CUNY Office of Research Receives $1.5 Million Grant from the Sloan Foundation to Support STEM Transfer Students with Mentored Research Experiences

'Transfer to STEM Student Success' Program Will Benefit Nearly 100 Students Who are Moving to CUNY Four-Year Colleges from Community Colleges in the System

Program Will Generate New Knowledge About the Best Strategies and Practices for Fostering Success Among Transfer Students in STEM

CUNY students are about to get a $1.5 million boost thanks to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The philanthropic organization awarded the CUNY Office of Research a three-year grant to conduct the CUNY Transfer to STEM Student Success (TS3) program.

This new program advances the Office of Research's strategic aim of increasing opportunities for diverse students in research. TS3 will recruit 96 STEM students who have transferred from CUNY community colleges to one of four participating CUNY baccalaureate institutions: The City College of New York, Hunter College, Lehman College and Queens College.

The program will provide the students, a majority of whom belong to groups that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM, with valuable basic and applied research skills; offer mentoring from graduate student researchers; and prepare them to pursue graduate degrees and careers in STEM.

Undergraduate transfer students will be beneficiaries of this award, as will CUNY graduate students. CUNY graduate students will receive support, including professional development by participating in mentoring boot camps organized by the Center for Teaching and Learning at the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as planning seminars and liaising between undergraduate participants and their new STEM faculty mentors.

"The Office of Research is grateful for this opportunity to build on our track record of providing successful undergraduate research experiences that transform students' lives and broadens the research talent pool," said Tamera Schneider, associate vice chancellor and University vice provost for research. "We are thrilled that the Sloan Foundation has chosen to fund this important work, and we look forward to advancing the success of both CUNY's undergraduate and graduate students in STEM."

The TS3 program continues the Office of Research's 11-year relationship with the Sloan Foundation. The Foundation previously sponsored the Junior Faculty Research Award in Science and Engineering (JFRASE) and the CUNY Summer Undergraduate Research Program (CSURP).

"We're proud to continue our support for CUNY through its new TS3 program," said Joshua Greenberg, director of the Sloan Foundation's New York City program. "Increasing educational opportunities for underserved communities is a cornerstone of our NYC grantmaking, and we wish the students every success in their studies, symposia and summer research experiences."

"We are excited to synthesize the lessons learned from CSURP and the city-funded CUNY Research Scholars Programto create this new program, which will expand opportunities for students to engage in authentic research experiences that contribute to their academic success," said Effie MacLachlan, the principal investigator on the award and director of grants & research programs in the Office of Research. "The Office's program evaluation research has shown that student engagement in immersive research experiences increases graduate rates and student engagement in STEM, and enhances students' confidence and identification as scientists."

TS3 will engage 32 transfer students per year across the participating four-year colleges in summer research experiences and professional development seminars. During the summer, students will participate in intensive research experiences with mentors in their labs. The seminars will complement immersive research experiences. Topics will range from the ethical conduct of research to effective scientific communication. An annual symposium will offer students an opportunity to present their research.

The City University of New Yorkis the nation's largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation's first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City's five boroughs, serving over 243,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. CUNY's mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University's graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city's economic, civic, and cultural life and diversifying the city's workforce in every sector. CUNY's graduates and faculty have received many prestigious honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes and 26 MacArthur "Genius" Grants. The University's historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background.

###

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.