Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE Act) Abstracts

North Carolina Central University (NCCU)’s nursing program is poised to add more minority nurses to the workforce by providing an excellent education that prepares globally diverse students for the emerging complexities of contemporary healthcare. NCCU’s Department of Nursing has a 71-plus-year legacy of educating nurses who serve the health needs of the people in North Carolina, across the nation and around the world. A primary goal of the Department of Nursing at North Carolina Central University is to meet the ever-changing healthcare needs for diverse populations at a regional, national and international level. Selected experiences and learning environments contribute to enhanced student achievement, excellent care and high individual productivity in faculty and students. The proposed project can be effective in addressing consistent outcomes in a changing society. The major goal of the Department of Nursing is to strengthen and enhance the departmental infrastructure to support, retain and graduate an increasing number of successful students.

The NCCU School of Education’s Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a student-centered program specifically designed to improve academic success and retention within the Education Preparation Programs (EPP). Research indicates that SI, or out-of-class tutoring and study sessions for high-risk courses, significantly benefits students in their individual level of academic success and in the retention rates of students in college programs (Journal of Developmental Education, Spring 2001). North Carolina Central University’s SI program in the School of Education primarily focuses on pre-admission to the EPP, admission to student teaching and successful matriculation throughout the program so that students are adequately prepared to take particular licensing examinations in order to become highly qualified teachers. The primary goal of the Supplemental Instruction Program (SIP) is to eliminate the barriers encountered by candidates during preparation for admission in order to retain and graduate them from the EPP and to collect data to inform instruction for continuous improvement.

The rising demand for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-qualified professionals and the dismal underrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans in STEM fields provide a unique opportunity for North Carolina Central University (NCCU) to continue its tradition of encouraging student success and supporting community development. The NCCU Fab Lab connects this NCCU tradition to an evolving 21st-century digital economy by continuing to (1) expand innovative curricula to broaden pathways to STEM trajectories, (2) provide experiences with emergent technologies to increase STEM competencies and (3) create awareness of STEM applications outside of traditional career fields as part of its original mission and purpose. Fab labs are creative spaces established as part of a community outreach initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Bits and Atoms to democratize innovation and invention. The mission of the fab lab is to increase accessibility to advanced computational and fabrication tools and provide opportunities for hands-on project-based learning approaches with creative outcomes called “making." “Making” is a learning-by-doing instructional approach that embeds technical STEM knowledge and skills in experiences that encourage creativity and interest to facilitate invention and stimulate entrepreneurship. The NCCU FAB Lab is recognized as the first of a rare number of fab labs located on the campus of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to advance innovation and invention in historically underserved communities.

This newly established STEM Center at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) is to implement activities that will enhance the education and training of African American students who pursue undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The NCCU STEM Learning Center will synergize academic offerings, academic supports and services, professional growth and development, career readiness, and other opportunities that enhance and enrich the learning and preparation of STEM students at NCCU. The STEM Center will help establish STEM education and training at NCCU as a defining feature and value proposition for students, especially African American students, seeking to earn a STEM degree. The NCCU STEM Learning Center aims to help increase STEM student academic success in terms of performance, retention, and graduation, and produce workforce-ready STEM graduates from the African American population, underutilized in the STEM enterprise. The Center is manned by one (1) lead professional coach/coordinator for mathematics and three (3) full-time professional tutors/academic coaches for mathematics and science student academic services. The Center will provide tutoring, supplemental instruction, mathematics and science placement testing, peer mentoring, and support for collaborative learning.