KeyBank Foundation Awards $1.25 Million to Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University for “STEM” Classrooms on Cleveland State Campus

CMSD, CSU to create joint campus for 11^th and 12^th graders at MC²STEM High School

CLEVELAND – January 8, 2013 – KeyBank Foundation has awarded a $1.25 million grant that will enable the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University to partner in creating a STEM school for 11^th and 12^th grade students on the CSU campus, officials from KeyBank Foundation, the school district and the university announced today. The grant agreement is expected to be approved by the boards of CMSD and CSU at their next meetings on January 8 and January 16, respectively.

The grant will fund renovations at Cleveland State’s Rhodes Tower to create facilities for students from the Cleveland schools’ MC²STEM high school. The high school, which offers a special curriculum emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math, has demonstrated significant success in preparing students for higher education. Its goal is to immerse high school students in a college environment, to better prepare them for enrollment at a four-year university. MC²STEM recently graduated its first class; 100 percent of those graduates enrolled at a university.

Currently, 9^th grade students at MC² attend classes at the Great Lakes Science Center, while 10^th graders are taught at GE Lighting’s Nela Park campus in East Cleveland.

“We are proud to invest in a partnership that we believe holds great value for Northeast Ohio as it prepares students for success in education and for advanced careers in a modern workforce,” said KeyBank Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney.

The upgraded facilities at Cleveland State will include renovated classrooms, laboratories and a fabrication lab, or FabLab, where computers and production equipment are linked through sophisticated technology that allows students to create objects based on their own designs.

In addition to renovations, KeyBank Foundation’s grant will provide scholarship support for students intending to take early college courses and enroll at CSU.  It also includes budget support for CSU to provide professional development opportunities for STEM teachers, as well as graduate student support for STEM students.

“The long-standing partnerships maintained with KeyBank and CSU have been instrumental in our ability to expand our high-performing school choices in Cleveland,” said Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon. “Support from our business and higher education communities provides additional momentum for the implementation of the Cleveland Plan that complements levy support from citizens to propel us toward our transformation goals.”

This gift is the latest in a series from KeyBank Foundation in support of STEM education at CMSD. In 2011, the Foundation awarded $700,000 to CMSD to fund STEM programming and support services at six elementary and middle schools in the District. In total, KeyBank Foundation has awarded CMSD more than $2.5 million to support STEM education initiatives. Key also announced today that they will be donating 1,900 computers to CMSD for use in classrooms and computer labs across the District.

“We are thankful to KeyBank Foundation for continued support of innovative educational programs and pathways to college for Cleveland students. The creation of the MC² partnership would not be possible without this gift and the commitment of our faculty to the mission of preparing a new generation of students to succeed in college,” said Cleveland State University President Ronald Berkman.

“In addition to offering a curriculum that prepares students for higher education, we are introducing them to a college environment, which contributes to a smoother transition after they graduate from high school,” said Margot Copeland, executive vice president and chair of KeyBank Foundation. “And, because the STEM disciplines are so rigorous, they prepare students not only to enroll in a four-year college but also to graduate.”

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Contacts:
KeyBank: Lynne Woodman, (216) 577-1374, lynne_woodman@keybank.com
Cleveland Metropolitan School District: Roseann Canfora, (216) 858-6510 roseann.canfora@cmsdnet.net
Cleveland State University: Joe Mosbrook, (216) 523-7279, j.mosbrook@csuohio.edu

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The data is represented in the Bayer Corporation’s Bayer Facts of Science Education XV survey, which polled 413 STEM department chairs at the top 200 U.S.-based research universities, as well as colleges known for successfully graduating Black, Latino and American Indian STEM students. 

Discouraging Courses 

Nearly half (46 percent) of STEM department chairs believe that traditional academic approaches—namely the “weeding out” of students via demanding introductory courses—are harmful to women, Black, Latino and American Indian students. More than half (59 percent) reported that this discouragement occurs “frequently” or “occasionally.” Eighty-three percent said that faculty members do counsel some students away from STEM degrees, and 58 percent noted it as a common practice.­ 

Education, Role Models & Stereotypes 

STEM department chairs rate the most significant barriers for students from traditionally underrepresented groups as a lack of educational preparation (32 percent) and a lack of role models (17 percent). Women students are challenged by a lack of role models (13 percent) and stereotypes (13 percent). For more on how stereotypes threaten students from succeeding at higher-education institutions, read social psychologist Dr. Claude Steele’s comments at a DiversityInc event. 

