Di Xu named Co-PI on NSF Grant to Explore STEM Education Opportunities

School of Education Assistant Professor Di Xu and Vice Provost for Academic Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Douglas Haynes are Co-PIs on a new NSF grant to identify critical challenges and opportunities in undergraduate STEM education at two-year and four-year Hispanic-serving institutions. Vice Provost and Dean Michael Dennin, Office of Teaching and Learning, will serve as the PI for this year-long grant.

With support from NSF, Dennin, Xu, and Haynes will plan and host a three-day conference, Pathways for Hispanic Students in STEM, focusing on improving retention and graduation rates for Hispanic students in STEM in higher education institutions nationwide. Conference attendees will be primarily faculty and administrators from local high schools and 2-year and 4-year colleges, emphasizing those that serve Hispanic students.

The conference will be interactive and intentionally designed to be both a learning experience and a data collection exercise. Conference topics will include the following:

1. Moving Students from High School to College (2 or 4-year) with a Declared STEM Major
2. Initial Challenges for STEM College Students (2 and 4-year)
3. Challenges Specific to Community College Students
4. Transfer Students and Their Challenges
5. Data and Analytics: Challenges and Promise.

The conference's goals are twofold: (a) to educate key faculty and administrators about known research regarding Hispanic students in STEM, and (b) to produce a set of recommendations to help NSF identify critical challenges, best practices, and potential actionable solutions for undergraduate STEM education.