Planning: Building Institutional Capacity for Future S-STEM Support at Meharry Medical College

This Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) planning project from Meharry Medical College lays the groundwork for a future S-STEM proposal. This proposal would look to provide scholarships and academic support to talented, low-income graduate students in disciplines including computer science and data science. The planning process includes determining the pool of potential scholars for a future submission, scrutinizing institutional policies, refining evaluation plans, and strengthening key external partnerships. The project will also pilot mentoring and co-curricular supports that demonstrate potential to positively impact scholar success and form an advisory board to support the project team's efforts. The overall goal of this Scholarships in STEM planning project is an S-STEM proposal with significant potential to increase STEM degree completion of academically talented, low-income undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There is a significant national need to grow the STEM workforce and nurture key talent that will ensure economic competitiveness and provide domestic leadership across critical sectors. The disciplines emphasized by this project directly speak to this need and have impact on the STEM workforce in AI, energy and other key areas of need. The project will engage faculty, staff and administrators in the planning process to ensure that the resulting proposal reflects the realities of prospective scholars at the institution. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented, low-income students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. 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.