New STEM SSOAR project being launched this semester
Research indicates that working more than 20 hours per week while enrolled in college can result in lower grades and decreased retention rates. While employment can be especially challenging for STEM majors, some students have no choice but to hold down a job while pursuing their academic goals.
For this reason, Citrus College's newest STEM grant is especially exciting. Project SSOAR (Student Supports Organized to Achieve Results) is designed to assist academically talented, low-income students majoring in computer science, engineering, physics or mathematics. The program will provide students with scholarship aid, STEM mentoring, experiential learning activities and support services focused on course completion, obtaining an associate degree and preparing for transfer.
"This is the first STEM grant that Citrus College has received that involves helping our full-time and part-time STEM students by providing financial aid," said Victoria Dominguez, dean of mathematics and business at Citrus College. "We hope that those who are part of SSOAR will not need to work as much, can concentrate more on their studies, and will benefit greatly from the faculty mentorship and experiential learning activities during each primary term."
Citrus College began working on its SSOAR grant proposal in August 2021 and submitted its final paperwork to the National Science Foundation in February 2022.
In August 2022, the STEM team was notified that it had received the grant, and they began meeting throughout the fall semester to discuss project implementation.
"We held two information sessions about the grant for students where they learned about the grant and why they should apply. We also included grant information on our STEM website, along with an application link and a link to access the recommendation form," Dominguez said. "Last month, we interviewed 18 STEM students for possible inclusion in our first cohort, and eight to 12 will be selected soon."
Two of the first SSOAR events, a student orientation and a growth mindset workshop, have already been scheduled for March, and will be led by Principal Investigator and STEM Center Coordinator Kevin Punsalan and Toros Berberyan, mathematics instructor.
This article originally appeared in the March 2023 edition of the Citrus View.