HSI Pilot Project: Community College and University STEM Partnerships (CCUSP)

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 Community College and University STEM Partnerships project aims to increase enrollment in, and completion of, engineering degrees for community college students. This project is associated with the Houston Engineering Center (HEC), an innovative partnership between Houston Community College (HCC) and the University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler). This partnership allows students to complete the last two years of a 4-year UT Tyler engineering degree on an HCC campus at a discounted tuition rate after completion of the HCC Associates of Science in Engineering Science (ASES) degree. There is currently a shortage of Engineers in Texas and the United States. Addressing this shortage is critical to our economic competitiveness. The Texas Workforce Commission anticipates employment growth from 2020 to 2030 of 16% to 28% in a variety of Engineering disciplines including Mechanical (18%), Electrical (17%), and Civil (28%). This project will help more community college students, complete an engineering degree. Increasing the number of Engineers will reduce the shortage of Engineers and increase economic opportunity. The specific components of the Community College and University STEM Partnerships will include engineering preparation, mentoring, and professional development programs. The engineering preparatory program will rapidly advance math skills through engineering focused math instruction, enrich students' engineering identity with community relevant project-based learning experiences, and develop a sense of belonging through community-building events and activities. The mentoring program will feature faculty-to-student, advanced student-to-beginning student, and alumni-to-student mentoring to help HCC students adjust to the 4-year University climate at HEC and Engineering as a profession by providing networking, leadership, and internship opportunities with industry partners. Professional development will build skills for HCC and UT Tyler faculty and staff and improve the sense of community between the institutions. The project will evaluate student academic data with the goal of demonstrating an increase in enrollment of 10% per year and verify retention to ultimately increase transfers by 10% per year. Student surveys will be used to assess non-academic metrics such as sense of belonging, confidence, and self-determination before and immediately following the planned activities. The project team will utilize an online learning platform, social media, and group texting to communicate with students, faculty and staff. The results of this project will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at the NSF annual meeting, conferences of pertinent organizations, and a symposium attended by local community colleges and 4-year universities, as well as at meetings of local professional engineering societies. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.