The school plans to directly allocate $300,000 of the grant award to help fund the academic journeys of students who are pursuing STEM fields.
Somerset Community College has been awarded a National Science Foundation Enhancing STEM Education grant in the amount of $500,000. Most of the funding is planned to be allocated to student scholarships, though the school also intends to use the funding to host STEAM days and STEM activities during school and community events.
According to an article on Somerset Community College’s website, Sethuraman Panchanathan, who serves as the director of the National Science Foundation, was quoted as saying of the grant program, "Community colleges play a critical role in training people from all parts of the country for a variety of STEM careers including future scientists, engineers, and technicians. The Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education program is essential to how we expand pathways and opportunities so that more talented people from every part of the nation have the opportunity to make their way into STEM.”
The ESTEME grant that has been awarded to Somerset Community College is a portion of the initial $14.5 million of the National Science Foundation Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education program. Faculty members at Somerset Community College applied for grant funding through this program in Fall 2023, which resulted in this $500,000 award.
April Kilgore, who serves as a professor of Biology and the Associate Dean of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, explained further what the school will do with some of the funding, noting that some of it will be used to compensate peer tutors for their work. “Research has shown that peer-to-peer interactions improve academic success rates for those involved. We have used peer mentoring since 2021 on a voluntary basis, and we want to offer financial assistance for their time and efforts.”
STEAM days and STEM activities at school and community events will also become more feasible thanks to the National Science Foundation funding, something that professor of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy Debra House is looking forward to: “While at SCC, we have worked hard to build a learning community where students can work and learn together. The ESTEME grant will continue this momentum to build on peer mentoring and provide resources for our students,” she said.
For more information about Somerset Community College, visit the school’s website.