Mónica Bugallo and her team are aiming to tear down barriers in STEM education with a new $2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.
The project will fund scholarships for at least 30 low-income Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students over the course of five years. The scholarships will cover over 20 hours of work weekly for each student, allowing students to focus on their studies.
“This is not just a one-time symbolic scholarship,” said Bugallo, vice provost for faculty affairs and diversity, equity, and inclusion. “It is a meaningful award that supports students throughout their four-year journey to complete their bachelors. We strongly believe that the success of the program will resonate with a lot of donors of the university, and we will be able to continue the program.”
In addition to providing scholarship funding for students, the program will provide financial literacy education, career-readiness mentoring and networking, and community-building initiatives. Students will have the opportunity to engage not only with their peers, but also with faculty and industry professionals.
“As part of the programmatic initiatives, we will match these students with industry mentors,” said Marianna Savoca, co-PI of the grant and associate vice president for career readiness and experiential education. “As students become more aware of what the career opportunities are, we want to introduce them to professionals in the field so that they can have mentor networks.”
The project is a joint effort among different Stony Brook University units, including Student Affairs represented by the Career Center, Educational and Institutional Effectiveness, and Enrollment Management. The project team also includes faculty from the Department of Psychology who focus on assessing program success through social science research.
“Understanding how and why each programmatic element works to promote student success will allow us to grow the program in ways that work to address student needs, and build on their strengths and goals,” said Bonita London, co-PI and social science research lead.
The long-term goal of the program is to kick-start college education not only for students on the individual level, but also break that barrier for their families.
“These students will graduate with the skills, knowledge, experiences, and confidence to compete and achieve their career goals and dreams after Stony Brook and beyond,” said Bugallo. “Stony Brook is an engine of social mobility that not only provides outstanding education, but also supports future success and positively impacts students and their families.”
— Angelina Livigni
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