The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Scholars Program at Rutgers–Camden awards need-based scholarships to students majoring in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics.
The program enhances internship, research and employment opportunities for students majoring in STEM disciplines and awards two types of need-based scholarships.
Tenure scholarships will be awarded to up to eight incoming first-year students beginning this fall. Each recipient will receive $3,000 per year for four years.
Annual scholarships are available to current and transfer students majoring in STEM subjects. Up to five recipients will receive a one-year award for $3,000.
The STEM Scholars Program at Rutgers–Camden is sponsored by a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program.
“For us at Rutgers–Camden, the challenge is clear,” says Michael Palis, a computer science professor at the Camden Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. “We need to attract more STEM students, provide them with adequate financial support to pay for their education, and help them reach their goal of achieving a degree and advancing a career in the sciences.”
Citing a National Academies report, Palis says low STEM enrollment is a problem in colleges and universities across the country. Only 10 percent of all undergraduate students at the Rutgers–Camden College of Arts and Sciences are STEM majors.
“The STEM Scholars Program attempts to meet these challenges by working with area high schools and middle schools to improve student preparation in science and mathematics; by providing scholarships to new and current STEM students to ease the financial burden of pursuing a college education; and by engaging these students in a comprehensive program that will strengthen them academically and prepare them for professional careers or further graduate studies after they complete their undergraduate degree,” Palis says.
The Rutgers–Camden students will participate in mandatory faculty advising and mentoring, academic and professional development workshops and the STEM Colloquia Series. Optional programs include the STEM Research Experience, the STEM Internship Program, and the Q-STEP Mentoring Program.
Q-STEP (Quantitative STEM Talent Expansion Program) is a separate program that provides funding for students who will serve as mentors to other STEM majors.
“It’s based on trying to help our students succeed,” says Joseph Martin, a professor of biology at Rutgers–Camden and Q-STEP program director. “We’ve done a number of things to try and attract students to STEM majors and there’s been a huge increase within the last three years.”
Select first-year students enrolled in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics are provided with special programming throughout their four-year education that includes extra social support, group study and assigned academic advisors.
Nineteen freshmen are currently enrolled in the Q-STEP program and Martin says he is hoping to attract 30 incoming students to the program in the fall.
Students enrolled in the program receive intensive tutoring from a group of upper-level students through a mentoring network, which Martin says increases chances for group study and problem solving. Additionally, the students will have the opportunity to assist researchers in lab settings throughout the academic year and the summer for a stipend.
The students will soon have access to a newly-renovated building on campus at 419 Cooper Street, the Center for Computational and integrated Biology, where they can gather for meetings, group study, and tutoring.
“Instead of relying solely on lecture halls, we want to provide students with more active learning situations such as research opportunities in the lab,” says Martin. “That’s where people really flower.”
The Rutgers–Camden professor adds that the overall goal is to increase the number of graduates in the sciences and mathematics by 25 percent. “These two factors (the STEM Scholars Program and Q-STEP) work together to help us increase the number of Rutgers–Camden students who succeed in these majors and earn their degrees,” Martin says.
Incoming students interested in the Q-STEP program and current students interested in being a mentor can apply by visiting http://biology.camden.rutgers.edu/QSTEP/Q-STEP.html. For more information about the STEM Scholars Program visit http://rucssp.camden.rutgers.edu/index.html.
Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
856-225-6759
E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu