Board 212: An Engineering/Computer Science Project with Community Service Focus

Abstract

This conference paper informs about a S-STEM (Scholarships in STEM) project awarded to the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Engineering (SOE). This NSF project is focused on providing scholarships to students with merit who also demonstrate financial need. This particular NSF project was focused on professional development activities as well as community service projects. The community service projects were enabled by the S-STEM Scholars taking credit hours or performing paid internships. Although the NSF project is in its first two years, it has had many successful community service projects. This paper focuses on surveys and other data from the scholars' participation in this NSF project. The survey data and testimonials show that the NSF project is progressing in the right direction to achieving its original stated goals. Background:The University of New Mexico (UNM) was awarded, by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a project titled "Scholarships, Service Learning, and Community Engagement to Improve Student Success in Engineering and Computer Science". This is a multi-year project that started in early 2021. It was awarded from NSF's DUE (Division of Undergraduate Education). This particular paper reports on the details of this NSF project and some of its results to-date. The results exhibited are centered on surveys and student testimonials related to student participants/scholars. The paper is a first attempt to disseminate information on the NSF project and share with the at-large engineering education community.