Educational preparation is less of an issue for women STEM students (12 percent). The majority of department chairs (82 percent) perceive that women students enter college with a quality education, compared with majority students (74 percent) and Black, Latino and American Indian students (34 percent). Chairs also believe that women are 93 percent “as likely” or “more likely” to graduate compared with majority students. Only 61 percent anticipate the same for Black, Latino and American Indian students.

Initiating Change 

According to Greg Babe, president and CEO of Bayer Corporation, the most important finding of the study was respondents’ lack of willingness to alter current teaching practices. While 84 percent of STEM department chairs recognized that recruiting and retaining women, Black, Latino and American Indian students is a prominent challenge and 46 percent perceive “weeding out” as harmful to students, more than half (57 percent) felt no need to change. And of those citing a need for change, the majority (71 percent) calls for an increase in academic support and tutoring. 

“No institution should be immune to making changes where change is needed,” says Babe, who notes that “college STEM departments are important gatekeepers to STEM careers—indeed one of the most important links in the chain.” 

Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut, medical doctor, chemical engineer and Bayer’s Making Science Make Sense spokesperson, says that it’s important to note that STEM dropout rates for all undergraduate students are at 40 to 60 percent. For more on how organizations can help improve dropout rates and bolster future talent pipelines, read “Rutgers Future Scholars Enhances Talent Pipelines With Corporate-Student Outreach.”

“This survey is about the perception about how the department chairs rate themselves, and there’s a reality behind that as well,” Jemison says. “The vast majority consider that women come to college very ready to succeed at STEM and graduate at much larger percentages. But when [students from traditionally underrepresented groups] and [majority students] do come prepared, they still graduate in lower numbers.” 

Jemison cites industry research that found that 40 percent of women, Blacks, Latinos and American Indians who graduated with STEM degrees report that they were actively discouraged. “We are still losing other folks,” she says, noting how “weeding out” results in a loss of interest and self-confidence among STEM undergraduates.  

To improve diversity in STEM departments, Jemison says that institutions need to provide expectation, exposure and experience. “Let students know that they should be there and that they are wanted,” she advises. 

Read about the DiversityInc Foundation’s mission to fund scholarships for students who are disadvantaged financially.

Referenced Articles: 

How to Get More Blacks and Latinos in Accounting

The STEM Pipeline for Women

Rutgers Students Excel in Sciences With ODASIS

The Stereotype Threat: Dr. Claude Steele Mesmerizes Audience

AT&T & Rutgers on Solving the Dropout Crisis

 Rutgers Future Scholars Enhances Talent Pipelines With Corporate-Student Outreach

The post American Universities Hinder Diversity Among STEM Students appeared first on DiversityInc.

But after earning his master’s degree in public health from Rutgers University, Khan quickly discovered that “as a foreign student, you have limited opportunities in the United States if you want to go to medical school.” So Khan got his M.D. from University Eugenia Maria De Hostos in the Dominican Republic and then returned to the United States to dedicate his life to helping Black, Latino and other underrepresented students pursue careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

In 1985, while serving as an instructor at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Khan cofounded the Rutgers University Office of Diversity and Academic Success in the Sciences (ODASIS), whose Access-Med program prepares promising undergrads from economically and/or academically disadvantaged groups for STEM careers with emphasis on health-allied professions. Today, Khan’s program serves about 500 at-risk undergrads annually, and in 2009, 86 percent were accepted to medical school.

“It’s all about increasing the numbers,” says the associate director, noting that the year ODASIS began, only one Rutgers student had gone into the medical profession.

When Khan isn’t pushing undergrads to “give it their all,” he’s creating a feeder pool of potential STEM students by working with local students as early as ninth grade through four separate college-prep programs. A tireless and charismatic leader, Khan also serves as faculty adviser to Rutgers’ Islamic Society, the West Indian Student Organization and the Department of Africana Studies.

Last year, Khan was recognized with the AspiringDocs.org Recognition Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges for helping to close the disparities gap in the med-school application pool.

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