matching funds to strengthen its endowment and increase the College’s capability to
provide students with financial support.
in line with the grant’s completion, i have established a committee to direct the
institutionalization of the remaining agreed-upon grant components.
in April, the College’s proposal to present a forum session based on its Title iii project
was accepted for the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Community
Colleges (AACC). e presentation, “Support, Success & Completion,” was delivered
by Dr. Marlene DuBois, Dr. James Keane and Christine Crowe. e presentation was
well-received, with a number of requests for follow-up information.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Twenty-five students from Suffolk are serving as STeM student researchers this
summer. of this number, 14 students are Collegiate Science and Technology entry
Program (CSTeP) and/or National Science foundation Scholarships for Science,
Technology, engineering, and Mathematics (NSf S-STeM) students. Since research
opportunities are a primary factor in students’ persistence in STeM, our students
are well-positioned to continue along the pathway to a STeM degree. e student
researchers are participating in the following programs:
research experiences for Undergraduates (reU) at Stony Brook University (SBU)
Twelve students are part of the reU experience, with one conducting research in
Nanotechnology for Health, energy and the environment, seven working under the
auspices of the Biology Department’s Howard Hughes Medical institute, one funded
through the Stony Brook University initiative for Maximizing Student Development:
Maximizing excellence in research for Graduate education (iMSD-MerGe)
Program, and three students studying nanomaterials at the Material Sciences
Department’s Garcia Center.
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Summer research Programs
eleven students are at BNL, conducting projects focused on cancer research,
environmental studies and renewable energy.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (wA)
one student is studying geology.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
one student is part of a team studying astrophysics.
i continue to be inspired by the promise and achievements of the young people funded
through our two NSf S-STeM grants. At this spring’s closing ceremony for NSf
S-STeM and CSTeP, it was encouraging to see our existing community college
research scholars, our alumni researchers who have since bridged to four-year
universities, and those alumni who have finished graduate school and are now
employed in research positions at BNL where they are mentoring their “pipeline
peers” during the summer. At the event, our current and former NSf S-STeM and
CSTeP scholars shared that they are leveraging their Suffolk experiences at some of
the nation’s best educational institutions, including Cornell, the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill, Columbia University, rensselaer Polytechnic institute and
within SUNY. e College was proud to have three of its STeM scholars awarded
three of the five inaugural STeM Hearst foundation Transfer scholarships to Stony
Brook University.
24
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2014-2015 Review of Accomplishments
Faculty support is critical to STEM student success.
Suffolk students continue to excel as they pursue
STEM-related degrees.
