UA Gets Nearly $5M Grant To Support Hispanic Students In STEM

TUCSON, AZ —The University of Arizona on Wednesday announced a nearly $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education designed to support students studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), especially those from Hispanic and low-income households.

The grant, which will be paid out over a 5 year period, will establish Project CREAR, which stands for Culturally Responsive Engagement Articulation and Research.

Kimberly Sierra-Cajas, director of undergraduate research and inquiry in the Office of Societal Impacts, is the principal investigator and project director for the grant, and she said the way UA students currently move through their academics is a "one-size-fits-all model."

Sierra-Cajas said the current structure does not always take into account "the cultural norms that are predominant in the Latinx culture," such as a strong sense of community and family responsibility.

According Sierra-Cajas, fewer than half of Latinx UA students who start in STEM majors complete their programs within six years, and only a third of Latinx students with STEM majors who receive Pell Grants — federal grants for students with financial need — graduate with a STEM degree in six years.

Plus, only about 42 percent of Latinx transfer students graduate within three years of transferring.

Project CREAR is expected to utilize several strategies to help improve these numbers, including:

• Providing STEM learning communities so students experience a sense of belonging in their STEM programs.
• Providing tools for students to more easily transfer to UA from other institutions.
• Increasing the number of undergraduate research opportunities at UA.
• Training faculty, staff and student mentors on improving inclusivity in their interactions.

"Success in our educational mission relies on the University of Arizona ensuring that every single one of our students has plenty of opportunities to engage in research and thrive in their academic development," University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins said. "I am so proud to know that our commitment to inclusion and our service to students has been recognized by this grant, and I look forward to seeing the progress that Project CREAR will make on behalf of all our students."

The university said Project CREAR aims to expand the reach of successful UA STEM student programs, including Arizona's Science, Engineering and Math Scholars (ASEMS) and Catapult First Year Experience programs, which will impact over 4,000 students by the end of the five-year grant.

One of the project's core strategies also involves creating Societal Impact Groups, which are learning communities of first-year and transfer students who take classes together. The groups are designed to foster a sense of community and provide opportunities to get involved in STEM research that impacts Latinx communities, the university said.

Other benefits of the grant include:

• Helping the university to convert some traditional laboratory sections — hands-on lab courses that STEM students attend alongside lecture courses — into more immersive research opportunities.
• Allowing more faculty members to participate in the university's Culturally Responsive Curriculum Development Institute, a weeklong summer program that supports participants in implementing more inclusive teaching and learning practices in their courses.

"Providing training and support for our faculty to better understand the cultural backgrounds of students and teach more inclusive courses will lead to greater academic success," said Liesl Folks, University of Arizona's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "This grant will strengthen our commitment to expanding access and increasing student success for our diverse population of Wildcats."

The university said 94.1 percent of the grant funding ($4,989,496 ) comes from the Department of Education's Title III programs, which aim to improve access to higher education for students from Latinx backgrounds or low-income households. UA is eligible to receive the grant because of its status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a federal designation it received in 2018.

The remaining 5.9 percent ($313,302) of the program will be funded through the University of Arizona.