Collaborative STEM Programs at Rutgers-Camden Produce New Opportunities and Friendships

President Obama has called for more educators to teach STEM, (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), but Rutgers University—Camden has been cultivating opportunities in these disciplines for some time. At Rutgers-Camden, STEM students not only have access to scholarship and academic support, but can become part of a group of likeminded peers navigating questions about homework and professional careers together. This thriving community is thanks in part to Michael Palis, a professor of computer science at Rutgers-Camden, who in 2010 was awarded a highly competitive grant from the National Science Foundation to launch the STEM Scholars Program on campus.  The $600,000 grant aims to support high-achieving students in STEM majors and in financial need through annual (one-time awards of no more than $3,000) and tenure (four years of $3,000 per semester) scholarships. Twenty-three students have received the funding this year and will be welcomed into a cohort of student colleagues, made possible through unique collaborations at Rutgers-Camden. “Starting this year we are pulling resources with other campus groups to provide these same students with even more ways for them to engage with not only their discipline, but with peers,” says Palis, who was asked by NSF to speak to some 400 individuals on his experience implementing the Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grants. “We’ve witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of applications, which has allowed us to award more scholarships to deserving students.”While the scholarship recipients have some mandatory requirements, like meetings with Palis and attendance at one lecture and workshop per semester, the grant is designed to not burden students already enrolled in challenging coursework. “You are already in difficult fields and have a lot to worry about in your classes,” said Palis during the STEM Scholar Program orientation on Sept. 10. “You are here to focus and to study, but keep in mind you have a lot of support here, too.” STEM scholars can fill requirements to other programs like the Honors College and the Arts and Sciences Internship Course, by expanding their involvement in relating offerings. More kudos are due to Joseph Martin, a professor of biology at Rutgers-Camden, who is co-principal investigator on the STEM Scholars Program grant, and also directs the NSF-funded ($307,277 in 2009 and $91,501 just recently) Q-STEP program, which provides STEM students, who may not be high achievers in the classroom, with additional peer support, mentoring and research opportunities, and a campus hangout. “I call it the Q-STEP Quarters,” says Martin, of the Campus Center space that holds weekly meetings, after-class discussions, community outreach planning, and constant conversations about career options in STEM. “They come in all thinking that they want to be doctors. We talk openly about what different faculty members on campus do and what different kinds of jobs are really out there.” The conversations become more formal as students become paid mentors for each other in not just larger career–planning ways, but in a more immediate sense as well, like how to chart each semester at Rutgers-Camden.  The STEM students also spread their knowledge into the community by tutoring local high students in the STEM disciplines.  One recent experiential learning opportunity allowed Rutgers-Camden students to play “House,” as in the popular medical diagnostic drama, only with symptoms more akin to urban life. Students like Niasia Williams, a physics major in her first year at Rutgers-Camden, find comfort in the built-in STEM community on campus. “There’s going to be a lot of people in similar situations as me. I’ll always have my peers as a resource,” she said during the orientation program. Peer support has evolved into friendships for juniors Maira Farhat and Kosha Parikh and senior Salima Mostafa. “At first I was just looking for a study group, because I didn’t know anyone in a big class,” says Mostafa, who is a STEM scholar and Q-STEP mentor.  “Now if I have any problems, my friends are right there for me.”