1. ISECON 2008 Strategies for Increasing IT Enrollment: Recruiting, Retaining and Encouraging the Transfer of Women and Underrepresented Groups to Four-Year Colleges ISECON 2008 Phoenix, AZ Nov. 4 - 8, 2008

2. The Community College of Baltimore County Mathematics Department Donna Hiestand-Tupper Barbara Leitherer Sylvia Sorkin Mary Elizabeth Gore

3. Community College of Baltimore County n Public, two-year college system with 3 campuses n Fall 2007 credit enrollment: 19,426 students –34% Full-time – 66% Part-time –62% Female –24% Pell recipients –31% African-American –1,410 Associate degrees awarded in FY 2007

5. What is GHSP? n The Grace Hopper Scholars Program is an NSF funded initiative designed to assist female students interested in a career in technology. n GHSP is not limited to women, but it is marketed towards them. n 96% of the scholars are women.

6. What is NOT Required? n A minimum Grade Point Average n A minimum or maximum financial need requirement n A minimum number of credits taken each semester n A deadline as to how long a student can be in the program n Citizenship requirements

7. Application/Recruitment n Students must apply to the program n One page application for demographic information and a 300 word essay on why they want to pursue a degree in technology n Students recruited via faculty referrals, in class visits and other students.

8. Why Join GHSP? n Each student assigned a mentor. –Mentors are either faculty or from industry and are trained by Maryland State Resource Center n Both Online and Traditional Tutoring n Bridge Programs n Bonding with other Technology Majors n Onsite visits to corporations

9. More Reasons to Join $$$ n $300 course reimbursement for first Math or computer-related course with a grade of C or better. –This corresponds to approximately 3 credits. n Student must complete the requirements in order to receive the money. n Money for transportation to GHSP events if necessary.

10. Requirements in GHSP n Must be active participants for at least two semesters n Students must attend one summer bridge program n Students must contact mentor at least twice a semester n Students must attend at least one other social activity

11. Sample Summer Bridge Agenda n Math study skills workshop n Learning Styles Assessment n Computer related activity n Mentor lunches n Resume writing workshop n Interviewing skills workshop n Panel sessions with students from local 4- year schools

12. Mentoring n Mentor/Mentee contacts are required twice a semester. n Once to intervene if student needs help n Once to help plan future schedule n Best pairings occurred when mentor and mentee had common interest outside of school.

13. Definition of Enrollment Status n Full-time students take at least 12 credit hours per semester. n Part-time students take less than 12 credit hours per semester. n Mixed enrollment implies students changed enrollment status at least once during their time at CCBC.

14. Who Are Grace Hopper Scholars?

15. At risk population… n Part-time enrollment status n Delaying enrollment into college n Not having a standard high school diploma n Having children n Single Parent n Financially independent of parents.* n Working full-time while enrolled.

16. Progress of GH Scholars Summer 08

17. Progress of GH Scholars As of Summer 2008

18. Comparison to DoE Study

19. Drop Out Concerns n Overall, 18% of Grace Hopper Scholars have dropped out of CCBC –Part-time students at much higher risk n Dropout rate in Maryland Community Colleges is 55% n Dropout rate at CCBC is 56%

20. Future of GHSP n Work with partner colleges to assist them in the establishment of mentor programs n Continue research on support systems for part-time students. n Program transfers from School of Math & Science to School of Applied and Information Technology

21. ? What does CSEM mean? Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Mathematics

22. CCBC CSEM Funding Fall 04 – Fall 08 n August 2004, 4-year NSF-CSEM project funded 30 scholarships per year n Average length of award has been 3 semesters n Awardees have a required summer experience for career information, and luncheon with guest speaker each semester. http://www.ccbcmd.edu/csems http://www.ccbcmd.edu/csems http://www.ccbcmd.edu/csems

23. NSF CSEM Scholarships n Funded by H1-B visa fees for foreign workers. n Awardees must complete FAFSA, have unmet financial need, and be full-time students. Maximum award is $3,125 per year. n Scholarship awardees must be: U.S. Citizens Permanent Resident Aliens Refugee Aliens n Institution determines other criteria for award and renewal.

24. CSEM Scholarship Awardees n Each has a faculty mentor in a CSEM field n Mentors meet at least monthly with their 3-4 student mentees n Use brief mentoring logs to record meetings n Awardee creates an individual academic plan with the mentor n Complete a Student Attitude Questionnaire each semester to track attitudes toward CSEM fields www.ccbcmd.edu/csems

25. CCBC CSEM Scholarship Criteria n Minimum 2.5 Grade Point Average n Eligible for Introductory Algebra, or higher n Register for 12 credits and maintain 2.5 GPA in one of these 6 degree programs: Computer Information Systems Computer Science E-Business Engineering Multimedia Technology Mathematics

26. About CCBC CSEM Scholarships n Scholarships can “follow” awardees to 4-yr institutions for CSEM-field bachelor’s degrees after earning 30 credits at CCBC n 33% of scholarship awards were renewals made to CCBC students who were transferring

27. Transferred Graduated but did not transfer Still at community college Dropped out MD state cohort of 13,978 full-time public community college freshman 4 years after 2002 entry 25% 11% 55% 9% Transfer, Graduation, Retention 34% Success Rate

28. Transferred Graduated but did not transfer Still at community college Dropped out MD state cohort of 13,978 full-time public community college freshman 4 years after 2002 entry Transfer, Graduation, Retention 63 CCBC CSEM awardees 4 years after first awards made 64% 3% 14% 19% 78% Success Rate 25% 11% 55% 9%

29. 75 CSEM Scholars Fall 04 - Fall 08 75 CSEM Scholars’ Ethnicity 31 % 17 % 48 % 4%4%

30. Majors for 75 CCBC CSEM Scholars Fall 04 - Fall 08 CSEM Scholars - Program & Gender

31. Representation of Females n 33% of CSEMS awardees female (25/75) n 29% of CSEMS awards were to females (64/224) n 28% of CSEMS awardees who transferred were female (11/40) CCBC CSEM Scholarships Fall 2004 – Fall 2008

32. 40 of 63 CSEM Awardees Transferred As of Fall 2008, n 18 to Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County n 7 to University of Baltimore n 15 to other public and private 4-year institutions

33. Transfer and Degree Completion Percent 63 CSEM Scholars Fall 04 - Spring 2007

34. The Community College of Baltimore County Maryland, USA dtupper@ccbcmd.edu bleitherer@ccbcmd.edu ssorkin@ccbcmd.edu mgore@ccbcmd.edu

35. Acknowledgement This project was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under awards DUE-0302845 and DUE-0422225. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.