Title:	TESTED STRATEGIES FOR RECRUITING AND RETENTION OF STEM MAJORS
Author(s):	Sadegh Davari, Sharon Perkins-Hall and Krishani Abeysekera
ISBN:	978-989-8533-71-5
Editors:	Piet Kommers, Tomayess Issa, Pedro Isaías and Ana Hol
Year:	2017
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	STEM, Recruiting, Retention, Peer-Mentoring, Hands-on Activities
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	44
Last Page:	50
Language:	English
Cover:
Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	There is a shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educated workforce in the US, especially among minority and underrepresented groups. Recruiting and retaining STEM majors has been a major problem for universities and community colleges for many years. The Computer Science department of University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) has been collaborating with three campuses of San Jacinto College (SJC) on recruiting and retention strategies. Our activities started taking off after we received a joint state grant to support our recruiting and retention activities. The grant allowed us to experiment with several pilot projects such as peer-mentoring and programming challenge. We then expanded our pilot project to include additional STEM fields and additional recruiting and retention strategies. The additional strategies included monthly Tech Fridays, annual Extended Orientation and annual STEM Challenge. We submitted a proposal to the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and received a 5-year joint grant from the STEP program of NSF with the start date of September 2013. Our NSF grant activities have been very successful. In 2016, we expanded our activities again by adding additional elements such as undergraduate research, internships, and creation of a new computer science teacher certification program. We submitted a proposal to the HSI-STEM program of the US Department of Education (DOE) with a focus on recruiting and retaining students from Hispanic or low-income families. We received a 5-year grant from DOE with a start date of October 2016. In this paper, we share our strategies and experience with conference participants, hoping that our experience will help others who are considering similar strategies for recruiting and retention of STEM majors.
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