STEM Grad Excellence

Promoting Excellence in Graduate Education and Increasing Hispanic STEM Related Degree Completion

CSUB Title V, Part B, Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Program (PPOHA), U.S. Department of Education

California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB), the only 4-year public institution of higher education within a 100-mile radius of Bakersfield, provides academic opportunity to nearly 11,000 students at both the main campus in Bakersfield and the satellite campus in Antelope Valley. CSUB currently offers 17 Master’s programs and 1 Doctoral program across its four academic schools, and graduate enrollment reached 1,297 students in Fall 2018. However, data indicate the number of students completing graduate programs at CSUB is inadequate to meet the service area workforce needs. In fact, only 5.2% of the total Kern County population holds a post-baccalaureate degree, compared to California (12.2%) and the nation as a whole (11.8%). Moreover, although the proportion of Hispanic students enrolling in graduate programs has steadily increased over the last decade (47% in Fall 2018 compared to 29% in Fall 2009), it is still not reflective of the university’s undergraduate population (56%).

Project Goals

  1. To enhance and create additional capacity—by strengthening existing STEM-related programs and developing two new programs—for the CSUB STEM graduate program, which facilitates increased enrollment, provides needed student support, improves research facilities, and engages faculty to better serve Hispanic graduate students through degree completion.
  2. To develop a university-wide “graduate school-going culture” through a robust and comprehensive program that encourages, supports, engages, and prepares students to pursue graduate education.

Project Objectives

  1. To increase enrollment in CSUB’s STEM-related graduate programs (with Hispanics equitably represented) by 20% above the 2019 baseline (4% increase per year) and sustain the improved rate after the grant period.
  2. To double the number of graduates from CSUB STEM-related graduate programs (with Hispanics equitably represented) as compared with the 2019 baseline.
  3. To increase the completion rate of STEM-related graduate courses by all STEM graduate students (and with Hispanics equitably represented) by 20% above the 2019 baseline.
  4. To double the number of CSUB students accepted into partnership Master’s and Ph.D. programs not available at CSUB.

Project Strategies

  1. Develop an interdisciplinary, student-centered, and fully supported research program, including a Summer Research component and an Undergraduate Research (UR) conference that will increase the participation and retention of Hispanic students in CSUB’s STEM-related graduate programs.
  2. Develop a comprehensive and collaborative faculty mentorship program to supervise graduate research activities in CSUB’s STEM-related programs.
  3. Develop a centralized Graduate Research Center (GRC) adequately equipped to meet the computing needs of students enrolled in the CSUB STEM-related graduate programs. Student services by the GRC will include an Annual Grad Fair, UR showcase, GRE Prep, Financial Literacy workshop, and Critical Thinking workshop.
  4. Develop two new programs and strengthen existing STEM-related graduate programs, and develop seamless transfer pathways to PhDs and other Master’s programs that do not exist at CSUB through cross-institutional collaborations.