Nat'l Science Foundation STEM Grant for EMU - "Community-based Problem Solving"

Eastern Michigan University awarded nearly $2M in federal grants for STEM students

By Matt Durr | mattdurr@mlive.comThe Ann Arbor News
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on November 07, 2014 at 9:00 AM, updated November 07, 2014 at 9:01 AM

Eastern Michigan University announced has received nearly $2 million in federal grant funding for women and minority students entering the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs.

 

The grant is designed to strengthen the Creative Scientific Inquiry Experience (CSIE) a program developed by the University and funded by the National Science Foundation that has demonstrated promise for increasing graduation rates of students entering STEM.

"The CSIE program facilitates students' progression to upper-level courses with a deeper understanding of course content and with participation in community-based problem solving," said Nina Contis, a professor of chemistry at EMU who will serve as director of the Title III grant. "This grant will enable the University to significantly improve the success rate of students in STEM class, particularly among underrepresented groups, through broadly implementing the CSIE program."

Kim Schatzel, provost and executive vice president of academic and student affairs at Eastern, will serve as project director.

"The awarding of this grant is a major validation of our ability and interest to continue to improve outcomes for students in STEM disciplines," Schatzel said. "I am excited about our capacity to fully implement a project-based curriculum and teaching approaches that stimulate student interest and success, and also lead to graduates going into careers in STEM disciplines."

The number of STEM graduates at EMU has risen 15 percent over the last five years and STEM-related disciplines make up around 15 percent of EMU's undergraduate population.

In addition to the federal funding, the project leverages an additional $250,000 from non-federal sources that will support the continued success of the project.

By the end of the five year grant, the CSIE program will be in full operation, to be sustained by a $440,000 endowment funded by a portion of the grant and matched by the university.

Matt Durr covers Eastern Michigan University and Washtenaw Community College for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at mattdurr@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.