First-year students are the primary target of support services, housing resources, and scholarships at universities. However, this can leave students who transfer in from a community college or another institution at considerable disadvantages. Furthermore, transfer students intending to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) degrees may lack important introductory courses (prerequisites such as calculus and general chemistry) and can struggle to get courses transferred appropriately, slowing down degree progression. We are now in the second year of implementing a program that includes a peer-mentored semi-residential learning community, a co-convened seminar course, and NSF-funded scholarships (Transfers to Graduates in Engineering, Math and Sciences) to support transfer students in the College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences at Northern Arizona University. Voluntary survey data, primarily from the first year of program implementation, is used to describe the STEM transfer student experience and examine possible qualitative and quantitative impacts of the implemented program. The current results of outreach to local community colleges are also described. This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1260138.
Augsburg College, Chemistry, B.S., 1999
University of Colorado—Boulder, Organic Chemistry, M.S., 2002
University of Northern Colorado, Chemical Education, Ph.D., 2008
University of British Columbia, Chemistry Teaching Laboratory Optimization with CWSEI, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2008—2011
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ, August 2011—Present
University of Michigan, Natural Resources, B.S., 1991
University of California, Davis, Plant Protection & Pest Management, M.S., 1997
Northern Arizona University, Curriculum & Instruction, Ed.D., 2015
Evaluation Coordinator, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 2007-Present.
Central Arizona College, AA 2011
Central Arizona College, AS 2011
Northern Arizona University, Advanced Chemistry, B.S. - in progress
Northern Arizona University, Undergraduate research assistant, 2015-present
Northern Arizona University, FYLI TA, 2015-present
Aspiring Grdauate Student
Derek Sonderegger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Northern Arizona University. His research interests include Occupancy Models, permutation methods for gene expression data, and Bayesian computing. His teaching interests in statistics pedegogy include bootstrap methodology for introductory courses and undergraduate data science in general.
Elizabethtown College, BS, Biology, 1990
Northern Arizona University, Post degree Elementary Education Certification, 1997
Current position: Northern Arizona University, Center for Science Teaching & Learning: Evaluation Assistant, 2014-present
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, 2014-present, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, 2010-2014, College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Assist/Assoc/Fu
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