COD Awarded $650,000 Grant to Support STEM Education

GLEN ELLYN, Ill., Nov. 14, 2016 -- College of DuPage was recently awarded a $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support STEM education at the College.

According to COD Director of Grants Barbara Abromitis, it took the efforts of a team of faculty and administrators to secure the grant, but she hopes the funding of the new S-STEM Student Success program will further the emphasis COD is now beginning to put on STEM education. 

“The S-STEM Student Success program is designed to address the needs of students and promote STEM careers for traditionally underserved students through enhanced educational opportunities and support structures,” Abromitis said.

The College’s new S-STEM Student Success program will recruit and award full scholarships to a total of approximately 56 eligible students to complete a two-year program for graduation or transfer in either chemistry, physics or engineering programs who were chosen for their academic rigor, extensive use of math, and pre-existing research partnerships with four-year institutions and national laboratories. Aimed at academically successful students who can demonstrate financial need, the program will include a dedicated STEM Student Success Coach to provide students a broad range of support and guidance.

The students in the S-STEM program will receive individualized academic, advising and career support through a range of measures such as individualized case management, counseling, guided study groups, faculty mentoring and cohort-based courses and tutoring, as well as enhanced educational opportunities such as internships, job shadowing, industry networking, speakers bureau events and undergraduate research opportunities.

“This grant has helped us to merge elements that are already in place at the College into one powerful and comprehensive educational unit,” Abromitis said.

Principal Investigator (PI) for the S-STEM program, Professor of Chemistry Richard Jarman, joined by a team of COD administrators and faculty, including, Physics Professor Tom Carter, Assistant Professor of Chemistry William “Gary” Roby and Associate Dean of Math and Physical Science Tom Schrader, is tasked with overseeing the management of the S-STEM project. As PI, Jarman’s duties include supervision of the STEM student success coach, data collection, and reporting and dissemination of results.

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Press contact: Joe Moore, Vice President for Marketing and Communications, (630) 942-2371.