The Center for STEM Education at Northeastern University

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Provenance: Claire Duggan, Northeastern University
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Engineering, Northeastern University

Established: 2001

https://stem.northeastern.edu/

Profile submitted by Claire Duggan

The Center for STEM Education's vision is that all K-20 students have ample access to free, or very inexpensive, opportunities that encourage growth in their passion and knowledge for STEM. The Center also focuses on creating a strong network of STEM ambassadors that will ensure the sustainability of continuous STEM outreach success.

Vision and Goals

The Center for STEM Education at Northeastern University seeks to build and support a community of educators, researchers, and students, with the collective goal of strengthening the K-20 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) educational pipeline.

Center/Program Structure

The Center is housed in the College of Engineering and works with University leadership to support community engagement and diversity efforts. In addition, the Center staff supports individual faculty members' Broader Impact and collaborative research efforts. The Center provides professional development for students and student organizations interested in supporting STEM educational outreach efforts. 

The Center is currently led by an Administrative team with the direct support and guidance of partner faculty.

There are 4 full-time staff supported by over 30 undergraduate and graduate students through part-time employment.

Description of Programming

The Center provides year long programming to engage and support K-14 students and teachers.

Program efforts include:

1. The STEM Field Trip series which provides elementary and middle school students with the opportunity to engage in science and engineering activities in addition to providing an early introduction to college. Approximately 1000 students are reached annually through this initiative.

2. The Summer STEM Program (NUSSP), which is a free two-week engineering program for middle school students. Fifty students are selected annually to participate in this offering. Program alumni are invited to frequent events throughout their high school years to encourage and support a persistent interest in STEM fields.

3. The Young Scholars Program (NUYSP) provides rising high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to participate in a paid, six-week research and college exploration experience. Over 400 students have participated in this program to date. The Center maintains an active alumni network for this initiative. Over 85% of past participants pursued a STEM pathway.

In addition to the programs outlined above, the collaborative staff continues to pursue new grant initiatives to ensure the sustainability of our program efforts. Current grants can be found on our web site at stem.neu.edu.

Grants have included NSF ATE, RET, REU, STEP, S-STEM, and ITEST program efforts.

Successes and Impacts

Our summer STEM programming is one of the very few regional offerings that continues to be free and/or provide a stipend to program participants.

We have supported 421 middle school students to date through the NUSSP initiative.

We have support 414 High School students to date through the NUYSP program.

85% of YSP program alumni have persisted in a STEM field.
Over 50% of program alumni maintain contact with program faculty and staff to support future program participants.

Elements Contributing to Success

Program elements that have contributed to our success include (but are not limited to):

1. Strong relationships with faculty and school communities through early STEM grant efforts. (CESAME, The Center for the Enhancement of Science and Mathematics Education)

2. Institutional support

3. Space in close proximity to faculty and students

4. Building on early work of a NSF GK12 program, expanded university student interest and support in the delivery of program offerings.

5. Additional funding through collaborative proposals

6. Diversified funding