About CP-STEM


	Contents

		o Introduction
		o Mission
		o News and Achievements
		o Supporting Oakton's 2008-2012 Strategic Plan


	Introduction

	In 2002, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Oakton Community College a quarter million dollar grant (DUE-0230682) to increase student enrollment and success in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM). Thousands of students benefited from the project. Two of the project programs, Peer Tutor Training and Student-Industry-Teacher Simulations (SIT-SIMs), won the Innovation Award of the Illinois Council of Community College Administrators in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

	Built and expanded upon previously successful project, the Center for Promoting STEM (CP-STEM) at Oakton Community College was established in 2006 to increase the number of students who pursue studies and receive a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The goals of CP-STEM are: • To encourage and enhance student success in STEM courses; • To develop STEM activities and programs in a supportive, rewarding environment; • To partner with professional organizations, businesses, and high schools in an effort to promote and sustain STEM activities; • Study, investigate, and incorporate innovative STEM teaching techniques; • To contribute to the literature on teaching and learning through program assessment; • To distribute the successful results of CP-STEM activities.

	CP-STEM offers the following programs:? STEM Enrichment Program, Study Sessions, Mentoring Program, STEM Internship Program (Peer Tutor Training program, STEM Lab Assistant Training Program, Worksite Internships), STEM Success Seminars, STEM Faculty Leadership program, Student-Industry-Teacher Simulations. CP-STEM also sponsors student clubs that organize academic, career, and social activities.

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	Mission

	Built and expanded upon previously successful project, the Center for Promoting STEM (CP-STEM) at Oakton Community College was established in 2006 to increase the number of students who pursue studies and receive a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The goals of CP-STEM are:

	To encourage and enhance student success in STEM courses; To develop STEM activities and programs in a supportive, rewarding environment; To partner with professional organizations, businesses, and high schools in an effort to promote and sustain STEM activities; Study, investigate, and incorporate innovative STEM teaching techniques; To contribute to the literature on teaching and learning through program assessment; To distribute the successful results of CP-STEM activities.

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	News and Achievements

	The Peer Tutor Training Program won the 2003 Innovation Award of the Illinois Council of Community College Administrators (ICCCA) in November, 2003. The Student-Industry-Teacher Simulations Program won the 2005 ICCCA Innovation Award in November, 2005.

	In an article titled "For Achievers, a New Destination: Two year colleges you may want to attend-and leave," by Beth Frerking (Education Life Supplement Late Edition - Final, Section 4A, Page 23, April 22, 2007), New York Times featured Oakton Community College a successful two-year college model. Specifically, Frerking stated that Oakton Community College “recently received a continuing grant of nearly $800,000 from the National Science Foundation to bolster learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, particularly for underachieving students.”

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	Supporting Oakton's 2008-2012 Strategic Plan

	CP-STEM supports OCC 2008-2012 Strategic Plan in the following ways.

	1. Offer innovative learning for local and global citizenship. CP-STEM offers innovative STEM programs and activities to meet the needs of our students and nation.

	2. Provide WISE support for STEM students. CP-STEM provides: A welcoming service for students interested in pursuing STEM at Oakton. An informing service for students to share knowledge and experience about how to succeed in STEM academic fields and careers. A supportive service for students to receive mentoring and attend study session. An engaging service for students to connect with STEM learning, with STEM cohort, and with successful STEM role models. In summary, CP-STEM provides a home to STEM students.

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	3. Anti-Bias college. Anti-bias at a diversified institution may impact students’ academic potential and increase retention. Through the Next Step Committee, one of Oakton’s approaches to anti-bias is to use Crossroads’ definition of institutional and systemic racism. In an educational institution, institutional and systemic racism can negatively affect teaching, delivery of service, and policy making. A goal is to maximize students’ academic potentials through an increased understanding of the effects of institutional and systemic racism on relationships and productivity.

	4. Provide academic excellence. CP-STEM seeks to: Advance the STEM culture. Encourage active and collaborative learning through student-faculty and faculty-faculty interactions. Increase successes and persistence of STEM students.

	5. Reinvent physical space and infrastructure. CP-STEM seeks to: Support student learning and improve comfort. Enhance study and meeting space to foster the STEM cohort to meet the needs of our STEM students. Provide an environment of innovative teaching by promoting team-teaching, student-student and student-teacher interactions, and integration of new technologies and teaching. Be a show room for innovative teaching in STEM thereby attract students to STEM studies.

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