Diversity and Excellence in Food, Environment and Natural-resource Disciplines (DEFEND)

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Alabama A&M University. Alabama A&M University is a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Huntsville, AL.

Over its five (5) year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 30 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in food science, environmental science and natural resource disciplines. First year students at Alabama A&M University and Transfer students from Lawson State University and Calhoun Community College will receive 4-year scholarships.

The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with effective supporting activities, including mentoring, service learning, advising, tutoring, financial counseling, undergraduate research experiences, and participation in discipline-specific conferences. The project will also support curriculum improvements to improve first-year student retention in STEM.

Because Alabama A&M University has a high population of students from groups underrepresented in STEM, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM fields and to learn how impactful mentoring and individual development plans support retention and graduation of this student population.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are three specific aims: to increase degree attainment by low-income students enrolled in BS programs within the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences (CALNS); offer curricular and co-curricular activities to increase student success by engaging them in evidence-based enrichment activities; and use technology for intentional evaluation and assessment.

The intervention outlined in this DEFEND program combines financial resources with rigorous mentoring and tutorial support to thwart attrition throughout the degree program and compare relative effectiveness of post-high school summer support and tuition support among students transferring from community colleges in motivating and retaining African American students. This project compares the overall success rate of high school students directly entering AAMU to community college transfers and also compares the success rate of these DEFEND scholars with other students within CALNS.

This project has the potential to advance understanding of which interventions are most effective for motivating and retaining African American and students from other groups underrepresented in STEM. Additionally, this project will increase the number of underrepresented students who are globally and competitively trained and subsequently diversify the STEM workforce.

This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.