Scholarships in Engineering, Science, Mathematics and Computer Science (SESMC, “Seismic”) is an NSF S-STEM project at Allan Hancock College (AHC), a community college in Santa Maria, California. In 2012, SESMC was funded at $599,929 for five-years. SESMC’s final year will be 2017–18.
This work will present the current status of the project. As planned, 12 scholars would be in the first cohort, and 24 in each of the following three years, for 84 total annual awards. Awards are based on equal parts academic potential and financial need.
Project activities have been based on four foundational blocks: Financial, Academic Skills, Involvement, and Commitment/Motivation. Each scholar is awarded up to $6,000 per year. Scholars are required to attend group study sessions, workshops, guest speaker talks, etc., as well as meet twice per semester with a faculty mentor in their (or a related) discipline. Scholars are provided field trip opportunities, are encouraged to apply for internships, and are provided with a membership in a professional organization (e.g., ASME, IEEE).
The primary outcomes and objectives can be summarized as follows:
1. to reduce the need to work in order to focus on academics;
2. to improve academic skills and study habits;
3. to increase interactions among students, peers and faculty; and
4. to improve motivation and commitment to career and academic goals.
Dom Dal Bello is Professor of Engineering at Allan Hancock College (AHC), a California community college between UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is chair of the Mathematical Sciences Department, and Principal Investigator of the NSF S-STEM grant at AHC. He is vice chair of the Two Year College Division of ASEE, and vice chair for community colleges for the Pacific Southwest Section of ASEE. He is co-author of a textbook with his graduate advisor, Dr. Frederick A. Leckie, Strength and Stiffness of Engineering Systems.
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