The major goal of the North Carolina State University STEM Scholars Program is to create an academic support system for economically disadvantaged students living in the Raleigh geographical area to successfully graduate from NC State University. The program offers a comprehensive package of financial, mentoring, and career support to undergraduate students pursuing degrees in engineering and statistics disciplines, which includes 75% of in-state tuition costs. Some other activities of our scholarship program provide career-building activities such as industry visits with partner companies and mock job interviews that bolster students’ professional confidence and better prepare them for their careers. For students interested in research, the scholarship program connects them with faculty on campus, thus allowing them to further explore their interests by conducting undergraduate research.
We have established a framework for recruiting candidates on the practices developed in the first two years for the program. Following admission to NC State engineering or statistics programs, candidates complete an online application. For the 2016-17 recruitment cycle, 22 candidates were invited for face-to-face interviews, from which eight (8) were selected as scholarship recipients.
During the 2015-16 academic year, six scholars, two in 2015 Fall and four in 2016 Spring graduated: all accomplished with a GPA better than 3.4 in four years from admission at NC State and/or two year transferred from community colleges. From those six, five are enrolled in graduate school pursuing at least master degree in their major field of undergraduate concentration. One graduate who did not pursue graduate school is working as electrical engineer in a major corporation.
Within the current cohort of STEM scholars, all have been involved in extracurricular activities: seven have been research undergraduates on campus (two completed off-campus REU programs), four have participated in co-ops/industry internships, one completed a study abroad, and two have been counselors or elected in leadership societies.
Cheryl Cass is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University where she has served as the Director of Undergraduate Programs since 2011. Her research focuses on the intersection of science and engineering identity in post-secondary and graduate level programs.
Leda Lunardi received the BS and MS from University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil, and Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. After graduate school she spent several years in industry before joining academia in 2003. Currently she is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Her teaching and research interests include electronics, optoelectronics, and engineering undergraduate student retention and graduation improvement. Her research has been mainly sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). She is a Fellow of the IEEE, member of the SWE and the ASEE, and active in the engineering education community, including serving as volunteer for panels and scholarships reviews. From 2005 to 2007 Dr. Lunardi served as Program Director for the Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) Division in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA.
An undergraduate student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina Sate University, Olivia Gordon has aided in student and event organization for this program since January, 2014. She also conducts research on liquid metals through NCSU and has presented her work at the undergraduate research symposium.
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