEM looks like, and they create tools, resources, and supports to help secondary schools ensure students are prepared for STEM pathways. One of the objectives is to increase the number of students who enter STEM careers or STEM postsecondary programs like those offered at Texas State University.

THE BEXAR COUNTY STEM

PIPELINE

More than one-third of the 24 independent school districts in Bexar County, Texas, are involved in a district-wide practice that engages students in 21st-century learning and builds students’ early awareness of STEM-related college, career, and military futures.

60.5% or 1.2 million people of the 2+ million people in Bexar County are Hispanic. 1.4+M of the population live in the city of San Antonio in Bexar County. 15.6% of Bexar’s total population live below the poverty line with the Hispanic population being the largest racial or ethnic group living in poverty. There is a great financial need and opportunity to change the lives of underserved students in Bexar County and the San Antonio region.

Texas State is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HIS) with a majority-minority 56% of students, and we are a proud recipient of the prestigious Seal of Excelencia. The Seal of Excelencia signals that TXST is among the nation’s most distinguished universities with intentional and inclusive support of Latino/e/x students.

High school students from Bexar County are choosing Texas State with 7.7% of Texas State’s fall 2022 enrollment coming from Bexar County, and about 6.6% from San Antonio high schools. 22,860 TXST alumni and former students are living in Bexar which makes up 9% of our total living alumni and former students.

San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas is well on its way to building a STEM ecosystem that inspires students and expands opportunities for them to enter STEM pathways that vertically align to postsecondary programs at Texas State.

Three years ago, a San Antonio ninth grader from a lower-income household, living on the South Side and wanting to attend a medical magnet high school would have had to travel downtown or to the North Side—not an option for many. Today the CAST Med High School is one of five schools that make up the Centers for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) network, all focused on careers in STEM-related fields. As a nonprofit, the CAST School Network operates its schools within four independent school districts: East Central, Northside, San Antonio, and Southwest. Students from across the city can apply to the tuition-free schools, which each serve several hundred students. The first CAST school opened in 2017 CAST Tech High on the former campus of Fox Tech High School downtown and was designed to serve as an entry point for students into high-demand, high-wage fields.

To put into context just how in-demand STEM jobs are, Workforce Solutions Alamo, which researches workforce trends and connects job-seekers to open positions, reports that local employers are looking to hire for jobs related to STEM, more than any other career paths they measure.

SA Ready to Work is said to be the first of its kind in the country. It aims to take thousands of residents stuck in low-wage jobs and give them training for in-demand, high-paying careers. A former line cook could learn to become an IT specialist, or a ride-share driver could finish a college degree and earn an accountant’s certification. Applicants are guided through training pipelines by case managers. And those emergencies that too often derail ambitions — unexpected bills, a lack of internet access, the need for childcare — are kept at bay with $1,500 of support for each participant.

BEXAR COUNTY STUDENTS BECOME TEXAS STATE STUDENTS

• 65 high schools in Bexar County, including San Antonio high schools.

• 3,000 high school students.

• TXST Undergraduate Admissions has regional recruiting counselors that target the San Antonio area.

• 7.7% of TXST Fall 2022 enrollment was from Bexar County, with about 6.6% from San Antonio high schools.

BEXAR COUNTY STUDENTS BECOME TEXAS STATE ALUMNI

• 22,860 TXST alumni and former students live in Bexar County, which makes up 9% of our total living alumni and former students.

• The top three programs of Bexar County alumni are: Curriculum and Instruction through the College of Education, Occupational, Workforce and Leadership Standards through the College of Applied Arts, and Health and Human Performance through the College of Education.

• More College of Applied Arts graduates live in Bexar County than any other major county in Texas. (Out of Hays, Harris, Dallas, and Travis counties)

• USAA, H-E-B, and the San Antonio Independent School District are the largest employers of TXST alumni in San Antonio.

BEXAR COUNTY ALUMNI GIVE BACK

• 43% of TXST alumni and former students living in Bexar County have donated at least one gift to Texas State.

• 8% of all TXST Giving Society members — our largest donors are in Bexar County

• Some of the largest donors in San Antonio have created scholarships to support students in Business, Journalism & Mass Communication, and Physical Therapy.

FUNDING PRIORITIES

Endowed STEM Scholarships

Scholarship gifts and endowments for tuition or research will relieve the financial burden so students can focus on their education and pursue valuable research experiences.

Featured Naming Opportunities

• New STEM Building

• Teaching Spaces

High-tech/smart classrooms that will satisfy all areas of undergraduate and graduate level study.

• Class Labs

High-tech/smart laboratory and office spaces for undergraduate and graduate collaboration.

• Research Labs

High-tech/smart research laboratory spaces for undergraduate and graduate research and innovation.

HONORING YOUR COMMITMENT

The Xi Delta Alumni Foundation has created a legacy of investing in the university and making a difference in the lives of our African-American students with high financial need. Creating a lasting impact through generosity, the new commitment of $50K to the Xi Delta Alumni Foundation Scholarship will help provide a path to receive an education at Texas State University for more underserved, STEM-focused students from Bexar County and the San Antonio area.

A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will state the donor’s name and the MOU language will reflect the donor’s specific wishes, including:

Distributions from the gift shall be used to award scholarships to student(s) attending Texas State University who have a GPA of at least 2.75, are focused on STEM courses, and are residents of Bexar County, Texas.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Brooks A. Hull

Vice President

University Advancement

601 University Drive, JCK 960 | San Marcos, Texas 78666

brookshull@txstate.edu | 512-245-3021

Our donors not only ensure the future success of the university — they transform lives. Your generosity will help us attract and retain the best and brightest students, support excellence in teaching, generate STEM student success, elevate our research efforts, and provide world-class facilities across our campuses. Give today to drive What’s Next at Texas State!