In August 2016, College of DuPage initiated a STEM Student Success program funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s S-STEM program. The program's objectives are to (1) increase the number of financially needy and academically talented students who graduate or transfer in a STEM program and (2) improve the retention and completion rates of STEM students through individualized and group support systems. A central feature of the program is the use of a STEM Student Success Coach as the first line of support for participating STEM scholars. The use of the Success Coach provides a testing ground for the “intrusive advising” method used in the Guided Pathways model that is currently being implemented at numerous two-year and four-year colleges, including College of DuPage. We will present results from an evaluation of the impact of the Success Coach on the academic success of program participants using a combination of qualitative and quantitative instruments. In particular, we will compare the performance of the S-STEM cohort with a non-scholarship cohort, selected for similar academic preparedness, in a range of common STEM classes.

Improving student success in STEM with a success coach and intrusive advising

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.