A team of student mentors has been brought together with the goal of increasing the availability of opportunities for student success and retention as STEM students transition from large urban community colleges to a four-year university. In the first two years of the affiliated NSF STEP grant, known locally as Bridges to STEM Careers (BSC), the mentor team has worked to provide activities for students, including summer orientation sessions, Tech Fridays, mentoring and tutoring sessions, an annual STEM challenge, and BSC clubs on four campuses. Fifteen students have acted as mentors, session leaders, tutors and club leaders. Mentors attend and assist in introductory Computer Science classes, and hold weekly recitation sessions and office hours during which students in a number of mathematics, computer engineering, and computing courses can find tutoring help. In addition, the student mentors encourage student participation in competitions such as design challenges, hackathons, and other STEM related activities outside the classroom. These activities and competitions allow students to network, develop cross-disciplinary skills, build hands on experience, and apply critical skills while being exposed to "real world" problem solving situations. Approximately 140 different students have participated in one or more events, and each event has been assessed by an external reviewer. Mentors from the four campuses have chances to interact during combined BSC club meetings, Tech Fridays and our annual STEM challenge. We propose that a model similar to this could be successfully and beneficially implemented more widely, with the goal of increasing both interest and retention in STEM fields.
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