About Rensselaer Located in Troy, NY, Rensselaer Polytechnic - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

About Rensselaer Located in Troy, NY, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the nation's oldest technological research university, and was founded on the principles of bringing science to every day life. Rensselaer is home to nearly 7,500 students studying the fields of Engineering, Science, Business, Architecture and Humanities. FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE fye@rpi.edu studentlife.rpi.edu/fye

MENTOR TRAINING CURRICULUM What is I-PERSIST? During weekly sessions, mentors work with The program provides subject area Mentors are highly trained prior to entering the students on a variety of topics: mentors for all first-year students classroom. Topics include: registered into "gateway" STEM courses - Subject content Diversity Chemistry I, Calculus I & Physics I. Time management Classroom engagment Mentors meet weekly with small groups of Study skills Active Learning students and provide addititonal support Test taking strategies Student Leadership through office hours. The goal of the Campus life First-year student transitions I-PERSIST program is overall STEM Homework -completing it effectively Learning styles persistence. Life skills Classroom conduct Mental Health Funding Academic Integrity In addition, mentors identify and refer students in need of additional help to FYE. In 2014, Rensselaer was a grant recipient from the Howard Hughes Medical SPECIAL EVENTS FACULTY DEVELOPMENT Institute. The $1.2 million grant was awarded with the purpose of expanding the university's successful Math Mentor I-PERSIST offers various programs to help The I-PERSIST STEM Speaker Series brings program, established in 2008. foster faculty-student relationships. The grant STEM education experts to campus to share also sponsors a yearly speaker series designed best practices with first-year STEM faculty. to showcase opportunities in STEM. Speakers Speakers have included: have included: Campus Partners Charles Adler - Professor and author of Dr. Seema Rivera - STEM Education Professor, School of Science Faculty - Chemistry, "Wizards Aliens & Starships: Physics & Math Clarkson University Math, Physics in Fantasy & Science Fiction" Division of Student Life Staff - Dr. Scott Franklin - Director, STEM Center, RIT Student Success/First-Year Experience Guion Bluford - NASA Astronaut and the first Advising and Learning Assistance African-American in space Dr. Becky Wang - Professor and author of Center Staff "Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Academic Deans and Provosts Elizabeth Kolbert - Pulitzer Prize winning Underrepresented Minority Students" author of "The Sixth Extinction"

A peer mentor program aimed at STEM persistence: Integrated Program for Education, Research and Support In Science & Technology (I-PERSIST) Shanté Brown, Assistant Dean, First-Year Experience Janelle Fayette, Dean, First-Year Experience Paul Nooney, Administrative Specialist, First-Year Experience

National Conference on Students in Transition 2 Costa Mesa, CA

A peer mentor program aimed at STEM persistence: Integrated Program for Education, Research and Support In Science & Technology (I-PERSIST) Shanté Brown, Assistant Dean, First-Year Experience Janelle Fayette, Dean, First-Year Experience Paul Nooney, Administrative Specialist, First-Year Experience

Rensselaer • History of Program • Mentor Details • By the Numbers • Mentor Feedback • Next steps • Challenges discussion • National Conference on Students in Transition 4 Costa Mesa, CA

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Troy, New York Founded in 1824 by Steven Van Rensselaer and Amos Eaton • America’s oldest technological university • STEM dominant – 80% of degrees in STEM disciplines • Programs include: Engineering, Science, Architecture, Humanities Arts and Social • Sciences, Business and Management Total enrolled: 7,442 • Undergraduate: ~6200 Retention 93% • Graduate: ~1,100 Graduation rate 83% (6 yr) • Faculty: 462 (13:1 ratio) Female students 32% • URM: 14% International 11% • National Conference on Students in Transition 5 Costa Mesa, CA

HISTORY OF I-PERSIST: Rensselaer’s Math Mentor Program National Conference on Students in Transition 6 Costa Mesa, CA

Institutional Student Success Retention after first year correlates with Calculus 1 Grade 100% 96% 94% 90% 90% 81% 80% 70% 60% 55% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% A B C D F National Conference on Students in Transition 7 Costa Mesa, CA

HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE (HHMI) 2014 Grant Recipient Rensselaer was one of 37 institutes nationwide to receive a grant. The $1.2 million award has been used to expand the already successful Math Mentor program to other gateway STEM courses. The overarching goal of the grant is to boost persistence in STEM majors and ease students transitions to higher education. 8 National Conference on Students in Transition Costa Mesa, CA

I-PERSIST MENTORS: Students Helping Students National Conference on Students in Transition 9 Costa Mesa, CA

Mentored Course Chemistry I (CHEM 1100) Calculus I (MATH 1010) Physics I (PHYS 1100) Any first-year student registered into these courses is automatically assigned a mentor in the program. National Conference on Students in Transition 10 Costa Mesa, CA

You Should Not: Weekly Mentor Session Use PowerPoint As a Handout, Putting All • Study Hours Spoken Words on Slides • 2 per week • 2 per week Read Your Slides or Speak to Them • • 8-10 students per • Use Whole Sentences or Paragraphs on Your • Similar to office hours Slides (except for quotes) session • Scheduled by mentors Use Complicated Graphics or Charts • • Subject content Use Flashy Transitions and Animations • • Incentives Use Poor-Quality or Web-Napped Images • • “Mentoring” content Supervisory Meeting Held weekly • Professors and Student Life • Review content • Student intervention National Conference on Students in Transition 11 Costa Mesa, CA

I-Persist Enrollment Cohort Total I- STEM I- Minority Number I- Number Number Number Year Persist Persist STEM I- Persist Calculus I Chemistry I Physics I Enrollment Enrollment Persist Courses Enrollmen Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Taken ts s s Fall 2015 1011 932 135 1518 595 441 482 Fall 2016 1179 1119 179 1704 663 590 451 Fall 1167 1100 169 1805 724 622 459 I-Persist Enrollment by Cohort Year 2017* 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Fall 2015 Fall 2016 Fall 2017* Total I-Persist Enrollment STEM I-Persist Enrollment Minority STEM I-Persist Enrollment *Indicates the use of the most recent data as a substitute for 5 th week data. National Conference on Students in Transition 12 Costa Mesa, CA

MENTOR TRAINING Spring • One day with all mentors • Program basics • Introduction to mentoring • Summer • Online training • “Peer Mentoring in STEM: Training for • Mentors” - OSU Introduction to basics of mentoring, • transitions and diversity Fall • Three full days (paid) • Topics include: leadership, classroom • engagement, learning styles, and working with first-year students Subject content training • National Conference on Students in Transition 13 Costa Mesa, CA

I-PERSIST INVITED SPEAKERS Yearly speaker series for students and community members designed to foster STEM persistence. Charles Adler – Spring 2016 Guion Bluford – Fall 2016 Elizabeth Kolbert – Fall 2017 I-PERSIST STEM SPEAKER SERIES STEM education experts invited to discuss trends and techniques in the field. Presentations for faculty, staff and graduate students. National Conference on Students in Transition 14 Costa Mesa, CA

OTHER I-PERSIST COMPONENTS Conferences • Take your student to lunch • Office hour pizza parties • Retreat • End of year celebration • Giveaways and incentives • National Conference on Students in Transition 15 Costa Mesa, CA

BY THE NUMBERS: Assessment and Early Results National Conference on Students in Transition 16 Costa Mesa, CA

I-Persist on Fall to Spring Retention Rate Cohort Year Overall Retention I-Persist I-Persist STEM I-Persist Minority STEM Rate Retention Rate Major Retention Major Retention Rate Rate Fall 2013 98% 98% 98% 100% Fall 2014 98% 97% 97% 100% Fall 2015* 98% 98% 98% 96% Fall 2016* 98% 97% 98% 97% I-Persist Fall to Spring Retention Rate 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015* Fall 2016* Overall Retention Rate I-Persist Retention Rate I-Persist STEM Major Retention Rate I-Persist Minority STEM Major Retention Rate * Indicates that the year is an I-Persist Year National Conference on Students in Transition † Indicates the use of the most recent data as a substitute for 5 th 17 Costa Mesa, CA week data.