Work in progress — First year retention of Hispanic, first-generation students

The “Program to Increase College Opportunities and Successes” (PICOS) is an NSF S-STEM funded initiative to increase the number of Hispanic, first-generation, financially needy students in Math, Chemistry, Engineering, and Engineering Technology using scholarship funds and academic success initiatives. This program recruited two cohorts of freshmen: the first in fall 2008, the second in fall 2009. A variety of efforts from different areas of campus were brought together into a single, sustainable academic success initiative. These efforts include a bridge program, block scheduling, faculty mentoring, evening tutor sessions, and academic advising. These promote an academic learning community as well as a collegial relationship between student and faculty mentors. The regular interactions with the students facilitate monitoring of student performance so student with academic difficulties can be counseled closely on overcoming their deficit. Many of these efforts will continue throughout the students´ academic careers. This paper will describe the literature associated with academic success initiatives in STEM and this demographic, as well as how the wide range of initiatives were consolidated under a single umbrella to achieve retention goal of 74%.