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Hartnell College Science and Math Institute
The Science and Math Institute (SMI) of Hartnell College is inspiring, encouraging, and supporting the next generation of scientists and engineers. This can only be accomplished by providing the kind of environment our students need to succeed as they attend our college and move toward their goal of becoming contributing members of the technological workforce. The Institute can help create this environment by also inspiring, encouraging, and supporting our faculty as they work with their students in and out of the classroom.
At present our science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students take a variety of demanding courses that require an inordinate amount of time and effort to be successful. Most students find this to be a daunting task and without a solid support system in place often find themselves in danger of failing courses or dropping out as they fall victim to the demands of work, family responsibilities, and sometimes isolation. Good instruction along with caring faculty, student clubs, MESA and other grant funded groups all contribute to fostering a positive and supportive environment that maximizes learning opportunities. The SMI at Hartnell intends to encourage these already successful methods and add new ones to the mix as well.
Through a new Speaker’s Colloquium Series the SMI is bringing in experts that will expose our students to a wide variety of careers and the fascinating research that is being done in areas like astrophysics, engineering, biology, medicine, chemistry, geology and more. An emphasis is being given to attracting speakers who are Hartnell alumni. Each week that goes by, we at the SMI are adding to the list of distinguished and accomplished professionals that passed through our science and math classes on their way to amazing careers. These people have incredible stories to tell—stories that often begin with their first positive exposure to science at Hartnell College. Our current students are inspired by these people and their stories. They can easily identify with someone who once walked the same path that they are now following themselves. The stories tell of courage, determination, and ultimate success as well as providing a good dose of serious science, engineering, and math.
The SMI is already working to support and expand the existing Hartnell STEM Internship Program that has met with great success. We have found that by giving students the opportunity to work alongside a professional scientist in a field or laboratory setting, the intern gains practical knowledge in ways that are not available in the classroom. Students must take a year long course of internship preparation, prepare a project proposal, present their results to their research group and then make a final presentation at the Hartnell College Research Symposium held for our interns each September. The interns come away with vastly improved notions of what scientific research is about as well as increased confidence in their ability to do this type of work. It is the goal of the SMI to be able to offer a paid summer internship experience to every Hartnell student that applies and meets certain minimum requirements. Being able to offer this as an opportunity to graduating high school students in our district is a powerful recruiting tool.
The SMI will increase connections to high school faculty, counselors and others in the community as well as with industry leaders in our area. Involving these people in our STEM programs creates buy in to what we are doing at the college. We want to create the attitude that Hartnell College is where a student should go for his or her first college experience. This is because we can offer them a superior educational experience, prepare them well for transferring on to a four year college or university, and offer them experiences along the way that they would not receive anywhere else.
The SMI will work to support and encourage faculty to apply for and execute grants from state and federal funding agencies. Previous grants have provided our science and math programs with the ability to upgrade equipment, curriculum and staff as well as offer our students expanded learning opportunities. This effort must continue as college budget challenges intensify. Two STEM grants were just awarded (October 2008) that will directly benefit our STEM students. The SMI will assist in the successful execution of these and other grants. Another important goal of the Institute is to work toward institutionalizing a permanent, full time engineering faculty position. A likely method for initiating the process will be through grant funding.
The Institute will provide a conference room with a relaxed setting where faculty and students can gather, discuss ideas, and hold meetings. The room will have comfortable seating, tables, computers, white boards, a small library, and a copy machine for modest faculty needs. It is hoped that this area will be an attractive gathering place with a distinctively academic flavor.
SMI activities will be publicized through its website, a promotional brochure, and a flat panel monitor display to be placed in Merrill Hall. An advisory board is being formed to provide guidance and input for SMI initiatives. The board, composed of college faculty and staff, industry members, high school faculty, community leaders, and outside scientists will meet several times each year.