The Providing Opportunities to Excel (PROPEL) Center at Colorado State University Pueblo is a Federally Funded initiative committed to supporting the success of STEM students. PROPEL offers a comprehensive portfolio of services, including free walk in tutoring for all STEM courses, supplemental instruction (SI) and group exam review support, assessment support for laboratory courses, Summer Academic Grade Forgiveness (SAFE) courses to help students succeed in key gate keeping courses, and sponsors diverse and engaging STEM speakers for students to learn from and network with. Additionally, the PROPEL initiative has allocated funds to update STEM research labs and classroom labs with cutting edge equipment and much needed renovations, and fund faculty to participate in a Summer Institute program, where they are tasked to focus on curricular redesign, and streamline articulation agreements with partnering community college institutions. The day-to-day operations of the PROPEL center are successful, in part, due to a highly motivated team of peer tutor mentors that are all STEM undergraduate students. Statistics garnered by the center have shown that students who regularly attend study sessions or visit the PROPEL Center have increased exam scores and are more likely to overcome gatekeeper courses in their STEM majors.  For example, the scores for an Organic Chemistry SAFE course offered by the PROPEL Center in the Summer of 2013 showed a 40% increase in passing rates compared to the same course offered by the same instructor in the Spring semester of that same year. In this poster presentation, two peer tutor mentors will share their experiences as Chemistry tutors for the PROPEL Center, and provide insights to others looking to create comprehensive Chemistry course support at their higher education institutions.

PROPEL Center at Colorado State University-Pueblo: The effect of a STEM tutoring center on academic excellence

249th National Meeting (2015)

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